[filburt1]

It is a matter of human nature. You want something, but you don't want to give up anything for it.

Personally, my opinion on the matter is that it is good for the community, although not necessarily in this implementation. Many people buy vBulletin directly due to features, no matter how big or small, that can be implemented through code modifications. This financially helps Jelsoft because more licenses are sold, product popularity increases, and the effect compounds.

To take it to the extreme, if the hacks were allowed here but an insertion fee or a commision of each sale (PayPal could be a processor and automatically deposit a cut to Jelsoft and direct the rest towards the modification author), Jelsoft would not only see an increase in license sales but a higher net profit per sale.

Finally, after paying $160 or even $85 for a product, many do not hesitate to pay less than $50 to add a major new feature to it such as a photo album, webmail, arcade, personal web hosting, whatever. I just don't see the logic in Jelsoft so steadfastly determined to block official channels of extending their product when it directly benefits them.