Why Prusa is floundering, and how you can avoid their fate

1. Prusa-Firmware-Buddy

   1 116 1,262 9.9 C

   Firmware for the Original Prusa MINI, Original Prusa MK4, Original Prusa XL and Prusa CORE One 3D printers by Prusa Research.

   

   I have a lot of respect for Armin, but it's pretty clear he doesn't really understand the specifics of what he's talking about here.

   > people are complaining (The MK4 firmware is not Open Source)

   the link here is to a reddit post (https://www.reddit.com/r/prusa3d/comments/10g6fgv/prusa_givi...) in which the complaint is not only not about the MK4's firmware, it's also not even about something not being open source.

   Specifically, that complaint is that PrusaSlicer (the software which turns a 3D model file into GCode instructions for the printer to follow - think PostScript, but for a 3D printer) is not developed as an open project. PrusaSlicer is open source, but most of the development happens internally at Prusa. It's a legitimate complaint, but not at all the complaint Armin claims it to be.

   For the record, the Mk4 firmware is also open source, it lives here: https://github.com/prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy

2. CodeRabbit

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3. Marlin

   2 757 16,588 9.8 C++

   Marlin is an optimized firmware for RepRap 3D printers based on the Arduino platform. Many commercial 3D printers come with Marlin installed. Check with your vendor if you need source code for your specific machine.

   

   There is _a lot_ wrong with Marlin. It is a complex codebase, full with ancient artefacts, litterred with preprocessor ifdefs every 2-3 lines of code, dynamic includes in the middle of CPP files, etc[1]. It's about as unreadable as C++ code gets--well, I guess it's not template metaprogramming.

   Klipper by contrast is a breeze to read through[2].

   I am very grateful for Marlin, for all of reprap, and everyone who has contributed to it. But saying there is nothing wrong with it is straight up misguided.

   [1]: https://github.com/MarlinFirmware/Marlin/blob/bugfix-2.1.x/M...

   [2]: https://github.com/Klipper3d/klipper/blob/master/src/lcd_hd4...

4. klipper

   3 769 9,993 9.5 C

   Klipper is a 3d-printer firmware

   

   There is _a lot_ wrong with Marlin. It is a complex codebase, full with ancient artefacts, litterred with preprocessor ifdefs every 2-3 lines of code, dynamic includes in the middle of CPP files, etc[1]. It's about as unreadable as C++ code gets--well, I guess it's not template metaprogramming.

   Klipper by contrast is a breeze to read through[2].

   I am very grateful for Marlin, for all of reprap, and everyone who has contributed to it. But saying there is nothing wrong with it is straight up misguided.

   [1]: https://github.com/MarlinFirmware/Marlin/blob/bugfix-2.1.x/M...

   [2]: https://github.com/Klipper3d/klipper/blob/master/src/lcd_hd4...

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