[theme-reviewers] Why the double standards and why Pagelines gets special treatment?

[Daniel Tara]

From the PageLines FAQ located on the Pricing page:

Can I use PageLines on more than one site?
If you own the PageLines Professional Edition you can use it on multiple sites owned by you or your organization.

If you own the PageLines Developer Edition you can use it to build an unlimited number of sites for yourself or for others.


That's not crappy wording, that clear print. It clearly says "you can use it on sites owned by you". That's a usage limitation, not a support limitation.

Also, I couldn't find a reference to the GPL license anywhere on the site except the Terms of Service page:

"The PageLines Framework islicensed under the GNU License."

The license of the PRODUCT is one thing ant the terms of service of the WEBSITE is another thing. It's not clear whether those terms apply to the website or the product unless you click on that link. That's not on;y counter-intuitive but suggests the authors trying to circumvent license coverage by hiding useful license information under a link. Full license information should be provided on the page where the 2 licenses are mentioned.

The TOS also state this:

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

Nice try. The GPL actually has a disclaimer stating exactly that in case some non-compatible requirements are added to the license, these requirements can be ignored. So they're not clarifying anything with this, they are simply  restating a clause of the license.

On my interpretation of this, PageLines is clearly circumventing the GPL. While the product is indeed fully licensed under GPL, the non-compliant statements are far too obvious to be allowed. The theme should be suspended immediately until the wording on the license is fixed, the license differences are clearly stated and the GPL is mentioned in the 2 license options.

That being said, having a theme featured is overrated and misunderstood. It can be clearly seen most themes in the top popular are not in the featured list. Also, the featured section is not giving exposure to the best themes, it is for showcasing what themes can do.  I'm going to stop here with this explanation as I assume it's simple for everybody to understand.

Daniel

On Mar 24, 2012, at 10:59 PM, Satish Gandham wrote:

> @Simon Prosser 
> Goto your store page ->themes and add themes tab, you will find the hotlikned image there.
> 
> 
> @ theme admins with unbiased view
> 
> I just found that pageliens repalces the wordpress logo on the login page with theirs.
> 
> Seriously, what is this? This shouldn't even be in the repository, leave alone the featured list.
> 
> This happening in the theme for which one of the lead developer is a theme admin, what message does it send to other developers? Isn't this a missue of power?
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