The state of open-source in 3D printing in 2023
I think this is really missing a big part of the picture. I didn&#x27;t buy two mk3s+s because Prusa has tech that nobody else has, or because their design is fundamentally superior to anything else. I bought them because Prusa has an outstanding and justified reputation for building selling <i>reliable</i> machines and standing behind them with proven expertise.<p>Those are not things you can clone – not cheaply, anyway. That&#x27;s the deal with any premium brand that has earned its reputation. There will always be imitators, and there will always be people who scoff and call you a rip-off because the cost of your product is greater than the sum of its parts. You ignore that, because you&#x27;re better than that.<p>To me, being aggressively open source is a line in the sand on this point. It&#x27;s saying &quot;Go ahead: clone us. We don&#x27;t care. Clones are not a threat, because the design is not what you&#x27;re paying extra for.&quot;<p>Conversely, backpedaling on that position seems like a mistake. It&#x27;s switching to a different strategy where you&#x27;re instead saying &quot;Actually, our IP is the only thing that differentiates us, and otherwise, we&#x27;re the same as any other manufacturer.&quot; That&#x27;s a dangerous game to play, and you only want to play it if you can ensure that you&#x27;re going to be ahead of the curve on innovation.<p>And, well, much as I love Prusa… they&#x27;re <i>not</i> ahead of that curve right now. Their value <i>is</i> that they have great QA and great support, and it seems to me that their stance should reflect that.