In reply to Justin Tadlock.

I wonder if developers are concerned that making a free functionality plugin would be helping their competitors too much.

- You help your competitor save time
- You make it easier for your users to switch to your competitor

Maybe these things motivate heavy branding?

I think the issue of helping a competitor save time is unimportant. Building a theme is a piece of work whether or not a plugin is used.

It is true that it will be easier for customers to switch to a competitor. I don't see a big issue though because the competitors users can switch away just as easily. Equally easy is better than equally hard, which is mostly how it has been. Frankly, it will mean more sales all around, because it also means easier switching to a provider's newer theme from an old.

Then there are other added bonuses like increased awareness of your brand (even if it's modest, it's something), free code contributions from competitors, and the possibility of selling addon plugins to one's own customers as well as competitors.

Justin, I like that with Restaurants you say it is basic on purpose and that developers should make addon plugins for more sophisticated features. This completely parallels WordPress as core tool with an ecosystem of free and paid plugins for additional functionality.