this post was submitted on 17 Mar 2025
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Incidents like this are a perfect excuse for the bean counters and marketing experts to chime in and recommend that the firmware be updated specifically to block third party ink or toner.
There's no downside, the world is already trash talking your company, even if you didn't do anything wrong, but while it's happening, you get to sell a shitload more ink and toner.
I mean if people are buying your products specifically because they don't have this bullshit, you've carved out a niche for yourself, and if you abandon that niche, you have nothing.
We need an open-source printer project. But apparently it's very difficult to do.
We actually don't need an entire Open Source Printer, just an open source controller. So you can buy $printer and then replace it's control board with an Open Source version. We're doing this already with things that weigh hundreds of pounds, spin at thousands of RPM, and literally contain explosions!
Gear heads (car people) are very familiar with this. There's at least three major, and many minor, Electronic Fuel Injection / Engine Management Systems out there that will allow you to strip the factory "brains" out of a car and replace them with stuff you can control / program yourself.
A printer is just an assembly of mechanical parts and there's no reason that an Open Source controller couldn't command them.
Except right now it's clear they ARE allowing third party cartriges.
No this is not good logic because the specific people that buy your product and use third party supplies know it to be untrue.
If they're smart they won't do that as they know people are buying their products specifically for that reason.
If they're smart...