this post was submitted on 22 Dec 2025
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Privacy
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Why would a printer need time? The only think that cames to mind is freezing cartridges after x months.
Prusa is a 3d printer. It can be to show the date, check the validity of certificates, show in logs, or just tell you when your print will be done.
AFAIK the firmware is open source so ultimately you can look exactly what it does with it. Same as any Linux system, really.
You want any device that does crypto (like verifying a certificate) to have a synchronized clock.
Probably some legit uses eg direct from file prints with filename and timestamp, but also there's the yellow tracking dots: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printer_tracking_dots
Printer isn't responsible for timestamps on your document. If that would be regarding tracking dots, then block it anyway, right? And if it's a 3d printer then it still doesn't need to have correct synchronized time, it only needs to be able to count how the time passes.