Comments on: SitePoint Podcast #25: WordPress with Matt Mullenweg

By: Bill Bartmann

Bill Bartmann — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 02:40:55 +0000

FYI…..Plaxico Burress The NFL Footbal Player Begins Prison Sentence Today!
Not that I have anything against the guy but finally these athletes might start to get it….You CAN’T just do anything you want and get away with it. If I get caught with a gun, I would have to do time too.

Just my 2 cents…..

By: LeonardChallis

LeonardChallis — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 10:38:24 +0000

Really enjoyed this interview. Mullenweg knows his stuff and made some excellent points. Looking forward to hearing more from the WordPress world soon!

As a side note, does anyone else thing Matt Mullenweg sounds just like the joker from Dark Knight? Even more kudos! ;)

By: Just a thought

Just a thought — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 22:17:50 +0000

are you trying to get income from support rather than your initial POS (point of sale). Are you trying to get a job with Adobe, or are you just a good soul that wants to make the sharing of knowledge free and easy. ? Do reply with ya ethics.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 21:24:28 +0000

i went to sleep!

By: George Burwell

George Burwell — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:40:07 +0000

As for the theme developers, the trend isn’t for giving the theme away and charging for support. The main theme developer doing that is Jestro. Matt loves to use Jestro as an example despite the fact the vast majority of theme developers are not going this way as he would like you to believe in this podcast… that is the model Matt would like them all to use. The others still charge for download and rightfully so.

The fact is when faced with getting something for free and the option to pay for support… the majority of people aren’t going to purchase the support. If you give them the same option but require them to pay to download, they will be more inclined to do so.

You are going to convert far more people by requiring them to pay up front than y ou will requiring them to pay as an option after they get the product. This has been proven in the music industry with bands like Radiohead who were disappointed when their fans overwhelmingly chose to get their CD for free vs. the optional payment.

Will you get more users using your theme if you give it away for free? Sure. But you will also get more people expecting you to support it and then getting pissed off when you tell them you have to pay.

If you tell them they have to pay up they are more willing to accept it.

It’s easy to say everyone should release free software when your company is backed by VC money.