For some reason people seem to think software is different to maintain then car parts. It’s a false and dangerous narrative.
We build software using open standards for a damn reason. HTTP, TLS, MQTT, JSON, SQL. Then at a higher level code is abstracted in different layers, the web client can be swapped out for a different one, same for db/caching, UI etc. These aren’t new concepts, it’s actually the reason we can build software so fast because 90% of it is gluing together existing code.
This is done for when, not if, a certain standard is updated, changed, depreciated we can replace it for something else/better.
You don’t replace the whole car when better tires come out! Or timing belt, motor, charge controller, spark plugs, etc. We do the same in software we don’t rewrite the whole damn app when a standard changes that would be insanity.
For software to not be interoperable and closed is an active decision. Even the banking company I work for has APIs so you can interact with your account. If financial institutions can do it then a 3d printing company can too. Please stop making excuses for them.
If people can tinker with cars and guns, they sure as hell should be able to do it with basically everything at that point.