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Comment by tuananh | Hacker News Reader

i know it's hard work but still find it hard to justify paying for colorscheme. Am I alone in this?

This topic comes up from time to time, and I understand, this isn't for everyone. I've made it so you can use it for free, with only a periodic prompt to register.

The Monokai Pro packages for Sublime Text and VSCode go beyond a simple set of colors. They offer UI theme customizations, multiple filters, easy switching between themes, and a custom icon pack, all designed to work together. Maintaining this takes ongoing effort to ensure compatibility with new UI elements and syntax changes as these editors evolve. In return, I ask for a modest fee to support the work involved.

Much better than a subscription! A small, once-off cost for something that took work seems completely reasonable.

Do you ask for a license to port Monokai to a new IDE? I'd love to extend it to one I work on and ship it with the product. Maybe that includes Pro?

You likely spend far more on far more transient things. Why is it okay to spend $5 on a coffee that's gone after ten minutes, but not $12 on a font you'll use daily for years?

The coffee is a tangible thing that required a lot of work to produce and deliver to you, and this work is required again the next time you want a coffee. The colorscheme is #19181a, #221f22, #2d2a2e, #fcfcfa, #ff6188, #fc9867, #ffd866, #a9dc76, #78dce8, #ab9df2, #c1c0c0, #939293, #727072, #5b595c, #403e41.

And how did you measure the time it took author to come up with this colorscheme?

You seem to downplay the values of skills you do not possess.

It's a colour scheme and icon set. And it's a one-off cost. The colour scheme also required a lot of work to produce.

Certainly not alone but it being something I use everyday and makes things just a little nicer for me, I was happy to pay for it

I’ve spent money on way dumber things

I’m picky and there just aren’t too many good ones, free or paid, so I’d probably pay some small amount.

Nope, asking money for a colourscheme is ridiculous.

I don't use the official Monokai Pro theme, I use a remake of it for Nova editor. But I still paid the Monokai creator as imho they have earned it. Pay it forward.

You may not be alone, but I have donated to Prot for the amazing Modus Operandi colour scheme. If it's something you really like, why not support the creator to try and encourage them to make more things you like?

Totally reasonable. I do think the price is fair- I've been using Monokai Pro for years. It feels like home.

Compare that to say... going out for two drinks anywhere in North America. Or trying to buy popcorn at the movie theatre.

No you are not

its pure nonsense.

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