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thehamkercatyesterday at 9:27 PM6 repliesview on HN

A friendly reminder that both LM Studio app and now this new LM Studio Bionic app are closed source.

Since most people are unaware of this fact.


Replies

nodjayesterday at 10:11 PM

Yup, it's the main reason I don't use LM studio more. I only use it to try out new models/quants, then use llama.cpp directly to host them. LM Studio also doesn't do stuff like audio input and often has bugs that pure llama.cpp doesn't so it can be a net negative for certain use cases.

satvikpendemyesterday at 11:34 PM

Unsloth Studio is open source, run by the same Unsloth that produces some of the best quants in the business, I'd advise people to switch.

maxlohyesterday at 10:50 PM

Yeah, we already have many open-source agent systems. If you prefer a UI, OpenCode itself has a beta desktop app.

I don't think we need closed-source developer tools, especially ones where they might restrict access if they decide to start charging for them later.

cpursleyyesterday at 10:09 PM

Does anyone know about their stack - is it a native app? It's fairly well designed for what it is in terms of desktop apps.

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minimaxiryesterday at 9:31 PM

And? Is that a scandal?

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dofmyesterday at 11:43 PM

I am aware of it, and I dabble with Unsloth Studio and use the llama-server approach.

I would obviously prefer an open source, open weights stack.

But I guess a paradox is that as long as there are open source options I could use, a solid agentic environment that I can use with my own open weights is something I might pay for, in a similar sort of way to paying for a Mac when I could use only Linux.

If someone wanted to make their entire income from, say, making the BBEdit of LLM harnesses, that would be a viable strategy. Sooner or later people need to make an income somewhere. My own feeling is that Apple should acquire LM Studio, but if they said "this is $X per year" I might consider it, given the attention to detail.