> Note that none of this is material to the license of the product, be it free or non-free. It’s about building a brand, developing a customer relationship, and

> Note that none of this is material to the license of the product, be it free or non-free. It’s about building a brand, developing a customer relationship, and identifying and exploiting market opportunities. Um... ok? But the product is what they are selling, and that is based on research on development, which is under a license. Other companies use this R&D, do not open it, and sell their product cheaper while having an completely opaque R&D process. > Hackers and enthusiasts who found companies like Prusa tend to imagine that the product is everything, but it’s not. Maybe 10% of the work is developing the 3D printer itself – don’t abandon the other 90% of your business. 3D printers became accessible to consumers because of a focus on open source and engineering. It is no where near mature. To call it '10%' is ridiculous. You think they should spend 90% of their effort to heavily monetize something that isn't mainstream consumer ready? So they can choke the market while it is entirely filled with hobbyists and enthusiasts, who are probably the most notoriously picky consumers in the world when it comes to hardware? > You need to deal with sales and marketing, chase down promising leads, identify and respond to risks, look for and exploit new market opportunities, and much more to be successful. What does that even mean with regards to 3D printing?