They did.
Oh, fantastic! That makes me really happy. I wonder if I just missed that in an update post or what.
can’t wait…bring on the membership
So I’m grateful for the discount, but my income isn’t always stable. Will I be able to pause that subscription at the discounted rate when things get tight, or does the discount go away if I need to cancel for a few months?
Well, while they did publish, they only published parts of the firmware - it’s not like you could compile it and upload it to the GF (as far as I know). Check out the OpenGlow-project, they are designing a complete replacement motherboard for the GF. Unfortunately, they haven’t been active for a while though…
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Let’s be realistic here. They released a tiny bit of code 3 years ago for a single kernel module and some build scripts. That is in no way “the firmware”, and even if it were, it wouldn’t be enough to let anyone plug their Glowforge in to third party laser software without a ton of work.
But whether they released it or not is pretty much irrelevant, as we know the OpenGlow project reverse engineered everything and had a proof of concept replacing the cloud with their own software years ago. As far as I can tell, that is the work of one person and is still the work of one person, and while it’s a brilliant work of tinkering, it hasn’t resulted in anything you can just download and use. Releasing the firmware is a moot point — it’s kind of like asking Penn and Teller how they do their tricks. They’ll tell you to go read a magic book, it’s all there. But you won’t. People who say if they just had the firmware they could make a g-code driver could just go over to an easily found web page and start helping. But they won’t.
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If a machine has to be sent in for service, will the premium fee be paused or refunded for length of time it’s out of service?
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Are there any plans for adding a nesting function? Doing it outside the interface often results in jobs that are too large to upload before timing out.
I’ve also heard there used to be a registration mark option at one time, will that be coming back? Sure would love to be able to apply a GF icon sticker to a medium to handle print placement.
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If you sign up now, you get to keep the 70% off rate forever ($14.99/month instead of $50/month)… are you allowed to pause membership when needed and still keep the same rate?
Haven’t once used any of the trial premium features other than a single day to test them. I won’t be losing anything that I need to operate the machine and print my designs. Prints should not slow. Pretty much everything should be as it was, if what the company is currently promising stays true.
If you have been using features that the company has clearly listed as “trial” then like every trial capability you will lose them.
I’m not and have never tried to defend the company. Don’t trash folks, and don’t praise them. It’s not what I do. Just don’t deal with incorrect information very well.
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Nope, not going to pay for premium monthly subscription, even if it was just $5/month. I’m a hobbiest and have owned from one of the first deliveries. I love it, but use it for Christmas ornaments and gifts.
The one premier feature that I will be sad to lose is snapmarks. I used it for a project once and it was invaluable. Perhaps a pay-per-use approach for something like that would be an idea?
The graphics and text and processing speed really don’t spurn my interest.
I get it that they need to have some way of paying for the processing on their end, sadly if they go out of business we’d all have a pretty (and large) paperweight GF… I just wasn’t thinking about that (and they probably weren’t either) when they designed it to have the processing done at their systems instead of local on my PC with software. It has been convenient, but does tether us to a company that is no longer getting money from me, so therefore (sadly/frighteningly) unsustainable. (I hope they put their millions from kickstart into a good interest-baring account, lol/sigh)
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I probably wouldn’t if I couldn’t use it for two full years. But that’s a decision that you need to make.
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I love how when they don’t like what I say they erase my comments… done here I’m going to my accounts and I am not recommending this machine anymore. So sad
It isn’t necessarily what you say, it is how you say it. This is a G rated forum.
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I’m veeeeery tempted to apply, but that would mean less time for puzzle making (and working for someone else again 
) Every single skill listed is in my skill tree, and my Master’s is in Instructional Design!
I’m pretty sure they are hiring more than one person though, which will be necessary to quality check, make, and photograph every new item accepted!
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Yes, unfortunately. Dan answered that one in a post above. (Sorry, I’m working out and using a tablet…can’t link very well from here.)
I highly suspect no, but It was not discussed specifically. In that instance you would probably want to decide for yourself if it was worth it to you to keep it.
Not that I’ve heard. (That kind of idea can be submitted to Support though by starting a post in the Problems and Support section. Glowforge does like to get new ideas to add to the hopper.)
Yes, there was, it was called Snapmarks, and I certainly hope so. My understanding is that it will be part of the Premium package if it is widely released. 
No, Dan answered that one up top when someone else asked.
If we pause the subscription we revert to whatever the current rate is.
OK - I’ve read through her flagged posts… the first one had a verb describing what a vacuum cleaner does, the second one a common euphemism for the Christian Realm of the Devil, with the “ll” replaced by “ck”. You could broadcast that during children’s hour on the BBC and nobody would bat an eyelid…
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Your comment was flagged by other users for inappropriate language and violation of community standards.
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My thoughts as someone who is definitely in the hobbyist camp and doesn’t use the machine very often…
The $50/mo cost is comically high for what you get now. Given that it includes unlimited use commercial designs going forward I can sort of understand it but definitely a non-starter for me.
The $15/mo cost is higher than I would like for my usage. I haven’t ruled it out but like others have said, I don’t like the scare tactics being employed to get me to jump at it.
I really wish a basic set of design tools (even just simple shapes) were part of the free offering. It’s the classic “I want to add a rectangle to cut this thing out” problem. Those don’t add any cost to Glowforge to provide (now that they exist). I understand that there is cost for the additional shapes and possibly text for commercial licensing but I don’t know those economics.
I don’t have a problem with Glowforge adding a subscription offering. Hardware as a sole one time funding source isn’t generally a good business model long term. I don’t think their current costs align with what they’ve said they’re offering but again, I’m a hobbyist. I would prefer the idea of having a couple of tiers of service. $5/mo to keep the built in design tools, more to get the fast lane and designs?
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I think you should…You’ve got the skills…and think of the fun you would have.
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