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I've encountered that thread before, but I re-read it anyways, and I had a thought: A fully open source printer (hardware and everything) is likely still infea

I've encountered that thread before, but I re-read it anyways, and I had a thought: A fully open source printer (hardware and everything) is likely still infeasible....but how hard would it be to design and sell an open source control board replacement? According to that thread, the hardest thing about an open source printer is the patents on all the hardware, but I'm pretty sure that it is legal (in the US at least), to buy a printer and swap out the control board if one so desires. And I'm also pretty sure that, as long as you are not using copyrighted firmware or something, that it would be legal to sell such a motherboard with new, open source software on it. This moves the goalpost from "design a completely new printer" to "create new control firmware and software". The downside is that you lose the full repairability options one would have if the entire thing was open source/open hardware, but honestly, hardware doesn't seem to be the primary problem with modern printers. This feels like a 95% as good solution with <5% of the difficulty, unless I'm missing something.

MostlyStable 3y ago
As I got further through the thread: someone had the same idea 3 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24788932 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24788932
gregsadetsky 3y ago
Right, it can definitely be a good approach (that did work for openwrt) But I do feel like (in the case of printers) building on top of hardware from hostile companies is too risky. And yeah, you wouldn’t be able to get replacement parts. It’d be a devil’s bargain. I’m definitely envisioning/dreaming of something as open and tweak-able as a 3d printer. That world is full of customization and innovation. And it seems to be truly built from the ground up. To me that’s the goal.
justinclift 3y ago
> but I'm pretty sure that it is legal (in the US at least), to buy a printer and swap out the control board if one so desires. If such a thing ever started to get traction, I'd expect HP would likely bury the people involved in litigation. Just off the top of my head they could probably start with the DMCA angle. "Your control board is a bypass for our DRM". :/ Probably similar to how console modders get arrested and thrown in jail.
- kalleboo 3y ago
  Printer toner was a landmark DMCA case! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexmark_International,_Inc._v._Static_Control_Components,_Inc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexmark_International,_Inc._v.....
lodovic 3y ago
Are patents on printer technology still relevant? Printers were booming in the nineties but as I haven't seen a single piece of innovation in the last 20 years my guess is that all important patents have expired by now.
TheOtherHobbes 3y ago
I'd guess the physical print engine is a standard off-the-shelf piece of hardware made in bulk in China, and very likely all the mfrs use the same standard part/s. So unless there's some kind of lock-in agreement, there would be no issue with a bulk order from some other party. Although given how printing is becoming a legacy tech, I doubt there would be enough interest to make it worthwhile today.
kasabali 3y ago
> According to that thread, the hardest thing about an open source printer is the patents on all the hardware We've had printers 25 years ago, patents are hardly an excuse.

MostlyStable 3y ago

As I got further through the thread: someone had the same idea 3 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24788932 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24788932

gregsadetsky 3y ago

Right, it can definitely be a good approach (that did work for openwrt) But I do feel like (in the case of printers) building on top of hardware from hostile companies is too risky. And yeah, you wouldn’t be able to get replacement parts. It’d be a devil’s bargain. I’m definitely envisioning/dreaming of something as open and tweak-able as a 3d printer. That world is full of customization and innovation. And it seems to be truly built from the ground up. To me that’s the goal.

justinclift 3y ago

> but I'm pretty sure that it is legal (in the US at least), to buy a printer and swap out the control board if one so desires. If such a thing ever started to get traction, I'd expect HP would likely bury the people involved in litigation. Just off the top of my head they could probably start with the DMCA angle. "Your control board is a bypass for our DRM". :/ Probably similar to how console modders get arrested and thrown in jail.

kalleboo 3y ago
Printer toner was a landmark DMCA case! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexmark_International,_Inc._v._Static_Control_Components,_Inc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexmark_International,_Inc._v.....

lodovic 3y ago

Are patents on printer technology still relevant? Printers were booming in the nineties but as I haven't seen a single piece of innovation in the last 20 years my guess is that all important patents have expired by now.

TheOtherHobbes 3y ago

I'd guess the physical print engine is a standard off-the-shelf piece of hardware made in bulk in China, and very likely all the mfrs use the same standard part/s. So unless there's some kind of lock-in agreement, there would be no issue with a bulk order from some other party. Although given how printing is becoming a legacy tech, I doubt there would be enough interest to make it worthwhile today.

kasabali 3y ago

> According to that thread, the hardest thing about an open source printer is the patents on all the hardware We've had printers 25 years ago, patents are hardly an excuse.