Bamboo spotted [LWN.net]

Bamboo spotted

Posted Aug 28, 2026 6:41 UTC (Fri) by acolin (subscriber, #61859)
Parent article: An ongoing 3D-printer AGPL violation

We have a couple of Bamboo printers at work, the second unit of which purchased very recently. We do have a couple of other brands, too. I'll mention to our dear printer keepers that Bamboo deserves a second thought, when they set out to purchase yet another unit. Thanks for bringing this issue up.

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Bamboo spotted

Posted Aug 28, 2026 7:47 UTC (Fri) by chris_se (subscriber, #99706) [Link]

It's not just the AGPL violation itself though. This is all part of a process of them trying to establish a vendor lock-in for their users:

https://www.3dnatives.com/en/bambu-lab-at-the-heart-of-a-...
(That was January 2025, it's gotten worse since.)

A friend of mine has a Bambu printer they bought before this controversy blew up, and he said he's never connecting that thing to any network with internet access, and that he's never upgrading the firmware. And that in the future he'll most likely not buy another Bambu printer.

It's a shame really, because before this whole controversy a _LOT_ people in my orbit were actually recommending them due to their build quality and how easy they were to set up. And now nobody I know personally is still recommending them, precisely because of their shenanigans.