Joseph Sak wrote I'm a bit appalled that DNN is "open-source" but if you want to add functionality or get new skins you have to pay money for them. If you use WordPress or Drupal you can get tons of plugins and skins for free and the best part about wordpress themes is that people actually take time to make really nice good designs AND code them to be W3C and 508 compliant whereas on snowcovered you can buy terrible designs that are still coded in tables and other garbage.

I'm just the normal newbie learning to skin right now.  I can't express my frusteration with someone who would say they are "appalled" by people who are charging for thier hard work.  ASP.NET is a free framework from microsoft, are you also appauled that people charge for programs they have written in .NET ?

Anyhow, I would like to officially thank all the poeple who do post here, free of charge, and provide advice and solutions out of the kindness of thier hearts.

On that note.  You can watch me learn to skin at my site www.martinwebhosting.com . 

Thanks

Josh

Most good developers and skinners that make money from DNN echo system, also provide free stock for those that cannot afford it. However, the professional community does needs to earn money too, so to be able to provide consistent and reliable product and services to the community and support them as DNN upgrades. There is absolutely nothing wrong with charging for the products and services built on Open Source ethos.

There are many programmers and developers that have regular 9-5 jobs with bandwidth to produce skins and modules for free, do so for various personal reasons and their work is well appreciated by the community. But most do not maintain it or offer free support. There are exceptions to this statement, I am sure. But the beauty of this community is for every type of provider to be able to co-exist without slander or inappropriate accusations. If a product is either too expensive or inadequate in one’s eyes, then don’t buy it. If you find something that is free and meets your requirements the only thing you can do is to thank the developer and advertise the excellent work you have seen here in the forums.

Salar

OK I spoke a little fast when I said I was apalled at the idea of charging for modules but I tried to clear the air and I'll try to do so again.

It's not a big deal that they cost money. People should take reward for their work. The problem is the actual work. The code in most paid-for modules is pretty atrocious on the front end. And you can blame tools like VS all day but that is no excuse for someone who is a programmer. If you're going to make profit from your work, then really put pride into it and create something that is beautifully coded and works well on the back and front end. Take the time to learn all aspects of your application, not just the developer side.

Back end developers who create modules / apps that require front end code should either work with a well-versed front end programmer or learn the correct front-end code themselves. IDEs like VS should not be writing your front-end for you. It's outdated and not very friendly for the client-side crew. So, again, if you want to make money from it, then invest the time to learn the other half of your module's code.