Another theme designer/company is going the open-source model, with the best interests of the WordPress community in mind. iThemes announced today that they are moving their themes and business model to GPL. There are only a few people left that aren’t on the open-source model, and more are switching over everyday. They likely realize that WordPress would not be what it is today without the people dedicating their time and effort to developing the platform and the plugins, themes, and customization tools.
For some basics on GPL-licensing, read this (available on WordPress):
When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for this service if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it in new free programs; and that you know you can do these things.
They say that the changes won’t affect past customers, but more of their themes will be available for use on multiple websites, especially the users who purchased the single-use packages. Lower prices and more freedom will also result. At this time, I don’t see many changes coming to their theme page, but they may eventually move over to a more support-oriented business model, which is what many people look for when purchasing a premium/paid theme.
Whether or not WordPress opens a theme store or places more GPL-licensed premium theme designers within the themes directory. If you take a look at the WordPress Themes Directory, it is now titled “Free Themes Directory,” with a welcome message including “Welcome to the Free WordPress Themes directory.” Obviously, this change either comes as people expected to see premium themes there, or they are in fact, adding or having plans of adding a premium themes area to the site.
Revolution Two, now StudioPress, was featured at the bottom of pages with a banner, but is no longer there, further indicating the plans.
With the changes from iThemes and other theme designers, the community is becoming stronger. Even though the market is still there for paid themes, the idea behind them is further changing.
Update: More information has been posted on Nathan Rice’s blog.
