MakerBot Industries Shocks Fanbase
Feelings of shock and betrayal rip through the 3D printing community this week as MakerBot Industries turns its back on its Fanbase on two fronts:
1. MakerBot's new 3d printer the Replicator 2 will be "closed-source"
2. Upon further inspection of changes to the Thingiverse.com Legal Terms of Service (which were made in February this year), MakerBot Industries claims ownership of the open-source designs posted on the site by it's users.
Read the sheepish re-buttal from the Dark Lord of the Thing, Bre Pettis.
These developments have brought MakerBot Industries condemnation from RepRap "All-Father" Adrian Bowyer, Former MakerBot Founder Zach "Hoeken" Smith, Famous RepRap Developer Josef Prusa, and the RepRap 3D Printing Community At Large.
I think this cartoon by RepRap Blogger Nudel sets the scene nicely:
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Thingiverse As a Give and Take Service
Thingiverse.com does indeed provide a service; a service that I enjoy very much.
Whatever arrangement that MakerBot chooses to arrange with the users of the site is fairly irrelevant.
The trouble I see here is more about, trust, openness and the ethical fiber of MakerBot Industries.
If part of the deal of getting to use Thingiverse is that they get to co-own or use designs I post; that is fine, and not necessarily a good or evil action.
Some people might even think this is a good deal for the services they get from Thingiverse --> But such an arrangement must be very clear and understood by all parties
The Ethical Dilemma here is that MakerBot Industries now has a website which collects open-source ideas, while running a business that sells closed-source products.
Questions You Must Ask Yourself:
- Does the closed-source MakerBot Replicator 2 contain open-source designs from users posted on Thingiverse? Yes/No/Maybe So
- Has MakerBot positisoned themselves to sell closed source machines using open-source designs from users posted on Thingiverse? YES
- Does that pit MakerBot Industries in direct contention with the open-source values the company was founded on? Yes/No/Maybe So
The fact that the answer to the last question is a matter of opinion should horrify Thingiverse users.
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Famous RepRap Dev Josef Prusa Jr. Chastises MakerBot and Rips Designs Off Thingiverse
Prusa Jr., the man behind the famous Prusa Mendel design, denounces the new Thingiverse Legal Terms of service, and the closed source nature of the MakerBot Replicator 2
In a post on Thingiverse, Prusa initiated an "Occupy Thingiverse" movement and has called on RepRap Hobbyiests to spread his message.
Prusa states he will be removing his designs from Thingiverse.com:
"I'm leaving Thingiverse after seeing updated Terms of use thingiverse.com/legal , over next few days I will remove all my stuff. It will be downloadable on my website josefprusa.cz or reprap.org I prefer to by owner of my own designs :-)
Also Replicator 2 is Closed Source, at least everything looks like it and guy on Makerbot support phone told me so.
Check out my open letter to Bre Pettis here josefprusa.cz/open-hardware-meaning/
Link it, tweet it, comment it! Help the cause and show them we want it Open Source!
Print the Test Cube as ugly as you can and post picture of it as "I made one" :-)
Jo Prusa, RepRap"
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Exiled MakerBot Founder Condems MakerBot Industries
MakerBot's founder, Zach "Hoeken" Smith, who was essentially exiled from his own company this April, broke his silence on the "load of corporate double-speak bullshit" that has come to characterize his interactions with MakerBot Industries.
Read Zach's Blog post here!
His blog post does not characterize MakerBot Industries well at all.
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RepRap "All-Father" Adrian Bowyer Shares His Perspective
Dr. Bowyer and the Gang @ RepRapPro.com
Dr. Adrian Bowyer, the inventor and creator of the RepRap Project, and source of much inspiration and admiration in the 3D printing community, made a few posts on the RepRap Community forum sheding some light on his thoughts of the situation.
Dr. Bowyer, as calm, cool, collected and gentlemanly as ever referenced a 2011 press release in which he discussed his reasoning behind making the RepRap project an open source endevour.
I make money out of Makerbot (a small amount) and I make money out of RepRap (a rather larger amount, via RepRapPro Ltd). The tiny percentage of Makerbot that I own means that I have no control over what they do. RepRapPro Ltd (which is run by me, my family, and friends) is completely open-source - that I do have significant control over.
Anyone interested in my views on all this sort of thing may care to see here: http://lists.reprap.org/pipermail/reprap-dev-policy/2011-February/000001.html.
best wishes
Adrian
Dr. Bowyer's comments, while not as fevered as those frothing from the mouth of exiled MakerBot founders, and enraged RepRap Developers, clearly shows that MakerBot Industries has strayed from the values of the RepRap Project which spawned it.
Update on Saturday, October 6, 2012 at 9:17AM by
Adam Herring
Good Day All,
Give this MakerBot blog post a read. The one titled "Let's try that again."
Bre Pettis states that MakerBot Industries are long time supporters of RepRap Hobbyists and will continue to be so.
I want to hear from YOU, the RepRap hobbyist. Do you feel that MakerBot Industries has supported you as a hobbyist, and if so, how?
Bre claims he will continue to support us; so what kind of support from MakerBot Industries would you like to see in the future? If he genuinely wishes to support us, we should consider asking for support that we need. -> (RepRap Instructional Repository, printing Instructional Videos, What?)
If we let them extend an olive branch, perhaps we all win?
Points in The Letter I did Not Like
*Don't Judge Me by My Past Statements
In a moment of candor worthy of a presidential candidate, Bre Pettis asks us not to use his past comments against him:
"To those who are trying to use my past words against me, this is a journey down an unpaved road and we are figuring it out as we go along."
Considering that most of us do not personally know the man, and we only have his words and actions to judge his ethics and motivations, I think using his past statements is fair.
Bre Pettis has literally appeared on magazine covers as a pioneer of Open Source Hardware; people who didn't just like Bre, but believed in him seem to be more than a little disappointed.
Perhaps I would have swallowed this more easily if I felt a different tone... Maybe something more about personal growth and changing opinions... but, to me... it was more about changing business strategies than changing philosophy -> This gives me an uneasy impression the being "open-source" was simply convenient because it brought them good press and not because "it was the right thing to do."
*Calls For Retribution On Those Who Are Discontent With MakerBot
Bre states "Some members of the community needs to be taken to task."
Aside from bad grammar (not that my grammar is great 
), this bothers me on a few levels.
I sense some responsibility dodging on Bre's part. I feel that if more tact had been used in revealing MakerBot's "evolving" stance on Open Source Hardware, then there would not have been so much chaos.
MakerBot could have even been admired as a new pioneering example of a new class of mostly-open business practice... But that strong, tactful delivery of news Idol to fan-base never came... Instead, we get a few quasi apology/rebuttals after chaos had broken out.
I can't excuse impolite behavior on the internet, but I can understand it.
I feel that if MakerBot knew how to handle and communicate with their fan-base there would have been much less of a problem.
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