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Firefox Facts

Would You Pay for Abstract Firefox Themes?

Posted: July 9, 2008 | Filed Under Themes

Found a couple of awesome Firefox 3 themes to share, but first I have a question for you.  Would you pay to have a better looking version of your favorite Firefox theme?  Bodizzle, the creator of the “Abstract” series of Firefox themes hopes so.

Via his web site he is offering better looking versions of these two free themes available for download now:

zune-firefox-theme

Download the Abstract Zune Theme for Firefox!

abstract-classic-firefox-theme

Download the Abstract Classic Theme for Firefox!

On the positive side, theme developers do put a lot of hard work into the creations they make for us, so if they want to go to the extra lengths to offer us something even more special for a low price, who does that hurt?  Everybody wants to earn some money.

On the negative side, I wonder what Mozilla would do if the themes page became one big home shopping network for Firefox themes?  Also are there any terms of service that would prevent the legalities of this happening?  Not sure myself, would need a lawyer for that one.

On what side of the fence do you come down on?

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  • I don't think that themes or add-ons should ever be "sold"
    I do believe in donations or private beta testing that requires a donation. But that's just to get the testing version early. No matter how many hours I put into my work, I will never make anybody pay me. I will ask for donations, and I appreciate everybody who supports my work.
  • > But I wouldn’t describe those who charge for
    > sex as proponents of free love, would you?

    I see your point, but I would just say that those people see a need that people have, and fill that need. So do most other professions.
  • "Open source means free as in sex, not free as in beer." But I wouldn't describe those who charge for sex as proponents of free love, would you?

    The excellent short What is Open Source article on the same site as What is Firefox contrasts open source software with "paid, proprietary software" - exactly the distinction I was trying to make.

    Of course one can charge for OSS (open source software), and occasionally it may be right to do so; but that is an exception, usually applied to support contracts, like Red Hat. Generally the philosophy of OSS implies entirely free distribution, like OpenOffice.org, Audacity, most kinds of Linux, etc.

    I take your point about running proprietary software on open source (there are a few proprietary extensions for OpenOffice.org) and I suppose that's a point of view one might like to adopt; but still, not I hope on addons.mozilla!
  • Open source means free as in sex, not free as in beer. They can charge for it their work if they like. They just have to provide the source for free.

    Note that Firefox themes do not have to be open source. Firefox is open source, but you can use closed source software with it. That's just like running Opera on Linux (which I'm doing right now). And yes, I did pay for Opera when it cost, and I will pay for Solidworks on Linux when it will be available.
  • Can I refer people to the excellent Wikipedia article Open Source Software, which explains the philosophical and economic principles underlying this discussion far better than I could. It's not about deserving to be paid for n hours' work... that's starting from the wrong place.

    But I agree with Tonino - addons.mozilla is no place for things you have to pay for!
  • I believe paid extensions & themes are totally legit.
    After all if people work hard to do something they deserve money for it if they want to.
    I'd probably would never ever pay for any of these, but some people might. Just think about all those idiotic ringtones o emoticons people pay for.
    Another thing is if they would be successful or not. Lots of IE addons are on sale and hardly anybody wants them, that's why the IE addons are barely used (Except IEPro, which is THE ADDON for IE7)
    One thing is very important though, NONE of those should ever be on Mozilla Addons. Everything there should be free like the browser.
  • Extensions are the same deal for me. They should be donationware at most.
  • I guess it depends on the price point. Bodizzle's themes are $0.99 which is cheap. I'd pay that as long as it was easy to pay (like PayPal).

    I totally agree with him that the time it takes to create a theme can be much longer than anyone thinks. Plus then all the addons. We're talking weeks to get the basics down.

    Then Firefox changes and you need to start over.

    I support Bodizzle and hope it works out well for them.
  • Precisely the same about paying for extensions, Mitch... One of the great attractions of Firefox and Thunderbird to me is that they are open source. I have a similar affection for OpenOffice.org, Audacity, etc. (quite apart from their being excellent software!) in just the same way that I support (with my own work, as well as in theory) Creative Commons for artistic and intellectual "property".
  • Very interesting point of view from everybody. Curious to see how you would feel about paid for extensions? (if it added something you really wanted or needed)
  • No way, I would never pay for a firefox theme. Besides, how the hell do you make a firefox theme that is not open source?

    Also, I do my own themes, or I modify the themes I download.
  • Leo
    The problem is not really paying. If you don't wanna pay, you just go to another theme that is free and that's the end of it.

    The thing is that those pay themes are plain ugly and nobody is gonna spend a dime on that crap. If it were such a good design that you just have to get, ok, I might pay for that.

    But just seeing the screenshots, I hope the guy that makes those themes have another job. One that actually gives him money.
  • krisu
    Absolute no for this, I you ever seen Winamp themes in sale? I'm not, ever seen any other skins for sale. Again no. And now we pay for Firefox skins? Hmmm... Nope.

    It's not world's biggest thing that you must have to buy it and Firefox is open source (it's mean free), donations are better choice.
  • Definitely opposed to this - Firefox is open-source for goodness sake... "I wonder what Mozilla would do if the themes page became one big home shopping network for Firefox themes? Quite - that's exactly the danger!
  • I don't think I'd ever pay for a theme. It's hard to impress me as far as themes go and normally I'm happy with the default Firefox.

    Rather than force you to pay it would be better if he made the themes donationware. I'd gladly give the maker of Kempleton some money but if he wanted to make me pay, forget about it.
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