I think it's a really bad idea. vBulletin.org should continue to encourage community development projects, add-ons and innovations for the software free-of-charge. The short-term gains you make from charging software developers for the right to list paid-for add-ons and projects could be wiped out if suddenly all the 'good stuff' is shut out and requires extra payments. Suddenly subsequent versions of vBulletin become less attractive when there's a heap of hacks and add-ons that each require additional sums of money to be installed and properly licensed.
It's human nature for people to want to cash in on their ideas and work. And I certainly couldn't blame anyone for wanting to get paid for their efforts - but if they choose to go down that route, it should be done outside of vbulletin.org IMHO. The moment you start giving people the means to use this medium to sell their work you create an irresistable marketplace for many that will stifle the really good thing you have going on..... the community spirit that many of Jelsoft's rivals would love to have backing their own products.
Why risk breaking something that has worked so incredibly well for a number of years?
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12-08-2005, 04:40 PM
Hybrid Mode
