Maybe I'm just not understanding exactly what you're saying, but I'm one of the people that would love a 'one-stop location'. However after you say this you then qualify it by saying this location wouldn't distribute hacks or provide support?? That hardly seems like a 'one-stop' deal to me. I hate having to click through one site to another to another.I think those are great solutions to appease both 'camps'. If it ever happens I'm hoping its not just lip service and that the vb team has the time and desire to ensure something like this would be a successful venture for everyone involved.

Having people release commercial products and support them on vBulletin.org potentially drags staff members and Jelsoft into the middle of support issues, arguements between disgruntled modification customers and security issues related to them...

Having them kept off-site is the only possible way it could work...

Chris

I still don't understand why people need a one stop site for the free hacks and paid hacks together. Why doesn't someone just make another site for the paid hacks? It's only another site you need to go to, not lots. Whats so bad about another site???

It creates confusion in the marketplace.

While I was leaning toward supporting this as it (to me) was an access issue, over the last few days, I have seen where it can really get out of control, and it hasn't even started yet.

No, I am not talking about people not having the right to go into business (I am in the s/w business myself), it just sickens me to see people tearing into a competitor over a few measley bucks rather than focusing on growing their own product to be as competitive (no offence to any parties involved).

As this is a hobby for me, I think I will stick with my heart here -- and that is sharing with the GPL/GNU community, so finally tonight cast a vote for 'no'. After all, if it wasn't for places like sourceforge, where would we all be?

Best wishes to those who are going commercial.

<-- Your resident aging hippie capitalist http://www.floridacp.com/smilies/hippie.gif

You don't understand it because it's not there. After all, all the opinions expressed in this thread (for and against) are by people who already paid for vBulletin, which is commercial.

There is some animosity based on what many have seen take place here, where some commercial developers play by the rules, and some don't. Don't like to name names, unless pressed for it, but I'm sure many know of some examples of both, and they tend to stink the forum. Once the flood gate is open, you'll get more of that, especially when you have competing hacks, one's free, one's commercial, each with it's own fans, and the fans yelling how each gets their money's worth, our's is better, but you have to pay to see it, since the code is encypted, nananana. Then the possibility of copy-cats selling other's work with some changes and removal of copyrights, and possibly encrypting it as well.

Plus license checking. You see how many members on vb.com post other's forums and ask if it's pirated? Well, multiply that by the number of commercial hacks here, and there will be a lot more piracy accusations, and questions as to license keys, compounded by the different methods used by each commercial hacks, and how they do, us or misuse auto validations.

I'd rather those issues/fights take place elsewhere on the commercial developer's site, or a commercial directory site, and not see all the drama and stink here on vb.org.

The voting is very close!

I don't see why not... I'm always finding cool hacks on other sites that I can't find here -- so why not?

I've donated to people who make free hacks, there's really no difference. If a developer asks for donations and someone feels it's good enough to donate, what's the difference?

It's an Open Source world, but you'll still have to pay for some things :)

Unfortunately I don't have time to read the whole 8 pages because I have to search out other sites or find a programmer to get my hacks from since the particular ones I want right now are not on this website.

What I mean to say is I'd love to see paid hacks on this site, completely unmoderated by the authors of the hacks, where the rest of the paying members of vb.org could weigh in on the hacks.

If I have to go to the hack writers forum to learn about them, how much honesty can I actually expect? I can hope for a lot, but who knows what threads have been censored and how many unhappy customers have been banned, whereas if a paid hack was neglected and posted on this board, you could bet your last dollar someone would have an unedited and uncensored post about it.

That's my two pennies, throw them in with the rest. :)

Donations are by choice, hence the word ;)

@wolfyman - Currently that wouldn't happen with policies and rules set on this board...

If hypothetically we were to allow such things, we'd inevitably have to censor some threads and posts anyway, due to people who are anti-author or anti-hack ;)

Chris