Not sure, since I am on the high speed servers. It’s possible that we don’t get that part until we sign up though.
You’re right it’s not a hard ask and it has been. Just hasn’t been done. Not part of what GF has publicly announced. The guys at Openglow started working on that about 4 years ago and still haven’t gotten it all there. But it’s not the ask that matters it’s the doing.
Just like the “some form of g-code” - kind of like me speaking some form of French called English 
The Glowforge uses waveforms because it’s not just a start/stop/direction/time/fire laser scenario but a trick pulsing to the power supply to vary the laser firing based on its algorithms. That’s one of the reasons they can do vary power/3D engraving.
I too do a lot of CNC work - router, lasers (the GF is my 3rd), 3D printers (FDM and SLA) and plasma cutting. I’ve created or modified post-processors for Fusion and Sheetcam to drive some of these via software like Mach. But apparently that’s all English G-Code when my GF runs on French waveforms
I agree with your assessment though - you definitely will be better off with a CCL or homebrew. That’s one of the things that frustrates me with the GF, I can’t just swap out components if they go bad. But we’re not the market the machine is designed for.
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OpenGlow has some alternate firmware, but you can’t do much with it. But there hasn’t really been any interest in it, just two or three guys, so there hasn’t been any work towards making it useful. (They also have an alternative control board, but I’m pretty sure that project was abandoned. The GF’s control board works fine and can be modified to use other software, if anyone’s ever interested in making the effort. Although it’s harder on newer models that lack some things that early production models had.)
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@dan If a legacy customer signed up for the premium tier, then later cancelled, would their account still maintain the free lifetime design storage? I assume we’d just revert to all the same free features?
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…then that was obviously a 2am misunderstanding due to insomniac forum browsing on my part. Apologies! 
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I’ve been following their efforts since the start. My problem is that I bought the GF when it came on the market, one reason being Dan’s promise that they’d open source the firmware as soon as the machine came out. In my interpretation, it was just a matter of time before I could supply my own server (something like CNCjs)…
Well, I will run my GF until the tube gives up. Then, unless we can swap the tubes ourselves by that time (something I highly doubt), I will, in all likelihood, switch to a Chinese machine and strip the GF for parts. Shipping the machine for a tube change from Switzerland would probably cost me more than a semi-decent alternative with better DIY perspectives…
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Certainly. I think launching internationally at the start was a big mistake. They should have limited themselves to North America and only expanded to Europe when they were large enough to be able to operate a repair center there.
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Pro owner here, still upset that I got washed over on the snapmarks… by the time they release pass through to all (if ever) my machine will be so far out of warranty and probably need the tube replaced. Its a bit ridiculous. IMHO.
As for the cloud servers, premium and whatnot, they should offer another option; to use my own computer. Release software that works locally as well as cloud compute. Let me make my own fast lane.
I don’t think you can compare people driving Tesla to your truck with 200K miles. We all bought the same brand here. Some bought the basic, some the plus and some the pro. I have no problems with most of the premium service offered: IF what you are getting is the same if you don’t upgrade. Honestly there is not going to be a way for us to know one way or the other if the performance under the hood (in the cloud) degrades.
I also have an issue with the “act now and save” or pay more later. Some people have been kicked in the teeth by this year (as I am sure GF has too) and simply can’t budget in another service now or have to concentrate on other areas for a while. This model punishes them. I would rather see them offer an incentive like discounts for yearly subs then nickle and dime like this now to quarter and fifty cent you if you can’t “ACT NOW” feels like a pressure sell to me… and if you do act now and need to pause it for a month or two, then you’re out of luck 'cuz now you up to full price. Gimmie a break. More bad form IMHO.
Server prices are high, I get that. I am a Linux system admin for a major internet hosting provider, we offer cloud compute as well. What happens if this fails ? if not enough people adopt the monthly premium? Will GF go under because it failed to look far enough down the road to hold up the server costs?
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We’re paying a lot. Yes, it’s free during the trial.
This is true. We have a huge list of cool stuff planned for both Print and Premium, and are growing to be able to do even more.
When you submit a print, it will tell you if you’re getting Fast Lane acceleration.
We attach Legacy Storage to your account, so in the example you give, I expect you’d retain the storage.
I can only apologize and say… lawyers. 
You would not believe how much time and money we’ve been spending to get laser tubes into the shop. I had another meeting about it earlier this week. ARGH.
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Dan, can you tell us what happens to Snapmarks after November 3rd?? Will those of us that already have them need to upgrade to Premium to still use them, or will we still have access (again, those who already have it) without a Premium membership after November 3rd?? Do we keep them or lose them dependent upon our Premium/non-Premium status??
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I appreciate that - have you tried asking others who ship tubes, like these guys? I’m sure there’s others - that was the first result in my search engine of choice.
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The tube is bespoke, not “off the shelf.”
Same here! If there is no self Tube-Replacement possible, once my tube dies, I really have no reason to stick to Glowforge - even it really is a great machine. But I‘m really not willing to pay incredibly huge bills for shipping and changing a wearing part that I should be able to do by myself as a graduated mechanical Engineer living in Europe.
I really really hope, there is a Solution in the hopper - because its a great machine and I would be thrilled to enjoy the journey even after Tube-one 
!
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I have upgraded and am super excited. That said, I do feel some consideration should have been given to a cost structure based on the unit purchased. Higher discount for those that purchased pro and so on.
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That noun project premium plan is $39 per year.
Right- but to use an actual image for resale, you much purchase it for $2.99 (each one). Resale use is not included in Noun Pro.
https://thenounproject.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/200562967-Can-I-use-icons-in-Items-for-Resale-?
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Good to know. I never looked into it because I design my own. 
If you are asking whether it makes sense for you personally to buy the noun project files commercial license rather than the Premium Subscription…that is only something you can decide for yourself. If you are not interested in any of the other functions that come with Premium, then the answer is definitely to go that route. Having them searchable in the interface is a pretty nice little convenience, as is knowing the commercial license is covered.
If you think you might be interested in some of the other Premium functions one day, or having access to the Customer Created Designs section, then you would want to try the subscription at the $14.99 rate for a couple of months. You can always drop it before the next month when you decide you don’t need it any more.
Yeah I just don’t see it as a valuable feature.
If you’re not selling products, it’s not as useful. But for people creating objects for sale, having access to commercially licensed art is a big deal.
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Yes but essentially giving existing customers a 30 day deadline to take up an offer that is otherwise not financially viable to most. Even as someone who makes a living from design I can’t see reasonable justification for an unannounced feature set. $180 per year even as a discounted subscription is a lot for a SAAS with little in the way of a feature set.
Keep the discount open for this existing audience for a year and you may get more people progressively adopting it.
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