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Why I would quit theming today.

Quit ButtonI love to create Firefox themes, make addons and lots of freebees that others often enjoy.  I do this on my free time and love to see people enjoy them.  But some days, I’m ready to throw in the towel.

I’ve recently got a few comments from a visitor saying “hurry up and release the f**king theme” and “do your f**king job.”

Now I know that there is bound to be one jerk out of hundreds of users, but it’s comments like these that make me wonder why I continue to spend my time on themes.  It’s not my job and, the more negative comments I get, the slower my progress will be.  These things take hours to build and there is a lot to take into consideration.

On the other hand I’ve gotten a lot of comments recently about people who are so passionate about Miint that they’d switch back to Firefox 2 until it was ready for Firefox 3.  These kind of comments drive me.  They are not yelling at me but encouraging me to spend more time theming.  And the good news is, Miint for Firefox 3 has come along way in just two and a half hours.

What I’m trying to point out here is that when you don’t pay for something, you should not demand updates and start swearing at developers.  We do this because we want to, because we love to, not because we have to.

Give a little respect to those that create free addons, themes and free software in general.


18 Responses

  1. Mohamad Yusof says:

    thomas,
    i think the whole community has to acknowledge the fact that you’re a one man army and right now there’s probably a million strata-esque themes in firefox-addons.
    it isnt easy doing what you’re doing and given the kind of commitment that you’ve given it’s really amazing actually.
    and lastly i think those people has to know tht it takes time to produce something actually good.its not something you can do overnight.

  2. jE says:

    Sorry if we somethimes sound bossy, we are very gratefull for your’e creations and hope you keep on making them…

    jE

  3. Christian says:

    Your feelings about this are completely understandable and justified. I just wanted to say that based on a little experience, the internet is full of such people, who disregard any moral or reasonable standards, and it seems like their very nature would be spreading obscene and/or arrogant expressions. Unfortunately it would seem unreal if there would exist any publicly accessible messageboard in absence of such dross. But I would be surprised if you didn’t come to this discovery yourself much time ago.
    Maybe ignorance is the best way to handle them? I’m not to answer. On the other hand people’s such free work feels closely just as pointless when it gets no positive feedback either. So while I’m writing here, I’d like to mention, that iPox was one of my favorite themes on Firefox 1 (only thing I disliked was the blue color), and the Ff3 version looks also very promising. Great job and good luck with the themes.
    P.s.: Yes, I don’t speak English natively (:_

  4. Donut says:

    no need to go being rude, though i can see how some people would get frustrated that they cant use the theme they got used to, or in my case, the only theme that i actually like to use.
    i can only hope u get midnightfoxy made for Firefox 3 soon.

  5. Thomas says:

    Thanks for all the support. I know there are a lot of good fans out there and I really appreciate you all.

  6. alexgg says:

    Thomas, I don’t know if you remember me but I am a huge fan of your themes as well. Miint, iPox Aqua and Extero are top notch. Just wanted to tell you that it is because of people like you that we have a great Firefox community. I know (by experience) that doing work that is not your actual job is sometimes hard, sometimes boring, sometimes a pain because you would rather be with your special ones or watching a good movie or drinking a beer or watching a match or whatever does it for you, but when people say “thanks”, it is all worth it.

    So here, THANKS.

  7. Morgenstern says:

    You are right, at all! I hope that you will update themes soon, but i don’t say you must do it! I tell you 1000 thanks for your work (that’s not a job)! So, please, don’t quit theming, but go on, if u like…

  8. John says:

    I’m sorry that people are commonly like that on the internet. However at times like that you just need to learn to ignore them. Also if you happen to have some free time soon, even a beat for Midnight Fox would be great, though I understand hundreds or thousands of kb take a long time to code from scratch.

  9. Thomas says:

    The MidnightFox beta is scheduled for as soon as I get time to post it. Could be tomorrow or the next day. 😉

  10. h2so4 says:

    Thanks for your ipox theme, I love it and use it ever since I discovered it. Your last beta works fine in Ubuntu by the way, as far as I have tested it.
    Please don´t pay attention to these stupid guys, I’m sure for 1 stupid there are thousands of non stupids that are very grateful for what you’ve done. We have no other choice than to continue living with stupid people, sadly that’s how humanity is. If one day you let stupid people make you stop doing what you like, they would have won.

  11. Mr Holloman says:

    Tinseltown! Love it!!
    I’m keeping my fingers crossed for an early completion…I decorate on 1 Nov, and that includes my browser. A year without Tinseltown…so sad.

    (well, OK…maybe a few weeks without it…)
    Keep up the great work!

  12. kyle says:

    man ignore those type of comments….just wanted to say i’m a big fan of your themes especially ipox! your the best!

  13. Michael says:

    Hey! I use Miiint! Awesome!

  14. Maureen says:

    I didn’t discover pinkhope until after I updated to firefox 3 or I never would have! I waited very patiently for the new version to be released and I love it! I don’t want to sound pushy because I know it’s difficult to do, but is there any chance of a pink thunderbird theme in the future???

  15. Arne Vaarandi says:

    I found iAqua theme is nice & elegant piece among of hundred Firefox themes ; hope it will also evolved for FireFox 3.0 .. I wish You a lot of energy to continue this voluntary work

  16. hzqtc says:

    I just want to say, ipox theme is my favourite and enjoy your great work.

    btw. I like your font on this blog.

  17. kxkx says:

    HELLO 😀

    i just want to say,
    I LOVE YOUR THEMES!

    especially pinkhope!
    its nice, LOL.

    do continue making them,
    but if you’re tired,
    just rest and ignore those nasty comments!

    hehe, goodluck 😀

  1. 9/8/2008

    […] Firefox has its good and it’s bad times.  Yes, it’s a lot of work for no money, but making people happy is something I like to […]

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