Moshi: I totally agree. But that works really until you reach critical mass.
A given product or service only needs a certain level of support before it reaches there.
In some ways, a skinnable app is like a console game system. Where each skin/theme is like a game. As long as the console has an acceptable level of variety and quantity and quality it reaches that critical mass. Hence, a Playstation 2 or Gamecube don't need 10,000 games. They really only need a couple dozen. The same holds true on a skinnable app.
The assumption skin sites make, like this one, is that artists want to share their work with others. That they have created something for themselves that they want allow others to use. One can then assume that are interested in spreading that out as far as they can. That is WInCustomize's "critical mass". An icon package or theme or skin here will get distributed to more people than any other site anywhere.
Personally, I really hate seeing politics affecting ones choice of distribution sources. I've been called vile names on Customize.org by its admins but I still have my work there. That's because once something has reached critical mass, not supporting it doesn't harm that product in any measurable way. And when removing support is done by someone who has immense talent, all it does is move things towards a more commercial angle.
To illustrate that, let me flip things around: Would someone selling premium icon suites not be tempted to try to encourage top icon authors who distribute high quality packages for free to remove their work? The absence of Carlitus's Noia greatly enhances the value of the Orion Icon suites since the average user goes "Aha, see, you just can't find free icons of Orion's quality." In essence, removing Noia and other free high quality icon suites and DesktopX themes has the opposite affect than what Carlitus intended - it has moved theming more towards commercialism because people want high quality themes and icons, and $8 isn't a barrier to entry. They'll choose free if they can but if not, they'll purchase it.
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