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As a matter of fact he's a never-ending source of drama and outrage, all of which are his own opinions. His repair channel isn't even about repair anymore, it's

• stingraycharles 5mo ago
  Yeah I agree, it’s almost a political drama channel at this point and his opinions lack nuance. I don’t understand why an article from Tom’s Hardware about an opinion of Louis Rossman who tells a 3D printer maker to go fuck themselves is currently the most upvoted article on HN.
  • sillysaurusx 5mo ago
    And yet he’s having an effect. Are either of you pledging $10k to defend hackers in court? I can hardly believe headlines like these are met with anything but cheers. It’s literally the hacker spirit in the classical sense: a big company is trying to legally threaten a project offline, and people like Louis are helping prevent that. You could at least throw in a “it’s cool that he’s pledging money” before insulting his channel. And if his channel wasn’t as political as it is, it’s doubtful he could rally the kind of support we’re seeing here.
    • stingraycharles 5mo ago
      > I can hardly believe headlines like these are met with anything but cheers. My point is that I have an issue with his tone and rhetoric, not with the thing he’s advocating. He appeals to a certain audience that likes rage over proper discourse. I am fairly certain the HN etiquette prefers proper discourse over rage.
      • koverstreet 5mo ago
        It seems to me you're style over substance then.
        • Aurornis 5mo ago
          The comment at the top of this thread was literally defending Rossmann based on his style (passionate, vulnerable) over his substance (factual accuracy)
          • dns_snek 5mo ago
            I suggest reading that comment again because it does nothing of the sort.
            • fc417fc802 5mo ago
              FWIW that's also how I interpret it. That said, it doesn't bother me because it's YT not HN. They're very different environments. As long as the ensuing discussion here exhibits a reasonable approximation of proper discourse then all is well I figure.
      • ryandrake 5mo ago
        I, for one, appreciate communication that has a point of view, one that actually champions an ethical opinion and calls out unethical behavior. I don't think doing this necessarily counts as rage. If I wanted to read a "proper" dry, impartial dissertation on some technology, written by Spock, there are plenty of places online to do this.
      • Forgeties79 5mo ago
        > My point is that I have an issue with his tone and rhetoric, not with the thing he’s advocating. This is often a hand wavy excuse by people who simply don’t agree with a cause and/or think it’s not important, but won’t admit it. If you don’t think what he is advocating for is important just say so. If you do, support him. You can’t possibly believe he’s so out of line that it’s worth prioritizing that opinion over the cause itself.
        • stingraycharles 5mo ago
          To be clear: I really do agree with his message, and I appreciate the tremendous impact he has had in the right to repair, DRM and all these things. So in that sense, I support him. It’s just that his style is really appalling to me. Am I not allowed to criticize his style while at the same time supporting his stance? I think it’s unfair to then imply I must not be admitting that I’m against his cause and using it as an excuse, because nothing I have said indicated this.
          • Forgeties79 5mo ago
            I don’t doubt that but the issue is you’re doing the work for detractors when you put more emphasis on his an exact approach rather than focusing on the quality of the cause and the fruits of his efforts.
    • quietsegfault 5mo ago
      I don’t need to hire hackers to use my 3d printer. It just works.
      • jkestner 5mo ago
        The hackers did the work for free upfront. In return they only expect that everyone could share the fruit.
    • Aurornis 5mo ago
      > Are either of you pledging $10k to defend hackers in court? Sure, I’ll pledge $10K to the developer who already declared that he’s not interested in fighting a legal battle for this project. That’s easy.
      • junaru 5mo ago
        > Sure I'll post a snarky comment without getting familiar with the subject whatsoever. The bounties are real and awarded [1]. [1] https://bounties.fulu.org/bounties?status=closed https://bounties.fulu.org/bounties?status=closed
        • Aurornis 5mo ago
          I searched for Bambu and there were 0 results. Also that site is a disaster of a UI. It reloads on every single character entry while you’re trying to type in the search term. Also please don’t fake-quote other people with things they didn’t say: > > Sure I'll post a snarky comment without getting familiar with the subject whatsoever. It’s even worse when you haven’t become familiar enough with the subject to share a worthwhile link.
• greggsy 5mo ago
  His passion does manifest as drama 90% of the time, but it’s somewhat necessary to build momentum and attention to the causes that he promotes. Also, he has to toe the line of opinion to avoid being slapped with spurious legal challenges.
  • trinsic2 5mo ago
    Drama is a catch-all word now for people that lack the courage to engage with the wrongs in humanity. Don't worry, we'll drag your lazy ass long while we clean up problems that you don't care to help fix.
  • fc417fc802 5mo ago
    > Also, he has to toe the line of opinion to avoid being slapped with spurious legal challenges. Does he? Intentional misrepresentation is one thing and inadvertent inaccuracies quite another.
• Lerc 5mo ago
  I often find him a bit much myself, but don't doubt his passion, and even if I did, I would only express that opinion publicly accompanied by supporting evidence, because using phrases like "people fall for his shtick" is essentially implying deliberate fraud, and that doesn't seem to be something you should throw around lightly. I don't think an opinion becomes more based in reality by sticking the words "As a matter of fact" in front of them.
• quietsegfault 5mo ago
  Thank you. My Bambu printer works excellently. The previous one I bought years ago is still going strong with a friend now. When parts wear out, I can easily get official, known quality replacements. I have never had a problem with the software, the outrage is totally manufactured to have something to complain about. Louis was fun to listen to for a while, but his schtick is so tired now.
  • dns_snek 5mo ago
    Your off-topic remarks about Bambu printers and their replacement parts tell me that you didn't even take the time to read what this story was about. In the same breath you're accusing Louis of "manufacturing outrage just to have something to complain about" while you're the one doing that.
• james_pm 5mo ago
  Right up there with the Not Just Bikes guy on YouTube who used to talk about how transit-oriented cities are great or would show some positive stuff from somewhere. Now it's just endless videos about how cars suck, cities suck, even a lot of transit sucks. The constant negativity is such a put-off.
  • exitb 5mo ago
    It’s like the best you can hope for your small hobby YouTube channel is to graduate to general outrage.
    • UncleMeat 5mo ago
      All hail the mighty algorithm.
      • NotCamelCase 5mo ago
        Medium always is the message, eventually.
    • antisthenes 5mo ago
      Reversion to the mean strikes again! Dangit!
  • xerox13ster 5mo ago
    With drive-bys like this is it any suprise he has a negative opinion on cars?
  • easterncalculus 5mo ago
    The difference is that the Not Just Bikes guy is actually doing what the parent commenter is claiming Louis (only) does and Louis in reality does a lot more than that like what's in TFA. Not Just Bikes makes reddit posts for redditors in YouTube form, basically. Louis actually supports people and projects. There's no 'schtick', consumer repair is core to his business and his channel.
• rdedev 5mo ago
  With Louis, it's been a journey of "how I learn to stop worrying and enjoy the angry repain guy" He gets a bunch of things wrong since it's mostly reactionary content but he is willing to correct himself when he gets things wrong. He does a lot to prevent companies from screwing over customers and that in of itself is good enough that in willing to overlook his flaws
• antoniojtorres 5mo ago
  I have trouble understanding how the opinions of the historical right to repair guy are surprising or even considered drama, it’s not drama because it’s not interpersonal gossip, it’s right to repair activism.
  • sevenzero 5mo ago
    Yup agree, it's not drama it's literally us vs "them", with "them" being greedy ass corps making our lifes worse on the daily.
  • Aurornis 5mo ago
    The channel has been about a lot more than right to repair. He jumps on every tech controversy that will generate traffic, including wading into drama between other YouTube channels. > it’s not drama because it’s not interpersonal gossip, it’s right to repair activism. He has definitely engaged in dramas that have nothing to do with right to repair activism, including weighing in on dramas between other tech YouTubers. He hit a niche with right to repair and has produced a lot of content about it, but he has also ranted about a lot of completely unrelated topics. Does nobody remember his old videos rambling about women and gender topics, for example? This is going way back, so possibly before many new converts were introduced to his channel. His channel has definitely not only been right to repair.
    • easterncalculus 5mo ago
      > Does nobody remember his old videos rambling about women and gender topics, for example? No one remembers these because they don't exist.
      • saagarjha 5mo ago
        This is gaslighting.
        • easterncalculus 5mo ago
          You need better proof than tiktok buzzwords. This isn't reddit.
• bear141 5mo ago
  I am completely against the outrage and drama cycle of all media. But as a matter of fact, this is clearly what drives views in today’s world so it’s nice when someone consistently getting millions of views at least chooses to support something good once in a while. I much prefer channels that don’t use this way of gaining views, but they, because of that, don’t gain nearly as many views. I have no skin in this game, but it’s pretty clear what the majority of viewers want.
• shevy-java 5mo ago
  I don't see it as a problem. Although I have to say, I think Louis was making better videos when he was in New York. I understand the financial situation where New York really abuses people, but I am just looking at the videos. I can't say whether that decision was what changed, but I noticed that the content changed a lot once he relocated outside of New York. However had, I disagree with the "drama" comment. I would call it more that the movement became more important, which is fine, in my opinion. Right to repair isn't that different from many other movements where we people try to get more rights back again. See the right to videotape public officials in performing their public jobs and so on. It is all connected.
  • cybercatgurrl 5mo ago
    you’re making me wonder if i should start using the term financial abuse to describe the excessive rent seeking behaviour of landlords that bleed us dry
• dns_snek 5mo ago
  90% of his content is about advocating for consumer rights like ownership and repair, most of which is documented and sourced on his wiki [1]. If the only thing you see here is "drama and outrage" then you're not the target audience and you should return to mindless consumption until such a time that you find yourself affected. [1] https://consumerrights.wiki/w/Main_Page https://consumerrights.wiki/w/Main_Page
  • GuB-42 5mo ago
    It may be advocacy for a noble cause, but it is still drama and outrage. It is an effective technique used by politicians worldwide. If it works, I guess that's a positive, but that's not for me. Lois Rossmann has always been ranting in his video, but originally he did so while repairing Macbooks. I actually learned a few tricks watching his videos. Now, he is just sitting down talking, adding drama and outrage to news stories relevant to what he advocates for. I mean, we need people like him, like we need people like Richard Stallman, but I personally prefer more nuanced approaches.
    • dns_snek 5mo ago
      I accept that some people find him too abrasive and not everyone is going to like his style, but that doesn't make his content "drama and outrage". It's legitimate annoyance and anger at the state of affairs and calling it "drama" implies that it's performative and/or unwarranted.
  • brookst 5mo ago
    > you should return to mindless consumption I’ve never seen this Louis guy but those sure sound like the words of a drama and outrage enthusiast.
    • dns_snek 5mo ago
      When you care so little about consumer rights that you see advocacy as just "drama" then what are you if not a mindless consumer, in the most literal sense? This story is at the heart of everything that's wrong with consumer rights these days - digital locks, coercive upgrades, removing features after the sale, AGPL violations, and legal bullying of independent developers, enthusiasts, and hackers. The original title was needlessly inflammatory, Louis put up $10,000 to cover this person's legal fees should they fight Bambu's bullshit threats. It's in all of our interests to fight this, as consumers and as members of HACKER news.
• croes 5mo ago
  So did the situation change to the better? If not, why should he stop?
• sh79 5mo ago
  What a shallow take. Activism isn't "drama". Maybe the problem is just that cynicism has rotted your frame of reference.
  • fc417fc802 5mo ago
    It isn't necessarily but I think it often qualifies. IMO (approximately) activism describes motivation while drama is a characteristic of an action. Thunberg for example is undoubtedly very dramatic.
• cromka 5mo ago
  Imagine an attorney who represents clients for free, but does that semi-publicly on YouTube. This would also be a never-ending drama, wouldn't it? What you described is an observational bias. His job is to bring this kind of anti-consumer shit to light. Hence, the drama.
• rasz 5mo ago
  The drama is about right to repair and he isnt really the source, he is the conduit.
• atoav 5mo ago
  What makes you believe it is a shtick? When there is drama as far as I can tell he always had pretty solid reasons to be dramatic. It isn't drama when you have real reasons. Drama implies making shit up. Point to the shit he made up. Go ahead. Be specific. Your accusation there makes it sound like he makes up some minor personal issues and blows them up as rage bait. As if the lock in and enshittification he advocates against are just his personal opinion. They are not. The vast majority (last time I checked >80%) of the public shares the opinion that you should own the equipment you buy and that it should be repairable. If you happen to be a person that tries to establish neo-feudalism at the cost of everybody else, a public figure successfully making that an issue, might be problematic for your goals, sure. But then your goals may just be beneath contempt anyways and you should working on becoming a productive member of society instead. If you think it is a shtick because you haven't really looked into it that much and you have a contrarian reflex, maybe try to bring the receipts next time. You know, like:" Louis Rossmann is a drama queen because remember when he said X about Y? Remember when he said Y about Z? It turned out to be Q and Louis had to know it was Q" etc. Rossmann turned his YouTube fame into political advocacy for a popular topic, that he politically represents. Don't like that topic? Don't watch his content. People change and so does the focus of their life. I run an university electronics workshop and the issues he mentioned are the issues I have to deal with every week, be it some shitty vendor lock-in on some gear or equipment where just the part that dies first is proprietary and service-hostile.