[amykhar]

If it were just a matter of developing hacks, I don't think anybody would charge a dime.

However, you also end up supporting any hacks you develop. Quite often, the people that you are supporting have no clue about what they are doing and it ends up becoming a logistical nightmare.

I have seen people struggle just to install the board - to the point of having to pay to have it done, and they they want to dive in and start hacking it up.

Personally, I don't believe an author should release a hack unless they intend to support it. Look at all the abandoned hacks scattered around the forum. There are many hacks with page after page of support questions without a peep from the author in response.

Thus, I would rather have an author release a paid hack, and provide adequate support than see a hack released by somebody who has neither the time nor the inclination to support their work.

On a final note, I tend to think everyone who downloads hacks and uses hacks should be contributing to the hacking community in some way. I am not good enough yet to release anything worthwhile, so I try to help others with questions and problems. Some people are good at graphic arts. Others are good programmers. Everyone in this community has some talent or resource that can be shared.

Amy