I think FREE is the operative word here, if it's not free, then in the context of Wincustomize, I dont believe it's a community suite. This is especially so if you have to go off site to purchase the main component.

And I guess because its not all free that doesn't disqualify it either.

Just to paraphrase...

A 'Community' is made up of 'Masters' - not just many people.

OK..simple word relocation may miss the point....

Masters are ALSO part of the Community.  They should not be excluded from Community projects.  Some of a Master's output is non-free.  That, too is part of the skinning community in this third millennium...

Not to pile on, but everyone else has an opinion, so here goes:

Community Skin = Halloween

community effort = Harmony

Harmony's a great skin, John. Thanks for all the work that went into it by you all the other artists involved. It qualifies as a Master Skin in my book, despite the irony of its name, given this thread.

I feel both Kitty & John have valid points of view & on which side of the discussion you fall depends on whether or not you believe the word 'community' should be capitalized. A minor niggle, perhaps, but apparently significant to some. When the dust settles, we'll all have a better understanding.

So, do the 'community' members who contribute to said skin get a cut of the do-re-mi?

IMHO, vStyler is a very good skinner. I happened to have seen the Harmony WB offered for purchase on the MaxStyles site previous to it's inclusion in the 'Harmony' community project here.

When I saw the 'advertisement' on the WC front page about the 'Harmony' project (I believe there was mention of a needed WB) - I thought of the skin I had seen on MaxStyles site and was interested to see if the Harmony WB by vStyler would be thrown in the project as a free offering.

I cannot say whether it should have been free, but I do think that a clear definition of 'Community Skin (Suite)' is needed.

After reading a majority of the comments, I feel that the comments are based on 'connotation' rather than 'definition'. I believe that there is enough interest shown in this thread alone to promote the need for an actual definition made by the administrators of this site.

A little clarity can go a long way.

To clarify one thing.. Zoomba did not know I had released Harmony on my site when the article was written, as far as I remember he wasnt even aware it was a Maxstyles originated project as all of the contributing members were also WC community members.

Po....that would be entirely up to a determination by/between the parties involved.

Does porting a premium skin to an alternate proggy/skinnable warrant a share of the premium skin's income?

Would not that depend on the circumstances of the port's engagement/undertaking?

Simple over-the-top example.....

'Master' does a premium skin called 'X'.  He approaches me to port it to Winamp 2x ... thus possibly enhancing its appeal commercially [as it is now more than 'just' the one WB]  I can say 'OK...provided I get a kick-back [portion] of the income, or I can say 'no', or I can say 'gladly - no strings attached'...the choice is mine.

or

'Master' does a premium skin called 'X'.  I approach him to port it to Winamp 2x ... thus possibly enhancing its appeal commercially [as it is now more than 'just' the one WB]  Now it is HE who has the options, not me.

In the second scenario 'profit sharing' is not an option....unless 'Master' is feeling generous as the approach was mine, not his....

I see said the blind man!

BTW, vStyler. Thank you for all the free ported skins. I especially enjoy VXP2 as it is an extremely fast skin (a big plus in my book).   

I think the additional players are gaining exposure by being associated with Maxstyles and Vstyler.

Calling something a "community" anything is about recognizing a significant community effort, is it not? How/why would money prevent that recognition?

i still fail to understand why a 'community' suite has to be composed of completely free skins. nobody has stated an acceptable reason why every component must be free. so what if the blind, wall, rainy, dx theme, cursor, or whatever isn't free? if you don't want to pay for it, don't.

Harmony & whitefire2 are not community skins, because they both need vStyler and Basj approvals.

HeavyMetal & Avman's Halloween skin are community skins, because anyone with skills can do without one peculiar skinners' approval.

I do not receive any monetary compensation for my contributions to any skins. That's not why I do this. That's not to say I wouldn't want to make money off of stuff, that'd be crazy, but I make good money at my present job. This isn't an income generator for me like it is for some. Maybe one day...


This is correct, at least for me personally.

Keep in mind, they were never billed by the creators as community skins.