Fifteen years ago, I started my journey in web development with WordPress as one of my first content management systems. Since then, I’ve built hundreds of websites and blogs for clients and personal projects. It saddens me to see how the creator, Matt Mullenweg, seems to be leading WordPress in a troubling direction, upsetting the community that has contributed so much over the years.
For those who haven’t kept up with the recent drama, here’s a quick summary: Mullenweg has demanded that WP Engine, an optimized hosting provider for WordPress, pay 8% of its revenue as a contribution to the software. This move goes against the core principles of open and free software.
His actions appear to stem from greed and a desire for control, resembling extortion. It’s disheartening to see him threatening WordPress users just to retaliate against WP Engine and feed his ego. This behavior is harmful to all of us in the WordPress community.
Every website hosted on WP Engine should be treated as a self-hosted instance of WordPress. Mullenweg’s attempts to block these sites from receiving updates or accessing the WordPress Plugin and Theme directories put every WordPress installation at risk.
Banning long-time contributors who have worked hard to improve WordPress, simply for questioning his decisions, and unlawfully taking control of plugins like Advanced Custom Fields—which have been supported by WP Engine for over a decade—shows a serious lack of leadership.
I hope things turn around for WordPress, perhaps with a fork that embraces the open-source principles we once celebrated, restoring the community’s faith in this vital blogging platform.