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Lucy
| Revoluciana How to Distribute Radical Shit:
*Don't Trust Your Printer*
Your printer is a snitch. It's a homing beacon for law enforcement– even offline.
My post about what to do instead:
https://www.revoluciana.net/how-to-distribute-radical-stuff/
@revoluciana
Is it weird to anyone else that there isn't a strong community developed open source 2d printer project? It's one of the most familiar touchstones where everyone recognizes enshittification, they're literally snitching on their owners while picking their pockets, and even beyond that, they're constant sources of frustration because they work so poorly. I don't personally have the technical knowhow, but I'm POSITIVE the maker community does!
@TheGreatLlama Good point. I debated whether or not to include this as an option. There *are* some projects, but unless I was looking in the wrong places, none of them seemed so great. Then again, it's not like we have great open source laptops and phones, either, so idk.
@revoluciana
Yeah, I've seen a couple of projects but nothing I'd call mature. I think with phones and laptops the trouble comes down mostly to form-factor: getting all those components to get along while existing in the compact space consumers demand. But printers seem pretty low tech in the grand scheme of things. We're still essentially squirting ink on a page, and for the most part we're not packing them around. I'd be fine with bulky and ugly if it just did its job consistently without costing me a fortune.
@TheGreatLlama @revoluciana I don't have links or facts to back it up, but I'd guess that it's a patent minefield.
@TheGreatLlama@kolektiva.social@jandi @revoluciana
Probably true for a commercial entity, but so is 3d printing. It's mostly been gotten around by the community just ignoring the patent trolls. It's pretty hard to defend your bogus patent against competing companies when any number of user developed projects are just building it anyway.
@TheGreatLlama @revoluciana Again, totally not an expert, but 2D printers are quite complex (I'd venture an order of magnitude more small/complex than 3D), most inkjets use MEMS*, and lasers also have quite sophisticated patents & designs. These are not patent trolls, they're established players.
That's what I think at first impression, would love to know more though!
@jandi @revoluciana
I'm no expert on the subject, but I can tell you without a doubt that I had a perfectly functional inkjet printer in the 90s. It seems like there should be plenty of technology available that isn't covered by current patents.
@TheGreatLlama @revoluciana You've piqued my curiosity!
I hope to have some time this week and look into it more, if you get some answers or info I'd love it, thanks!