what

But that is simply stupid! Most other 3D printer brands do not needlessly restrict the hardware you purchased. This is the same story as Google restricting third-party app stores because they want a stronger software monopoly on Android! And non-Bambu printers are very good nowadays, exceeding Bambu in value (see Elegoo Centauri Carbon offering an enclosure, CoreXY, etc. for about the same price as the non-enclosed, bedslinger Bambu A1 I am stuck with) and reliability (Prusa is the gold standard obviously, but even other brands have gotten very good!)

Also, Bambu attacking tiny open source devs is simply not cool. I would rather not give my money to a company that does that when there are good alternatives >:/

ND filters are used to make a scene darker, so it won’t fix underexposed stuff, but it is nice to have e.g. in harsh sunlight, especially if you want to shoot at a longer exposure. I use a VND myself for its versatility, but either are fine. K&F Concept ones are awesome and highly recommended online, I have one of their tripods + some camera batteries that work well :D

I barely use an ND filter though, usually I just set my ISO lower, shutter speed higher, and aperture narrower (most of this done on the fly with one of the semiautomatic modes)

Woahhh that’s awesome! Great picture, mate!

Ok that is pretty cool. It isn’t confirmed according to Wikipedia, and of course like all exoplanets be mindful that all the images are just artist’s conceptions based on measured data

Hell yeah! The Elegoo Centauri Carbon (and 2) are awesome! It’s super nice to see convenient 3D printing becoming more accessible to everyone!

Hell yeah!

Awesome!

Oh, I didn’t know that! The Snapmaker U1 is looking pretty good then if you want multi toolhead

Specific issues? I’ve already mentioned my printer is out of commision due to a bad clog, filament has spewed out to cover the whole nozzle. I can’t get the nozzle out since it’s trapped in a solid chunk of plastic.

The Prusa Core One does not have “twice the price for the same features”, it’s about a couple hundred dollars more than the equivalent Bambu for: European manufacturing, immense repairability (not based on “feelings”, they have the option to ship the printer as a DIY kit so that you can know each part inside and out, and time and time again Prusa has allowed users of upgrade to the next version), reputation for reliability (I know friends who have been using a Prusa for the past decade that are still going strong!), and an awesome attitude to the community.

And yes, Elegoo has a better value printer! So why position Bambu as the “affordable” option, if it has less features (no enclosure, no CoreXY) compared to the Elegoo CC (and others, you have Qidi doing heated bed chamber for a great value), while not being as reliable/repairable as a Prusa? Plus them being awful to FOSS projects and closing down on their software is generally bad. Obviously, don’t contribute to e-waste and bin your printer, I haven’t, but for newbies, I would strongly advise against Bambu.

Yes, Prusa has made bedslingers for long time, but the Core One has been out for a while now, and it’s recently received the optional INDX upgrade for multi-toolhead. Prusa isn’t falling behind, they are still doing very cool stuff and innovating, not to mention everything is STILL upgradeable despite becoming CoreXY, and that is an achievement! (e.g. you can upgrade a MK4S to a Core One + INDX if you wanted too)

It’s a lie to say that Prusa is not innovating, because they really are :D

They have also contributed a lot to the community, the opposite of which is true for Bambu.

You have not addressed the main points against Bambu:

• attempting to take down small FOSS projects (which, by the way, are not violating any of Bambu’s licenses, Bambu Studio is open-source and the fork is not “abusing their services”)
• the existence of much better values options (e.g. Elegoo CC, and many of Qidi’s machines are good too)
• the locked down software ecosystem, I have bought the printer and have happily used OrcaSlicer for a while, why should it be blocked via software patch? What reasoning is there to block third party hardware (literally just a screen attachment for the P1 series, “security” my ass) aside from screwing with everybody? Bambu cannot be trusted to keep their promises
• the “just works” excuse isn’t good enough, since Bambu machines do have reliability issues. Maybe it’s because I live in a more humid climate, but I have experienced as many issues on the A1 as other nom-Bambu printers
• Prusa machines are very well regarded in terms of support and repairability, that is one of their key strengths and you are dismissing that completely

And instead, you are focusing on the higher prices of Prusa machines (while ignoring that higher end Bambu printers are also very expensive, if not more so for their dual nozzle thing compared to, say, the Snapmaker U1 others have already mentioned), are ignorant that Prusa Core One is CoreXY, assumed I was positioning the Core One as a competitor to the A1 (any sane person would immediately see that’s just wrong, I did word it a bit weirdly and that’s been edited to be more clear, but it doesn’t change my point that Bambu Lab machines are not super reliable like you suggest)

The Prusa Core One competes with the higher end Bambu Lab machines, mate! And you have ignored that Prusa machines are way more repairable and reliable. Also, the Core One is a COREXY machine, what are you on about with bedslingers. The A1 is also a bedsligner but I don’t see you complaining.

Also, you seemed to have ignored the Elegoo Centauri Carbon (which is similarly priced, CoreXY, enclosure, super awesome in general)

I did not say Prusa was super competitve in the low end, that’s why the Elegoo Centauri Carbon was mentioned!

I have an A1 and I hate it. It’s so stupid that they are locking down on their ecosystem, and I fervantly despise that they are trying to take down that fork of OrcaSlicer (despite their own software being a fork of a fork!)

it’s affordable

Elegoo’s Centauri Carbon has an enclosure and is CoreXY, so objectively much better value than the A1

works great

Until it doesn’t. The nozzle of my A1 has clogged, and it is difficult to fix. The Prusa Core One is more reliable and repairable for a similar price and performance to the equivalent Bambu machine (edit: to higher end Bambu machines, obviously it doesn’t compete with the A1’s price bracket. My point still stands that Bambu machines are not the end all be all for reliability).

I have a Bambu Lab printer, but I would not recommend them to newbies anymore. They did a software update to block third party software (like OrcaSlicer, which I was using…), hardware accessories became paperweights, and they are trying of take down a small fork of OrcaSlicer (despite their Bambu Studio software being a fork of a fork too)

You also just have much, much better options nowadays. The Elegoo Centauri Carbon is WAY better value than the A1 I have (CoreXY, enclosed, not actively attacking tiny FOSS projects…), and the Prusa Core One is more reliable, repairable, and generally more awesome to the FOSS community than the pricier Bambu Lab machines (+ the INDX upgrade for multi-toolhead functionality!)

edit: If you want multi-toolhead specifically, the Snapmaker U1 might be a better option (cheaper than both Bambu and Prusa too, and their software is a fork of OrcaSlicer!)

mailbox.org, posteo.de, and Fastmail do not have free plans. If the email service is free, it is likely that you are the product. Disroot is Dutch 🇳🇱 and one of the only providers I know that offer free email services and have an actual no logs policy, but they manually verify each sign up (alright for a single personal email but annoying to deal with).

I do not live in Australia, I’m a resident of Hong Kong 🇭🇰! Bolt does not operate there, but I’ll be moving to the UK soon for study (where they do operate!)

Yay, another person using the Fediverse! That is always nice, it’s so amazing that people from different services hosted in so many places can communicate almost seamlessly!

As for communication stuff, Signal is quite good. Don’t let perfection become the enemy of good, it’s a hell of a lot better than WhatsApp and has the security audits to show for it. I would encourage more people to use XMPP (and for larger communities, Matrix) since you aren’t reliant on a central server (hosted in the U.S.) and a single client! All are better than being under the thumb of Facebook though.

Yay for the Firefox-based browsers! LibreWolf is awesome, though I personally am currently using Floorp.

Huh, I never knew that DeepL and SoundCloud were German! The more you know. I do prefer doing both translation (“Offline Translator” on F-Droid and the built-in translation feature on Firefox based browsers is very good!) and music (headphone jack forever!) locally though.

If you need other email recommendations, I know mailbox.org and posteo (both German 🇩🇪) are highly regarded, and if you’re fine with us Aussies 🇦🇺, Fastmail is awesome too!

The KeePass ecosystem is truly awesome, as is AntennaPod!

Have not heard of Bolt, will look into it, looks very cool (and Estonian 🇪🇪!)

Linux is the GOAT, and wish you all the best on mobile Linux! It’s so cool that Linux phones actually becoming a feasible alternative for many people (desktop Linux has been amazing for ages, especially with Proton making gaming awesome too)

And yay for supporting local businesses!

Ok that is weird…on my end the formatting is correct on the website, but incorrect on all three mobile apps I have installed (Interstellar, Summit, and Blorp). Very strange indeed.

Next time, please format the post to be more readable, it would be really nice if you did! (unless Frendica’s formatting is different? I dunno, but on Lemmy/Piefed it looks like one big glob of a paragraph EDIT: this appears to be an issue with the Lemmy/Piefed mobile apps, on the website it works fine. Weird!)

You can use " - " to create lists, and new paragraphs need a newline in between (e.g. line 1: paragraph, line 2: empty, line 3: paragraph). Something like this maybe:

Hello, people. I managed to settle on a few alternatives hosted/created in Europe, and I decided to make this post to serve as an inspiration for others into picking European alternatives to American Big Tech. I will also mention how close I am to fully commit using them completely. Here we go:

• Facebook ------> Friendica (99% of the time - I noticed it’s been weeks since I last accessed Facebook. Down from pretty much all the time at its peak)
• Instagram -------> Friendica and the Fediverse, via Friendica (75% of the time - I still have friends sending me reels and stuff, and nowadays, it looks like new people are more likely to connect with you on Instagram. However, I am aware of who owns that thing and how addicting it is, so I am trying to limit its usage as best as I can. I did create a pictures-only circle to compensate)
• Reddit -------> The Fediverse, via Friendica (70% of the time - Reddit still has native content for my own language and the old Reddit interface which makes it sane enough to use - even though the content gets more and more garbage. I created a circle called “Frontpage” on Friendica that I seldomly visit)
• YouTube -------> PeerTube, via Friendica (5% of the time I guess - YouTube has this talent of getting you through rabbit holes, and the content creators are paid, unlike on the Fediverse, where some PeerTube instances actually charge you to put their videos there, so probably not that enticing for them. Shout-out to some of the YouTubers I do follow who moved here though).
• WhatsApp --------> Signal (5% of the time, some friends are really starting to use that), XMPP (0.5% - seldomly enter for some groups, but no one is using this, sadly), Briar (0% of the time - literally not a single soul there. The concept is nice, since that’s why I’m still having that installed, but that’s the only reason I keep it. Getting people on XMPP seems easier than this imo)
• Goodreads --------> Bookwyrm (100% - fuck that shithole Bezos who owns Amazon and doesn’t give a crap on this platform)
• IMDB ----------> Moviebuff (100% - yes, that is a federated alternative to IMDB and Letterboxd; also fuck that shithole Bezos who owns Amazon and doesn’t give a crap on this platform)
• Last.fm --------> Libre.fm (40-50% I guess - great platform. Not so good when it comes to certain features, but shout-out to Matt Lee for keeping the lights on for so long, and for continuing to do so)
• Geocaching.com -------> opencaching.ro (0% of the time - sadly had no time to look for caches anymore. Bummer. I’d love to log something)
• Google Maps ---------> Organic Maps (60% of the time - in process of changing for CoMaps - the clanker-free version of Organic Maps, sorry), InfoTB (40% of the time - this is the local transit app. It is proprietary as fuck but since it is made by my local transit agency I can be 100% sure it’s gonna work properly and be more up-to-date than even Google Maps. And there are plenty of missing features from Google Maps itself compared to this afaik)
• Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, Box ---------> Nextcloud (99.9% of the time - I still have data there, but I seldomly use these. Also there’s no Linux client, so eff them), pCloud and Filen (whenever I want to transfer something larger - haven’t committed to storing all the stuff there. Will need to do some cleanup through my cloud storage accounts too), Mega (50% of the time - larger stuff goes there; got my account when they offered 50 GB for free)
• Google Contacts, also on Microsoft and Yahoo -------> Nextcloud contacts (65% let’s say - new contacts go there. Need to do some purge on the others whenever I have the time)
• Google Calendar ---------> Nextcloud calendar (10% of the time - have to move some recurring events there, which are 90% of how I use that service tbh; also need to do some cleanup)
• Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo -------> Eclipso mail (0% of the time - feature-wise seems good enough for me, but just like in the other cases, I need to do some cleanup - need some time to spare; I am thinking of leaving yahoo for good out of the other 3; I may leave the other two as well if I find a good aliasing service. IDK, thinking how to move things forward)
• Keepass (100% of the time - never used another password manager; used one of my cloud providers for syncing)
• Google Photos -------> My own laptop, backed up to an external hard drive (100% of the time - cannot get any more European than that) - I use Shotwell for organizing stuff
• Google Keep ---------> Nextcloud Notes (100% of the time); in the past I used Zettel Notes on Android, now I am only keeping it to read articles offline
• Microsoft OneNote --------> Nextcloud Notes (0% of the time - I need to move out some of the notes from there)
• Google Translate --------> DeepL Translate (100% of the time - never seen another product that was literally on par with the American product - even better); also I am looking for some dictionaries to use locally with Goldendict; I do have some, but not enough
• Chrome --------> Librewolf (100% of the time)
• Microsoft Office ---------> LibreOffice (100% of the time when I’m opening any document)
• AntennaPod (100% of the time - never used anything else for podcasting; currently syncing my podcasts with Nextcloud)
• Spotify --------> SoundCloud (0% of the time currently, have used it extensively in the past; this is pretty much the only service that I accept as streaming), I also currently mostly buy music, so most of the time I am listening offline (let’s say 100% of the time); there’s also Nextcloud music installed on one of the servers I’m on.
• Netflix ---------> local cinema (100% of the time - yes, I do have such a thing. Better to support your local business).
• Uber ---------> Bolt (100% of the time), I’m also using the public transport, and I’ve started riding my bike more.
• Windows --------> Linux (100% of the time - switched since almost 10 years ago; that shit belongs to the dumpster).
• Android ----------> Sailfish OS (90% of the time - wow, that’s such a fantastic system if you manage to around some of its shortcomings; can’t wait for the 5.3 version, that will have broader support for Android banking apps such as Revolut. Can’t wait for it!). Of course, I am using the new Jolla Phone, so another point for a European smartphone.
• Mastercard, Visa ---------> RoPay (0% of the time - it’s a recently launched thing in my country. How the hell does that shit even work?!? I tried to use it twice at a self-checkout in Auchan, and it was just not working), Wero, other European solutions (???% - the idea behind them is good, but those are not even available in my country, what the hell?!?).
• Amazon -------> eMag (30% of the time - Amazon is not even present in my country. But we fortunately have the same shitty version of it that tries to sell everything called eMag), brick&mortar stores (70% of the time I guess), I’m aware that I’m privileged to live in a big city, so I have plenty of options available, but if you do have the opportunity as well, why not go take a breath of fresh air on your way there.
• McDonald’s, KFC, other fast food chains -----> Hesburger (10% of the time - meh food but at more affordable prices), shawarma places (5% of the time - yes, there’s plenty of them here, but don’t want to spoil myself too much), pastry shops (are they called like this in English) such as Luca or the local mom&pop ones (10% of the time, Luca expanded into Poland too, that shit is good for a snack), regular restaurants (50% of the time).

And that’s pretty much it, I guess? If there’s anything missing it means I have found no alternative to it or haven’t thought of it. By any chance, did I miss something though? And how do you fare with your usage on European alternatives? Did you find your own Euro-Stack? Do you miss something yourself from it?

ah ok

It worked for me, so dunno if this is a widespread issue. I now use Sable though since I prefer it over Cinny (it’s a fork with extra bits I think)