So yeah, I have been wanting to write this rant for sometime now, but had to put it off due to a busy schedule. I can’t anymore. I am seriously disappointed with Brian Gardner, not because he reverted to his original business model, but for not being honest as to why he went back.
Yeah, before I go ahead, I don’t care what his cheerleaders think who, I saw in the comments, lapped it up all. I live in a democratic country and I am entitled to my opinion, plus my opinion is credible and not a senseless rant.
So, on October 1st, after all the “teasing” Brian decided to offcially announce his decision of going Open Source and producing themes under the GPL license. The existing customers would get all the support for their purchase, but no one after that day could buy the original rev themes. I was happy as well as sad. Sad, I don’t know why, but happy for his “contributing thoughts” to the wordpress community. Not everyone is like that today.
Brian was not alone in this charity work. Jason Schuller from WP Elements was with him. Well, they roll out their plan and start cranking theme after theme under the GPL license. They had a support package which people could purchase for customization and other modification.
The other day, towards the end of 2008, Brian decides to close what he calls an “experiment”. The free download links are gone. You want a theme, you gotta pay for the support. Look at the image below for the free download link that existed then.
Alright, its his business, and he has the right to do what he wants. What ticked me off was his calling the sham an “experiment”. This is what he said before he launched his “experiment” -
“It only seems fair that we abandon our current premium theme models, and begin a new way of doing business. I contacted Matt and Toni to see if they would be gracious enough to carve out some time to meet with us, so we could ensure that our business model was in compliance with standards set forth by the authors of the GPL license as well as with WordPress“.
You can read about the experiment here. I have to admit that Brian is smart just as his avatar shows. The bald head and goggles portray the impression of a cunning businessman. Take a look at it yourself in the comments section in his blog.
What pisses me off further was he is doing the current business under the name of GPL and Open Source. Brian, why couldn’t you muster the courage to tell us that the charity “experiment” did not work well with your and Jason’s pockets. Everybody needs to make money and none of us would critisize I bet if you had been honest.
Lastly, why does this incident irritate me? Because I have been a customer of Revolution for over a year. I own 4-5 themes of his and have always recommended him for his good business ethics and friendly support.
Will I stop using his themes? No, I won’t. I paid for it. Will I stop recommending his themes? No, I won’t as they are a masterpiece. But I am angry with you Brian and I will be until you admit that it was a failed “experiment”. I had even commented my feeling about this in your blog and you were not man enough to approve it. Call it your liberty. Democracy huh?
Good Luck.
