A guy shared a way to remote control his Bambu Labs 3D printer, and Bambu went full Tony Soprano on him. No, they didn’t break his legs or feed someone through a deli meat slicer, but even though the guy complied with Bambu’s demand to take down his open-source code, Bambu kept up with vaguely but increasingly threatening language about impending legal action.

Now Bambu has a PR nightmare on its hands, as its commitment to the Apple-style walled garden of “We control it, and you just buy it and use it how we like” ethos comes under attack by pissed-off owners.

There’s another 3D printer brand that’s far more welcoming towards owners tinkering with their products. Have you ever heard of the Czech brand Prusa? Enter, the Original Prusa MK4S.

an open-source tinkerer’s dream

Chinese brands such as Bambu Labs and Creality dominate the home 3D printer market, but Prusa stands out for being a Czech company that manufactures its 3D printers in the Czech Republic. Or Czechia as they’ve officially and just recently began calling themselves in English.

That drives up the prices a bit compared to the competition, but Prusa has a solid reputation as being far more open and collaborative with owners of its machines than Bambu. They’ve got a whole page about their commitment to open-source. That means support for owners who want to tinker with their 3D printers without being locked into an Apple-like ecosystem in which the 3D printer brand rules its consumer base like a feudal lord. They even share a page of the open-source tools that they use at Prusa.

“Open-source is our heart, sharing how we do things so others can learn and create…,” Prusa says. “Our goal is for our printers to remain moddable, easily repairable, and produce amazing prints even decades after their initial release. Reprint the plastic parts, flash custom firmware, or completely modify our printers to meet your specific needs.”