Kind of a hypothetical question…but we don’t know.
I just bought a 3d printer and the software slices in the cloud. So far I really like it.
Maybe overkill for Lightburn, but I’m sure it could be way smarter then it is today.
Thoughts?
Then most people will be very upset, including me.
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And when that company goes toes up, as so many do, your designs vanish and your hardware becomes junk.
I’ve outlived enough companies to have considerable experience with exactly those situations, which is why I save important LightBurn projects as SVG.
Which would require the same programmers suddenly becoming better while forcing the existing code into the latest and most janky web app framework. Not seeing how that would happen.
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I would be out. I don’t like being chained to a network and I don’t want my work on other people’s systems…no matter how secure or anonymous.
As much as I’d like the added functionality, I won’t use Fusion 360.
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Two things that I reckon most home users would hate are subscription software and cloud based software. I use Fusion360, and excellent as it is, there is always the niggling doubt that my files are secure or that the software will change to be unusable or very expensive at the drop of a hat.
The big plus with Lightburn is that the software is yours once you’ve bought it, you don’t need an internet connection to use it, and your files are as safe as you want to make them (and yes, I know that Lightburn has a paid for upgrade path, but it’s optional).
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Lightburn is the perfect software model:
FULL usability for 30 day trial. Perfect.
Simple License Manager. Perfect.
Three installs allowed per license. Perfect.
No internet requirement (even for license verification). Perfect.
Optional Upgrade Path. Perfect.
Tiered Functionality Licenses. Perfect.
NO ANNOYING SUBSCRIPTION FEES. PERFECT.
Is anyone seeing the pattern here?
Perfect.
Jim
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Playing devils advocate, so nothing personal, because I have upgraded every year. If the majority of LB users upgrade yearly, the revenue stream for existing and new users continues to grow. I don’t see it like a “subscription”, but it is still a yearly cost if you want to be up to date.
I like using web based software. But I also like desktop software. I worked for a software company during the late 90’s thru 2001. That is when a lot of web based apps popped up, and were here one day and gone tomorrow.
I spend the majority of my time working with a web based 2D parametric design software. It might be gone tomorrow, but it is fun to develop parametric designs with it.
I just hope LB doesn’t come out with a LBRN3 file format 
I agree. It comes down to how many new users they get and how many users are paying for maintenance. We don’t know if their model is profitable. We all like it the way it is however companies are in this to make money and everything evolves. Cloud is one possibility
My personal distaste for cloud software is very high. Reasons, in no specific order:
-
if your network is down for any reason, so is your laser
-
if your network is slow, the software is slow (think WIFI in a garage or industrial shop)
-
if the company folds, your software goes with it
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if the company decides to change their pricing scheme, you have no say in this
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updates are forced on you (because you can’t choose which version to run - there’s one version)
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running within a browser means restrictions on things like which hotkeys can be used (some are reserved)
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our model is profitable because we run lean - LightBurn is only 8 developers at the moment, and two of those were hired within the last 3 months
-
optional renewals help keep us honest - We have to work to earn them
Those are off the top of my head, but I decided on day one that LightBurn would not be cloud based, because I’ve used lots of cloud based software that fell short. I also have a couple of very pretty paperweights because companies that manufactured cloud connected hardware didn’t last.
This is not to say that LightBurn could not have some cloud support within the desktop software - The ability to save files to a network store, pull material libraries or machine profiles, etc, is all being discussed internally, but none of those would be “critical path”, so if the network was down, 99% of what you use would still work.
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And I thank you personally for it.
Jim
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Definition: On someone else’s computer
Won’t work for me.
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We’ve been there, - MS Office, and especially for me a bit painfully, Adobe -Lightroom. But, there are good alternatives for office software and I still arrange the images in the last purchased version of LR which must be 10 years or more old. 
I consider the annual “update contribution” to LightBurn more like a “donation” to make LightBurn even better, that’s also why I like to work with the beta version. And when the price is still fair and payable also by semi or non-professional users, everyone is satisfied.
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This is my #1 pet peeve with all cloud base software. I owned a photo studio and I had invested in a piece of cloud baser software to manage my customers once the company went belly and so did my data. I have a high distaste for this software model.
I feel the same about MS Office, and all Adobe Products. Loved when i “Owned” a copy and did not need the internet to operate.
I also second every single point @LightBurn made.
Sas
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Some here may have started with a Glowforge laser which can only work with a cloud-based app and for which the Glowforge company now charges >= $30/month for “advanced” features, many of which LB includes with their pay-once software.
Ask GF owners how much they like that approach. But not on the GF forum - that is reserved for registered owners only; the public is not allowed to post there.
They needed a new revenue stream to offset all those $500 discount/rebate/referral/bonuses they were handing out to all those who had a GlowForge and were the mouth piece.
It is interesting that nobody who ever had a GlowForge and upgraded to a large gantry laser with Lightburn will ever speak ill of the GlowForge online . They all say that it served them well until it didn’t.
GlowForge craze has come and go. Many things I can find fault with however even if they fixed all of its limitations and dropped their price by 80% the cloud based software and the $30 a month is a 100% deal breaker.
GlowForge owners hate that they can’t use Lightburn.
Cheers
Sas
Cloud only? Hell no!
Cloud option for people that need/want it? Sure, why not.
Overall for our business, cloud would be a bad idea for many reasons:
- it can get hacked
- it’s never truly “yours”
- company dies, your stuff is gone
- no access to the internet? can’t work
- most of the time, heavy useage costs extra. with pictures in decent quality going up to hundreds of MB each, this can happen very fast!
Sure, there are also some positive sides:
- no personal storage needed
- simple access from anywhere if there’s internet
In the end, you have to decide for yourself but for me, personally, it’s simply a big no.
Would LB do this, i wouldn’t consider it, simply as!
A neat addition to LB would be to somehow offer direct export to cloud storages like google drive and mega, among others. But that would just be a nice addition, certainly not a selling point. Pretty sure development is more needed elsewhere for now with the amounts of lasers releasing lately
No.
Thank.
You.
Keep it Local. Computers are dirt cheap now. I use a Dell Laptop to control my laser that cost $180 with a solid state drive. Can’t beat that!
I have the laser outside so I design and tweak using another identical computer in the house to remote desktop the Lightburn computer with Chrome Remote Desktop. I then walk up and any tweaking I need is super easy with the computer next to the cutter machine.
Good use of Cloud:
However, I do like Sketchup Pro’s model of a locally installed software, with access to a cloud based user and company contributed “Models Library”, which is great if one is designing a new kitchen or house or whatever. You can import realistic looking appliances, cabinets, silverware, plates, etc etc by pulling from the library in a few seconds. Super quick to make a great looking mockup of what you are doing by sharing the work with the planet.
For Lightburn, I would like to see a cloud based “Materials Library” based on the machine type of the individual users. So if I have an XTool 20W diode, I can pull others recommendation of settings WITH USER RATINGS. A well tuned refined setup to cut materials with finesse and minimal burning will get good ratings. If it is possible for others to comment on those settings and even make suggestions, it would be a great way to let others learn.
I have learned not to just drive my laser as hard as it will go and to use sublayers and tweaks like that. HUGE learning curve and many hours of frustration.
That could have been mitigated by pulling a cut setup with comments from a seasoned user, looking at their settings and notes and it would have saved me a huge amount of frustration, broken lenses and wasted materials.
Same for Lightburn cut files people wish to share… a lightburn files library that is searchable and has the ability to show the finished project photos too.
Again, a ratings and commenting system to weed out the gold from the crap, and give end users the ability to make suggestions and even make modifications and upload fixes back to the cloud.
This would give a collective knowledge base that would be as useful as the forum I think. Actual cut settings and actual files others build are a great way to learn how to use the software to it’s best capabilities and would potentially lower need for end user support I think
@LightBurn Keep up the great work! I get more and more impressed by the software as I learn how to use it!
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Believe it or not there are still people who don’t have unlimited high speed data.
There are people who are on limited income but still like to use creative software.
Not sure where you are reading, but I have read numerous former users “slamming” Glowforge.
Not a fan of Glowforge - I have a Universal Laser Systems VLS6.60. But, you don’t have to pay $30 per month to use their software. That is only if you have the “premium” version, and it is actually $50 per month
To be fair to Glowforge, you wouldn’t have Lightburn if the Glowforge that @LightBurn was getting took too long, and he decided to write LB. You should be praising Glowforge
Don’t really follow what you are trying to say here. But to me, it only took me a couple minutes to eliminate if from being a potential purchase.
Ditto
Some people complain they have been down for months. Glowforge claims it’s because of supply chain issues. Whatever the reason this is added costs.
It’s actually created a 2nd market for Glowforge parts. I hear there are a number of small businesses that buy broken or unwanted machines, fix them up, sell them or part them out. Pretty specialized.