In their last blog post, Bambu Lab said they were working with OrcaSlicer to integrate their new Bambu Connect software into it. As “proof,” they shared a link to a pull request (a piece of code they would like to include in OrcaSlicer’s code) they had made to OrcaSlicer.
Yet, two days ago, SoftFever, the leading developer behind OrcaSlicer, declined the PR, changing its status to “Draft.” This is the message they shared explaining their reasoning:
Thank you everyone for your valuable feedback.
After carefully evaluating Bambulab’s recent policy change, we have concluded that their proposed integration method would not provide meaningful value for OrcaSlicer users.
Therefore, we have decided NOT to support Bambu Connect for the foreseeable future.
We believe simply launching a separate standalone application falls short of true integration. Without direct access to printer functions, we cannot create the seamless workflow our Bambu printer users expect and deserve. This limitation severely restricts our ability to implement meaningful features and improvements for their printers in the future.We encourage Bambulab to reconsider their current policy. Users should have full control and choice over the hardware they’ve purchased with their hard-earned money.
We remain open to work with Bambulab if they choose to provide proper API access and support for third-party integration.Meanwhile, for current Bambu printer users, we advise NOT upgrading their firmware and to keep their printers in LAN-only mode for security reasons.
In the meantime, we will continue focusing our own development efforts on features and improvements that deliver real value to the community.
https://github.com/SoftFever/OrcaSlicer/pull/8103?#issuecomment-2612855023
It would have been “easy” to accept Bambu Lab’s PR and move on. Nevertheless, SoftFever has shown that their users, as does their experience using the software, matter most.