[Beladona]

The problem here isn't the fact that you are releasing addons for general consumption, nor is it a matter of who else did it first. The general problem that most authors will state as being their main and only cause for concern can be summed up as follows:

Authors should have the right to decide where and when their addons are distributed, as well as when updates are released for those addons. Otherwise they are relying on you to keep all of their addons up to date on your website. No offense, but the author is the ONLY person dilligent enough to keep their own addons updated immediately when such an update is available.

Take this as you will, but maturity dictates that you be responsible for your own actions. If several other websites did the same thing you are doing at inception, shame on them, but it has nothing to do with you. You are basically saying "Everyone else did it, why can't I?" which would be the same thing as saying "I see other people doing drugs, why can't I?" --- what other people did or didn't do does NOT change how wrong or right such an action is, not does it change your contribution or responsibility to such actions.

When you release a service to the public, you open that service up to both praise AND criticism from said public. If you truly mean this as a service to the community, then you will listen to what the community says, and make changes based on that feedback. In that respect, the public has every right to JUDGE what you have done...

When or if someone cries foul about something I provide on my website, I do whatever I can to alleviate those claims or problems. If someone makes a suggestion that they feel would make my site more useful to the community, I do what I can to accomodate it. THIS is what making a website FOR the community means. Otherwise the site is simply something you made as a means to get kudos for yourself, and has nothing to do with serving the community...