(edit #2: The message on this package has since been deleted by the developer.)

(edit #1: The message on this package was changed by the developer to cite "CydiaStore regulations", which is also not an accurate appraisal of the situation; at no time was Yllier asked by either myself or SaurikIT, nor was the repository that hosts AdBlocker asked by me to forward a message, for this package's content to be altered in any way.)

So, I was told at some point recently that Yllier (the developer of AdBlocker) left a large red message on his package saying that "due to Saurik's demand" some feature had to be removed from the Cydia Store. A ton of people commented on this post, which is now #3 on this subreddit, making various arguments back/forth about what my motivations must have been in this decision.

http://www.reddit.com/r/jailbreak/comments/18h6hn/what_happened_to_adblocker/

(As an example, some people believed that I would deny this because I make money on ads. Actually, I make no money on ads: all of the ads you see in Cydia are run by third-party repositories. I used to run some ads in the Cydia FAQ, and on a couple of my packages like WinterBoard, but the ad service I used, AdMob for Mobile Web, was actually discontinued a long long time ago, and all of the code for these ads has long since been removed from the few places they existed.)

I have replied to some of the comments now, but as reddit only notifies you when you are directly replied to, and as I wasn't informed about the discussion in time for most of the people who had seen it (which was apparently now over six hours ago) to likely bother to click it again and see my replies, I am posting this self post in the hope that everyone sees it.

Here's the reality: I did not actually demand anything, so the premise is flawed. I was contacted yesterday by BigBoss, asking about a new package that had been submitted to him that was an ad blocker for apps; this product was to be a product for sale using the integrated Cydia Store payment system, and he wanted to know my "opinion".

I typed two lines (this is on IRC) in response: 1) "I don't really want to do that" <- to me, this is already a hedged statement that indicates that more discussion should occur, and that while I have some reservations, they may not end up being important and it may be done anyway, and 2) "(though we do already sell adblocker, fwiw)" <- because, well, we do, and that should be taken into consideration.

To me, this second statement largely undoes any weight that the first one does: it provides a concrete argument for why any initial reservation I might have needs to be examined more closely. To put it again differently: it doesn't even really matter what I "want", apparently this has already looked at, "the ship has sailed", and now, well: "we do already sell adblocker".

BigBoss then explained that AdBlocker had actually recently added this feature. For the record, I always thought that this (block ads in apps) was one of the things that AdBlocker already did, because it just seemed obvious that an ad blocking tool would probably block ads everywhere. Honestly, to the extent to which I think blocking ads is wrong (and I often somewhat do), I don't think blocking them in apps is any different than blocking them on websites: same moral dilemma.

However, the reason BigBoss brought that up seemed to be that this feature had been added to the package even after he (BigBoss) had told the developer that they (the developer) couldn't do that. Now, to explain something for context: I only handle payments, I don't process or host packages, and--while I directly talk with a number of developers on IRC--I don't directly deal with developer submissions: developers work with repositories, and repositories work with me.

This means that if you want to have a package sold in Cydia, you first have to convince one of the default repositories to accept your package; they have different beliefs about things sometimes, but they work together (and sometimes tell each other about rejections). If BigBoss hosts your package, though, and he doesn't like it, then his word is law. He can and will pull packages from his repository if he has an issue with them, and inform me after the fact. (I think this is fine.)

So I can understand why BigBoss would have been somewhat upset about the situation, and he and a few other people got into a conversation about the package. I did not say anything about this situation, though; I was busy with other things, and it didn't seem to involve me. The only contribution I had to the overall discussion past this point is a typically-saurik pedantic what-if regarding a joke someone made.

(Specifically, someone--who shall remain nameless, but is neither a repository maintainer nor affiliated with SaurikIT--suggested putting large quantities of ads on the new package as a cute "punishment". I then suggested, in a semi-humorous and overly-long way, that that might actually increase sales of the product, as it demonstrates the pain of how horrible ads can be at the point of decision.)

That is the last I heard of the situation. What I figured would happen at this point is that BigBoss would make a decision regarding the new package (whether or not he wants to host it), and after that I would receive via the normal process that we have in place a package submission that I could either accept or reject after giving it some thought and hearing the whole story.

However, what actually ended up happening is that this other package, AdBlocker, that we already sell (and which my only commentary on was "though we do already sell adblocker, fwiw", remember), has apparently made some changes and in relation put a massive note on their package saying I demanded some technical change to their product because that functionality had to be removed.

Well, that sucks: I didn't demand anything of AdBlocker, and I didn't even make a decision on that new package yet (and to the extent that I said anything, I kind of hedged in both directions); all I did was provide a first-blush opinion when informally asked about that unrelated package. I am not even 100% certain what all this feature does... I certainly did not demand that it be removed.

:(