Overview
- Independent developer Paweł Jarczak published an OrcaSlicer fork that restored cloud-printing features without using Bambu Connect and Bambu Lab responded with a cease-and-desist demanding the fork’s removal from GitHub.
- The Software Freedom Conservancy has reviewed the case and says the bambu_networking plugin is required to run Bambu Studio and therefore falls under the slicer’s AGPLv3 obligations, making Bambu’s proprietary flag a license violation.
- Bambu Lab counters that Jarczak’s fork impersonated Bambu Studio, bypassed authorization controls, breached its Terms of Service, and used reverse engineering that it says could let modified software send unsafe commands to printers.
- Prominent community figures and right-to-repair advocates have backed Jarczak with offers of legal funding and an offer to host the fork, turning the dispute into a wider community-versus-vendor fight over openness and control.
- The conflict rests on a clear code lineage from Slic3r to PrusaSlicer to Bambu Studio and raises wider questions about copyleft compliance, device interoperability, and whether manufacturers can monetize cloud services on AGPL-derived software.