So brace yourself for the newbiest of noob questions...
This is the "What subwoofer is best?" of 3D printer questions I'm sure...
Do you have to use the slicer software that comes with your specific printer?
I ask because on one hand I could see it being very close-coupled to the printer driver, to take care of printer-specific quirks or features. And also because in some reviews I read as I'm shopping (DaVinci Duo for example) some people are complaining about the slicer software as though they are prison bars.
But on the other hand, it doesn't seem like everyone should be reinventing the wheel, I'd think that like regular printers, there would be some standards that would at least mean there would be third-party slicer software that could at least work with the popular brands?
Or, that some of the cheaper printer makers might clone or blatantly rip off other brands, making for some "accidental" compatibility between slicers, that might offer some options?
OR - I've seen some printers that claim to be "open source", which by nature would use or create a standard - sure there can be more than one "open source" project, but generally they tend to coalesce around a standard. And again, I'd think the "open source" slicer would be pretty inherently good (being community-conceived), and also possibly coalesce around other slicer-software alternatives.
So, sorry for my clearly under-educated question - basically I'm wondering "can you shop for printers and slicer software separately?"