I applaud this notion.
I’m old enough to remember the pre-America Online Internet, when this ethos defined online communities. Thingiverse, before Ultimaker acquired MakerBot, embodied that spirit. Prusa’s Printables.com has shown that it’s possible to strike a balance between shareability and a for-profit business model. Let’s be candid—MakerWorld took the worst elements of that concept and built a platform that divides rather than unites. That’s one of the reasons I boycott it.
This has been at the core of my frustration with Bambu’s approach. My early loyalty was based on an undeniably superior product, but over time, that loyalty was hijacked by corporate greed. I never objected to their closed design, but I never expected my ability to use my own property to be at risk. Initially, I wanted the company to succeed—like rooting for a hometown sports team—but not at the expense of user autonomy. Now I’m rooting for their demise and comeuppance.
It’s bad enough when a product I paid for starts herding users into a subscription model(Makerworld), but what’s worse is that the community doesn’t even realize (or care) that they’re the proverbial frog being slowly boiled while Bambu gets away with it. That’s frustrating enough. But when the features I originally paid for are actively threatened or stripped away through enshittification, it feels like outright betrayal. And to top it off, their recent gaslighting and dismissive communication make it clear they’re not even trying to hide it anymore—Bambu’s just flipping us the middle finger and moving forward.