wayne23

I do trust in this community to let me make my points here uncensored!

Facts!

• You can get everything on the Internet for free, and if it’s GPL it’s even legal!
• Pagelines is GPL! And nothing, nothing prevails the GPL!
• You can download Pagelines (the Pro version) for free somewhere not here and it’s 1000% legal!
• You won’t get any support from it
• You can remove/modify the Copyright notices (of your Pagelines copy on your servers, on their i am not sure now) copy how ever you want
• People working on GPL software can’t live from air they need to eat
• If you are buying GPL software you are in some sense, if you will, pay voluntary for the product. There is no ‘need’ to pay for it. What you really pay for when it comes to ‘Premium’ stuff in the wordpress universe is support. Support is not GPL and its not free as in beer neither free as in free speech, it’s a service you payed for!

I stumbled upon this and want to say what i think about it. I was, i repeat WAS one of those people who think everything most be free download thats called GPL. I changed my opinion on this once i began to work with GPL software.

I am working on a Project and if it’s ready i want to be paid for the endless hours i put into this, i am forced to build GPL because WordPress is build GPL and other think my work is based in but thats not the reason! The reason is i beleave in the GPL, even in i give all my rights away!

I am about to form my opinion about Pagelines and i just went to their terms of services and i was WTF

2. Grant of License to Use the PageLines Framework

2.1 PageLines hereby grants to you a limited, non-exclusive, revocable license to install and use the PageLines Framework on your computer or to use the PageLines Framework via PageLines’ web hosting service. The PageLines Framework is licensed under the GNU License. If you copy, distribute or modify the PageLines Framework, you must do so in compliance with the terms and condition of the GNU License.

2.2 You may not remove, obscure, or alter PageLines’ copyright notices, trademarks, or other proprietary rights notices affixed to or contained within the PageLines Framework.

2.3 You must comply with all applicable law and regulations regarding your use of the PageLines Framework.

2.4 You acknowledge that your license to use the PageLines Framework is only a limited, non-exclusive license. Except as expressly provided herein or in the GNU License, all title and Intellectual Property Rights in and to the PageLines Framework and any copies thereof are owned by PageLines. All rights not expressly granted hereunder or under the GNU License are reserved by PageLines.

2.5 In the event of any conflict between these Terms (to the extent that they relate to the PageLines Framework) and the GNU License, the GNU License shall prevail.

What about 2.2 they try to tell you you are not allowed to remove the copyright? Even if it’t GPL. To me that pure BS! If it’s GPL we are allowed to do something very very close to whatever we want as long as it stays GPL and that includes removing and altering the entire software!
And there it comes, 2.5 Event of conflict, yeah haha there we got one right there! And the GPL prevails! Now i got my opinion. This is BS! Why include this extemely confusing/misleadint/false lawyer language in there if it’s suceeded by the GPL later anyway? As long as they have such terms i argue they don’t deserve to be on here. It’s as simple as that!

Do it like all the other theme shops, say that you are GPL, end of story don’t try to currupt the gpl, try to make people beleave that they have to obey terms that are nulled by the GPL. It’s Pathetic the GPL don’t gives your the right to this kind if stuff! And you don’t need to be a lawyer to understand this. And you, or at least you lawyers know that this is true else you would not put this “In case of conflict” clause in there!
I would love to get a official statment by one guy of the pagelines team about that.

There are 2 things i am annoyed of:
1. This guys who think they must get everything for free no matter how hard the work was to get a product like this out. And like i said i was one of those.
2. I hate dishonest and semi dishonest theme shops, who bombard you with hugh numbers of their prices and then you find ‘licenced GPL’ ‘hidden’ at the last point of their faq. Studiopress for example. I think they don’t want people to know, i think they (some of them) are only GPL because the pressure of the wordpress community not because the really wan’t to or honestly beleave in the GPL. I remember it as it were yesterday, it now about i year ago i think. I was a bit confused about the GPL and thaught somehow the must provide a free download link when they are GPL ;). I of course now know better. Anyway the total laughable thing what happended back then was that i were accused by the StudioPress founder of confusing people by telling them that they can copy and download and modify their framework for free and that this is legal. He actually acused me of confusing people by telling them the truth! Pathetic.
3. Guys who are to lazy to read the GPL and ask what they can and can’t to with theme/plugin. This is of course party the fault if what i said under 2.). I ocasionally read the public section of the studiopress blog and forums and very often this happens. People ask thing like “can i use this on multiple sites” and the adwers are of course yes. But i don’t have the feeding that there is a great effort to educate people about the GPL. That same guy might come back 2 days later and ask about if he
Theme developers often (Studippress does so) try to scare you of unofficial downloads, and claim that they are have often encrypted code in it, this might was the case way back in the times but i would say if you search for free downloads the sites that have high google ranking don’t usually encrypt code, its not very hard to find, i don’t know if virus scanners detect all sorts of php ‘viruses’ but i really tried to find something with bad code in it and i failed, i don’t say that is does not exist but i would say that it’s not that risky.

And now this terms of service of pagelines they take stuff with the GPL to a new level!

I saw a Theme Shop (don’t remember which one now) who told the customers right away that everything is GPL right besides the price! And of course no strange extra terms … I beleave this is the only way to go. Honesty! Even if it means that a certain percentage of those guys reading GPL right away go to google search for a download link and get it for free and know that its 1000% legal to do so! I want to salute all shops who are doing it this honest way at this point. And i mean that percentage cant be high, because if people want it for free they in general don’t care if its legal or illegal anyway so i see no need for this ‘hiding’ GPL in the last FAQ point or like Pagelines does nested in this block of crap!

I beleave Business with the GPL should based on honesty and by observing it the self proclaimed “industry standard of wordpress themes” and industry leading Industry-leading security sell stone age outdated (still no html5 yet) of medium quality themes for high prices, and the founder is a lier, who is all about dishonesty, profit maximization, and not about free and open software!

Funny fact: he tells people for example that they not should make their sites all about self-advertising and stuff. And what he does himself? He turned his own name into a Starbucks advertisement, as if he really needs that on top of this overpriced theme buissness. This guy goes so against my gut i would never ever pay for software from this Starbuck whore! And the GPL gives me the rights to choose not to, and that why i love the GPL. Freedom!

I want to make clear that i am not advertising for download GPL software somewhere for free, in general, i am in fact for paying for it, but only of you believe full in it, and you fit with the company/practices/terms as a whole!

This means for Pagelines like i said, who believes in nesting the GPL in crap thats nulled by the GPL later don’t deserves to get paid, go google “Pagelines Framework Pro Verson free download” go virustotal.com. have fun with it! Its your right! They throw their rights away because they must, because the want to make big business with WordPress, because WordPress is the most used CMS in the world and NOT because they beleave in free and open software! They have proven that!

I like the code, of Genesis taught, i think under the hood its a great framework. Well what i wanted to say is i think they are extremely good in marketing but the quality if the themes itself is not that good. I will now stop the rant about them.

OMG what have i done here.