An Open Letter to Pissed Users

Bambu Lab X Series General discussions
67

Bambu Lab never guaranteed compatibility with third-party hardware or software—ever. They’ve never had an obligation to support third-party integrations, which is why I was honestly surprised they allowed it in the first place.

Now, all they’re doing is creating a more secure standard for third-party integration. The claim that this is somehow “anti-consumer” is pure speculation. If anything, we see this same practice from companies like Apple, which routinely breaks third-party compatibility with every new release of macOS or iOS—yet they aren’t constantly labeled as anti-consumer.

If third-party companies want to integrate into Bambu Lab’s ecosystem (or apples for that matter), the responsibility is on them to ensure compatibility, not the other way around. So why is all the outrage directed at Bambu Lab instead of Biqu? They knew this was coming yet continued releasing products dependent on an open system that was never promised to remain that way.

The real argument here is open source vs. closed source. Bambu Lab has been clear from the very beginning that they prefer a closed-source ecosystem. This isn’t a new development—it’s how they’ve always operated.

If you bought into the brand expecting something different, that’s on you, not Bambu Lab.

And that’s my last comment on the topic. Byeeee :wave:t2:

68

Third time’s the charm? :woman_shrugging:

69

Exactly, Lexi. And that issue could very well have been caused by third-party software or hardware.

Having worked in hardware and software tech support for nearly 20 years, I can tell you that in a professional environment, if there’s an unsupported third-party component causing issues, my first response will always be: unplug it, then contact me again.

The fact is, unsupported third-party hardware or software creates massive challenges when troubleshooting. However, if you build a structured platform that third parties can properly integrate into, it becomes much easier to manage compatibility and support.

How does this affect me? Well, if Bambu Lab’s support team is overwhelmed dealing with third-party issues they can’t fix, then real, legitimate issues get delayed. This is just Support 101.

So no, this isn’t about being on some metaphorical high horse—it’s about understanding the nature of their business and the complexities of maintaining a reliable support system.

And there’s no reason for insults just because our views vary.

70

Still here?

Just FYI: user reporting problem specified STOCK printer and Bambu Studio. Still issues.

3rd-party accessories and software are supported by… 3rd party! Not bambu.

Then why in the mentioned quote they clearly rejected more secure, industry standard way ?

71

3rd time it is then… :upside_down_face:

Did you even read the example I gave? lol

I’ll re-quote it here:

/start of pleading

Machine: P1S + AMS
Stock SD card: Yes
Bambu Lab Slicer Version: 1.10.1.50
P1 Firmware version: 01.07.00.00
Approximate layer number where it failed: approx 790 out of 922
Approximate time elapsed between print start and failure: 18 out of 19.75 hours

This was devastating. I was printing trophies for a tournament I ran that day… showed up with a frown instead.

BAMBU LABS WHAT CAUSED THIS

/end of pleading

This user is using stock everything…
How do you purpose it could have been caused by 3rd party whatever…
Read the thread… and the other thread dedicated to the same issue…

Look at the reported setups… 9 out of 10 of them are “normal” users with stock setups. No 3rd party anything.
3rd party stuff is not causing the majority of issues on this forum.

We… the users you complain about… are the ones trying to help the “normal users”… not BL support!

Like most newer users to this forum should do (most of the answers are here)…
Read before you post please.

72

I think open source software has more support. Community support is almost always more valuable than company support with software.(from small 3d printer companies. obviously not talking about microsoft)…Unless you want to wait a month for answers.

73

IMG_0689

74

tell me your inability to see my post is signed at the end exactly to avoid any possible misunderstanding.

Ivan P.

Again.

As I believe this will be not enough for you, I’ll avoid your brain any further unnecessary exercise with google in the 3D printing community and forums, here another superlobbywhatever profile from me you may investigate https://www.thingiverse.com/pivan/designs

76

To you and the tons of people out there on the same line.

Reading until the end and understanding the content before commenting could help the overall discussion:

Then we can discuss on our rights as paying users: contract clause changes, support and spare parts availability, and things like that. But this is another topic.

Am I on the position BL is right on every topic? No.
Am I ok with BL f*****g user rights changing contractual terms? No.
Am I discussing on the pros/cons of a closed platform vs an open one and how this affect the majority of users who bought/will buy the product? Yes.

I hope now it is clear.

77

e.g. this forum posting/edit/reply mechanism is sh… well, has a lot of margin for improvement

78

My post was a reply to Johnny_Bit about ianholdendc’s position that seems to be essentially that we should accept bad behavior from Bambu for some reason or another.

I read enough. I understood enough. You aren’t my gatekeeper. Things are clear.

79

Agreed.
10% of users asking for openess is, well, 10% of your user base.
Generally speaking this is neglectable in the business economics, you get 90% of those who pay, fine, however - as somoone else commented out - you can’t totally avoid the “influencer” effect and forum discussions: people buying thech products go to the forums and see opiniong more and more than in the past.
This can have a kick back effect and in the end we’re here on the same line (despite some opinions on my post out there).

80

thanks
this less than optimal (in erms of technology, not people) forum doesn’t help at all

81

Those who want to just use open source software and don’t know how to code can find themselves in a pickle if something mission critical goes wrong.

However, for those who do understand the code, open source is the path to immediate fixing/resolution of issues because you can do it yourself.

Everything depends on context. Bad for some. Imperative for others.

82

For what? I hadn’t replied to you. Wasn’t discussing your opinion. And yet here we are.

83

My concern driving the original post is: you can do a viable mass business out of open source software. Can you do this with OS hardware? And with an hardware as complex as a 3d printer with also a lot of mechanics and a lot of things that can go wrong?

Examples do exist, the point is the actual reach they have - for a number of reasons I can’t enumerate, I’m not in HW.

I don’t personally believe Mr. Prusa is a good incarnation of how an open source hardware business should work considering how much they get from the community without recognizing the authors (e.g. the multicolor as said in the 1st post).

84

If I understand this post correctly, it is meant to tell the people who bought and paid for one thing to STFU and accept that BL has decided to change what they offered when we made the purchase decision.

We are to accept that companies can and will break contracts they wrote and we should accept that and be grateful.

Such a dumb position to take.

If you bought a car and they said it takes diesel and 6 months later they say you can only use cooking oil, would that be fine?

What if the car company said “you cannot use the highway/motorway now”?

Did your use if this car change because the company that provided it changed the offering they sold you?

Yes

You can be pro BL and anti this abusive change of contract we didn’t agree to.

But, if you are pro BL and pro changes to contract, that is weird, because, when does it end.

If your problem is you don’t like people talking about it, stick your fingers in your ears and don’t listen, just because other people are trying to protect your rights, you don’t have to listen.

Your original post isn’t about OSS it is about BL being allowed to change contracts.

I think you may have entirely misunderstood why people are annoyed and this part explains that.

People being angry isn’t about tinking, it is the change of contract between the item sold and the item they say they are going to change it to.

People didn’t buy BL to tinker. BL printers aren’t a tinkerers plaything, they are mostly locked down.

They did work with other software though, that is being removed and curtailed, they were built on OSS software and they are forcing entirely unnecessary CSS in the mix, they are introducing security measures to fix a them problem which they are turning into an us problem and using non-industry standard and wholly insecure solutions in the process?

Don’t believe me, read some of the security experts explain it. They have already breached their own security at least twice by having private key embedded in publicly accessible files rendering the whole security system obsolete.

This isn’t a security issue they are trying to fix or they wouldn’t have designed such an insecure system.

It is about removing features by adding CSS blockers in the print process to force other companies to stop supporting BL printers (think Orca) so they can control the whole process.

The legal term for this whole process is a bait and switch, or a long con.

85

No this is not my position.

Again, I’m simply asking: how can you support such a complex device if everyone can plug and use any possible extension/software/hardware in it?
Is closing the echosystem a way to guarantee flawless utilization as with other tools?
This is what I’m talking about: up to what level do we want openness if this is a compromise on peace of mind when using the printer?

86

No one is asking to open it up any more than it already is…

There are only 2 slicers that it works with AFAIK… BS and Orca…

We would like to continue using Orca.

It also accepts MQTT commands (right now). We are only asking that hey don’t cut these things (we have been using for years) out of the next FW upgrade.

It is already closed… we are asking that they don’t make it more closed.

Their excuse is Bull Shitt, as many security experts have pointed out…

Read… my friend… read.

87

Ever driven a car? Seen the aftermarkets part businesses that are out there?

Your point is baseless. Re-read what Malc said - Bambu sold us a device that had certain features when we bought it that they now want to pull back. It doesn’t matter the reason. What matters is Bambu is about to brick things customers bought from the company because for some, they simply are not allowed to run in non-lan mode.

What you don’t seem to understand is that Bambu sold us these printers with certain capabilities. To now try to take some functionalities away because they “want” to is most likely illegal worldwide.

I don’t give a damn about your rationalizing their reasons. I bought a printer that could do certain things. For Bambu to take those capabilities away has nothing to do with your opinions or world views. In my eyes it’s just theft.

Is that clear?