There are so many discussions going on, around the wordpress sites, about the sponsored themes and how Matt [Chief - WordPress] wants to deal with them. I will try to put my comments on this topic here.
Its all between you and me. Ok ?
You : Obviously all your themes are sponsored, and so you would only support sponsored themes ?
Me : Yes, of course. As the creator, I believe the theme author has the right to add sponsored link in the footer.
You : WordPress is an open source software, released under GPL [General Public License]. So if you are creating a theme for WordPress, your theme should also be open source GPL, right ?
Me : If anyone makes a derivative of a open source software, they need to release it under the same license. A derivative is something that can run on its own, without the parent being there. but in case of a wordpress theme, it can not be considered as a derivative, since it can not run on its own.
You : So what is the License you release your themes on ?
Me : I do not have a specific license, as I can not find something that fits me. Thats why I created a License Page on this site.
You : What do you think about Matt saying “Remove Sponsored Themes from WordPress.org” ?
Me : Matt owns wordpress.org, wordpress.com, themes.wordpress.net etc. He has every right to decide what goes on these websites. He can add / edit / delete anything on these websites. If he does not want to support / promote sponsored themes, he can do it anytime. He does not even need to ask for people’s opinions on that.
You : but is this sponsored themes not confusing the user ?
Me : I do not see this creating a confusion with the user. If a user knows how to download the theme from the designer’s site, unzip it, and then upload it to their website, I can not call them a “lame” user. They would know how to open up the footer.php and remove the links they do not want.
You : In that case, it might happen to your themes, too ? People can remove the footer links if they know how to !
Me : Yes, It has happened to me many times before. Many of my themes are being used in places without crediting back to me. but being one person, I can not spend my time and energy to run behind those. but I would say, what they are doing is against what my license page says. If someone rips off my theme and calls it their own, without crediting back to me, then I take it more seriously than one user removing the credits from his site.
You : So, you will continue to develop and support sponsored themes ?
Me: Yes of course. Even Matt is not opposing the release of sponsored themes. He just thinks he can not promote them on wordpress.org and other websites closely related to that. I am fine with that. After all, it is his website and he decides its content.
You : So, you are not bothered if your theme does not get listed on wordpress.org ?
Me : Once in a while, I might release themes without a sponsor, and I am sure it will get listed on wordpress.org. but anytime I release a sponsored theme, I understand it can not get listed anywhere in his sites. I am fine with that.
-
Thanks guys for listening to me. I will meet you again soon.
Sadish
