Wordpress Vs Thesis

14 years ago

This is about like Red Hat VS Linux

Certain distributions of linux might be free - but if you want Red Hat, your going to pay for it. And why does red hat cost money? For one thing, Red Hat offers quality support.

I see no problem with someone selling a theme for wordpress. After all, nobody is "making" you buy the theme.

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Leslie B

14 years ago

Originally Posted by ~kev~

I see no problem with someone selling a theme for wordpress. After all, nobody is "making" you buy the theme.

The problem isn't that Thesis is a paid theme. There are a lot of paid themes that still follow the license that WordPress has set out for itself. And that is where the problem lies. The developer of Thesis (Chris Pearson) thinks that he shouldn't need to follow the license while Matt Mullenweg (WordPress) states that he has to follow it if he wants to make use of the WordPress platform for his theme.

Leslie

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Taking it one day at a time!

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Crew Chief

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Leslie B

The problem isn't that Thesis is a paid theme. There are a lot of paid themes that still follow the license that WordPress has set out for itself. And that is where the problem lies. The developer of Thesis (Chris Pearson) thinks that he shouldn't need to follow the license while Matt Mullenweg (WordPress) states that he has to follow it if he wants to make use of the WordPress platform for his theme.

Leslie

This hissing match has been going on for a while and it looks like it may end up having to be resolved by IP attorneys, a judge and jurors. Then again, maybe not. Both sides may decide to agree to disagree although that's not likely seeing that these two are at an impasse that apparently is on verge of heating up.

As far as Chris going GPL, I wouldn't adopt their licensing either if I were in his shoes. Please note this crucial point concerning GPLs.

One of the philosophies of GNU GPL is that of freedom. Anyone should have the right to do whatever they want with your software which includes re-distributing your software for a fee. While as absurd as it may sound to the business-minded people stuck with a tunnel vision or a different school of thought, it is the driving force behind the success of WordPress and many other open-source softwares out there

And this statement concerning GNU GPL says it all...

Anyone may modify, use, or redistribute (provided GPL notices including license, warranty disclaimer etc. are retained) your software for free or for a price.

If you keep track, Brian Garnder the man behind StudioPress has a flood of programmers and users who have literally and legally mimicked/copied/dupilicated his StudioPress branding to the point of inferring that users were actually downloading genuine StudioPress for free, or at greatly reduced price.

I have seen StudioPress themes on a number of the free WP theme sites under the banner that the providers are providing the look-a-alike themes under GPL licensing.

Are they getting away with it? Yes!

Legally? Yes!

Well, maybe not?

It would take a IP lawyer and a long drawn out and costly lawsuit to settle the issue.

But one thing is for sure, once you put your proprietary works under the GPL, it essentially becomes open game as in open source code.

That's why some programmers and vendors akin GPL to a disease.

Many can and will debate that statement but the proof is in the pudding; since Thesis is not under GPL, people can't just go and hijack/borrow/use the theme or the coding behind Thesis without purchasing a license.

And that's what Chris is standing up for.

Giles, the Crew Chief

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Danny Turner

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Crew Chief

If you keep track, Brian Garnder the man behind StudioPress has a flood of programmers and users who have literally and legally mimicked/copied/dupilicated his StudioPress branding to the point of inferring that users were actually downloading genuine StudioPress for free, or at greatly reduced price.

I have seen StudioPress themes on a number of the free WP theme sites under the banner that the providers are providing the look-a-alike themes under GPL licensing.

Are they getting away with it? Yes!

Legally? Yes!

Giles, the Crew Chief

The studiopress themes were released as GPL for a short perion of time - late 2008- Brian Garnder then had a change of heart and stopped doing so -

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Crew Chief 14 years ago

Originally Posted by Danny Turner

The studiopress themes were released as GPL for a short perion of time - late 2008- Brian Garnder then had a change of heart and stopped doing so -

That may be true and I hadn't checked to see that he pulled out.

If he did, GOOD for him!

BUT!

The damage has already been done!

Sites are still hawking his designs under GNU GPL.

Anyhows, thanks for the update.

Giles, the Crew Chief
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Bayo

14 years ago

I agree with Leslie and think the guidelines are pretty clear, but the interpretation of 'flexibility' is the issue.

Bayo

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aritrim

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Quentin

An interesting debate between Chris Pearson the developer of Thesis theme and Matt Mullenweg the man behind Wordpress.

Would Wordpress Sue The Maker Of Thesis, A Leading Wordpress Theme? - with Chris Pearson and Matt Mullenweg

Should products developed on the top of GPL be able to charge?

Quentin

Why not? Someone has decided NOT to charge for his or their time. Read GPL. If I manufacture and sell paints meant for GPL cars (will be available some day), whats wrong in charging for the paint? I have my own cost. No one is being forced to buy.

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~kev~

14 years ago

Several years ago, the joomla developers decided that they did not want any commercial software tied in with joomla. They thought that free meant just that free - and that everything that tied in with joomla should be free and open source as well.

Because of this, other popular free software - like the SMF forum - dropped integration support for joomla. The smf - joomla bridges were removed from the smf website, and I suspect that this rift is why the joomla support forums switched to phpbb.

What is the difference with thesis, and vbulletin offering full integration with wordpress? You can to expect vbulletin to release its forum software for free and make it open source, can you?

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ApaOps5

14 years ago

Both of them came out looking bad after that pissing match during the webinar. I see both sides but I think Matt Mullenweg is starting to come across as a toddler. He already has stated that a legal suit will solve things so he should leave it at that. But he is using Twitter to offer to buy people new themes to move away from Thesis. Just comes across over bearing and juvenile.

Then again Chris Pearson has the same tendencies and were clearly exhibited on the webinar.

Its ugly on both sides.

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Wordpress Vs Thesis

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