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The title is slightly misleading, the Ender-3 (touted as the new best cheap printed) is not the first open source 3D printer.

Nearly every printer is based on a type of RepRap printer which kind of started the original boom. You can find a ton of open source printers on their site: https://reprap.org/wiki/RepRap_Options

I'm thinking about buying the Ender 2 since it seems to give a good bang for the buck. Print quality and price seem to be ok.

Right now I use the micro3d (which doesn't work that well for me). If the Ender2 gets cheaper soon (not flash sale, but coupon cheap) I will probably buy one

All of the hardware files are SolidWorks. Last time I checked SolidWorks still had a pretty bummery access model for hobbyist users. Anyone know if that has changed?

Autodesk has Fusion 360 which can import Solidworks files.

Fusion 360 is free and full featured for hobbyists.

RMS would argue that it's gratis not libre

GitHub – Creality3DPrinting/Ender-3: A fully Open Source 3D printer