As far as I understand it some guy created an OrcaSlicer fork that uses the same application identifier as BambuStudio when sending stuff to their cloud services. The identifier is available in their open source code.
It just seems like bad security architecture which would need to be fixed, but they instead try bully their way out of it.
OrcaSlicer is a fork of Bambu Slicer (which is a fork of Prusa Slicer, and that’s a fork of Slic3r). There was a fork of Orca that used the same (GPL licensed, mind you) code that Bambu Slicer uses to access their cloud service, since OrcaSlicer removed that functionality last year. There’s no foul play here by the devs, it’s just Bambu blaming their security issues on a small community project. Very much against the ethos of open-source, picking on smaller members of the community is very much not nice.
Not to defend Bambu in any way, but they seem to be stuck between the AGPL and the Chinese government that wants control over the software in the name of ‘national Security’ (this applies to nearly every industry in China). And third parties are outside actors that they can’t control. Which I think might be why Bambu is acting like they are. Their government is now leaning on them to rein this in. And companies in China fear the government more than the rest of the world.
When Bambu first started won this path, didn’t they say one could buy a license to tie into their code? And Orca refused to do that. I wonder if part of the “price” involved approval from the Chinese government about backdoor access.
There are other Chinese companies that produce 3D printers that aren’t acting in a similar way, like Elegoo and Qidi. Of course, they aren’t the most open (closed firmware and such. Corporations be corporate) but they do still support third-party slicers and all that. Perhaps this could play a part in Bambu’s decision, especially given that they are a larger player in the space, but it can’t explain all of it.
Does somebody know more about the part where Bambu claims that orca is ‘hacking’ their cloud? How? By using the API? By actually breaking something?
As far as I understand it some guy created an OrcaSlicer fork that uses the same application identifier as BambuStudio when sending stuff to their cloud services. The identifier is available in their open source code.
It just seems like bad security architecture which would need to be fixed, but they instead try bully their way out of it.
OrcaSlicer is a fork of Bambu Slicer (which is a fork of Prusa Slicer, and that’s a fork of Slic3r). There was a fork of Orca that used the same (GPL licensed, mind you) code that Bambu Slicer uses to access their cloud service, since OrcaSlicer removed that functionality last year. There’s no foul play here by the devs, it’s just Bambu blaming their security issues on a small community project. Very much against the ethos of open-source, picking on smaller members of the community is very much not nice.
Its a fork of Orca not the main Orca slicer project.
Oh, whoops! I will fix that now
Not to defend Bambu in any way, but they seem to be stuck between the AGPL and the Chinese government that wants control over the software in the name of ‘national Security’ (this applies to nearly every industry in China). And third parties are outside actors that they can’t control. Which I think might be why Bambu is acting like they are. Their government is now leaning on them to rein this in. And companies in China fear the government more than the rest of the world.
When Bambu first started won this path, didn’t they say one could buy a license to tie into their code? And Orca refused to do that. I wonder if part of the “price” involved approval from the Chinese government about backdoor access.
There are other Chinese companies that produce 3D printers that aren’t acting in a similar way, like Elegoo and Qidi. Of course, they aren’t the most open (closed firmware and such. Corporations be corporate) but they do still support third-party slicers and all that. Perhaps this could play a part in Bambu’s decision, especially given that they are a larger player in the space, but it can’t explain all of it.