Last updated 19 July 2010
In the last few days, a furious debate has erupted between Matt Mullenweg and Chris Pearson. The issue at hand is the licensing of Thesis theme, which is completely closed and non-GPL. WordPress is GPL v2, and Mullenweg contends that all themes should have the same license too.
Some background about my possible bias: I am was a fan of both men until recently. I was. I will explain the reasons for change of mind at the end of this post (no, don’t scroll to the end yet!).
Thesis and GPL licensing
The core contention is whether or not GPL applies to themes. Forget all the other complicated technical discussions about whether combining non-GPL and GPL code makes the non-compliant part GPL’d, forget the comparisons to Linux kernel modules etc. (though I would advise reading them to know more).
See Rick Beckman’s (aka Kingdomgeek) comment on Matt Mullenweg’s post – that settles the issue once and for all that Thesis has to be GPL’d, to avoid copyright infringement. I am not sure how many of you following the issue actually read that comment, so I’ve linked to it specifically.
There might be a lawsuit to decide whether Thesis has to be GPL, and in the end, the code contributed by Kingdomgeek may end up deciding it in Mullenweg’s favor. Of course, the courts and legal system is a different can of worms entirely, so we might see Pearson slip out of trouble invoking some archaic legal clause. Fair use clause, perhaps, for something that was blatantly copied, for commercial gains, in violation of the license, just does not “feel right” (“does not feel right” is in reference to Pearson, who said so about GPL licensing).
Beckman agrees that Thesis contains code copied from WordPress core. By definition, that requires the entire Thesis code base (with the exception of media files and CSS, perhaps) to be GPL.
Now, Pearson, being the opinionated person he is, said that the offending code will be removed from next version of Thesis. That does not change anything, Chris.
Unless you rewrite the entire Thesis codebase, Matt and co. have a case to request the code be licensed under GPL. There is no going back on the issue. WordPress is a fine example of this – if Mullenweg and co. decided tomorrow that they wanted WordPress to be licensed under different terms, they cannot do so. Not with the existing code.
One of the strengths of GPL is to protect its users from usage and licensing issues should a developer wish to change the terms.
Pearson’s core argument is that licensing Thesis under GPL would destroy his business model of ‘paid’ themes.
Grow up, Chris.
Practically, none of this licensing brouhaha matters for business model, because the real reason to pay for a theme is quality support from official sources. If you have read Kingdomgeek’s comment (linked above), you realize that Thesis official support(ie. those done by Thesis developer and his team) is pretty shoddy, even in the words of an insider.
What makes Thesis great (regarding support) is its community of users, who are genuinely passionate about WordPress and making it better for everyone. Thesis is merely a way to accomplish that. I dare you to ask any Thesis question on Twitter with the hash tag #thesiswp – and show me that no one replied. This happens rarely, because the Thesis users are a helpful bunch.
Thesis users.
Not Thesis author.
Notice the difference? In most other premium themes, the authors religiously answer support questions, as the customers clearly paid for the support.
If Thesis support is shoddy, let us consider its usage and coding quality. Several independent developers have claimed that Thesis is poorly coded. I cannot be sure, because I am not a developer myself. But consider this as circumstantial evidence, added to the fact that….
…Thesis requires CSS and graphical customization by a 3rd party (assuming that you are not competent to do so), and the “user-customizable” aspect of Thesis misses the mark completely. Why people continue to pay for a theme framework when you could take a free and equally well, if not better coded framework (I suggest Hybrid or Thematic) baffles me.
In the end, it really comes down to smart marketing and having the biggest mouth in town (no surprise there!), and I hope people will wise up and rethink the necessity for a theme that requires you to pay for the code itself.
A few other things of note:
- Pearson lied outright in a discussion with Mullenweg on Mixergy, claiming that all code in Thesis was his. We also have Kingdomgeek confessing that the code copy-pasted from WP core was his work (along with other minor development he did), so one of them is a liar, and I am leaning in favor of Kingdomgeek on this.
- Pearson’s now infamous “I’m one of the 3 most important people in WordPress” and “I’m the top theme/framework guy” comments. These ego-inflating, self-centric words likely cost Pearson respect in front of a lot of users. Such “I’m da man” comments are not suited for a public figure, unless you want to make a name for yourselves whipping up controversies.
- Pearson’s outright refusal to work as the terms of base software (WordPress) demands, drives me nuts. Imagine, if users did the same thing with Thesis, and used it on multiple sites on a single license, or did not buy it at all (available at the hottest torrent site near you!). Clearly, he has not learnt from the blunders of MPAA/RIAA, that trying to lock users in according to your desire is a loosing proposition.
The community always finds a way to fight back.
In case it is not obvious already, I lost all respect I had for Pearson, because of the reasons listed above. It is one thing to be ambitious and opinionated, and another to be outright arrogant and loudmouthed. He clearly crossed the line, and now, there is no turning back.
Update: Thesis is now split-licensed, with GPL for PHP files.
Have a comment/opinion? Send me an email or reply via Twitter @sumesh.