In recent days, a WPdrama has begun that is shaping up to be a historic moment for WordPress, involving Automattic and WP Engine.
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Program transcript
Hello, I’m Alicia Ireland, and you’re listening to WPpodcast, in this special episode.
Surely, these past 10 days have been some of the most complex for WordPress, and not because of the software itself, but in terms of the community and its ecosystem.
I should warn you that in this situation I’m about to explain, there are clearly four sides: those who side with Automattic, those who support WP Engine, those who are in the center of the WordPress Community, and those who have no idea — nor care — about what’s happening.
The situation has many facets, so I’ll try to be as organized as possible, both chronologically and objectively.
Even though this started a while ago, around 18 months back, the bomb went off during a presentation by Matt Mullenweg at WordCamp US, co-creator of WordPress and founder of Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com and most of the actions of the WordPress Foundation, including its trademarks for commercial use.
In this presentation, unlike most, Matt didn’t focus much on WordPress as a product but rather on the need for contribution to the project. He did so by talking about large companies and investments. At one point, he brought up Silver Lake, the investment fund behind a hosting provider called WP Engine, which was well-known among the attendees and the community.
Without going into too much detail, the summary is that WP Engine generates hundreds of millions of dollars in profit and only dedicates 40 hours to Five for the Future. On top of that, they’ve also misused WordPress or WooCommerce trademarks, among others.
There’s no doubt this is highly unusual for a WordPress event, and the cases where a company has been called out are few and far between. But never on this level.
The buzz started right after the WordCamp ended, with the publication of a post on the official WordPress project blog called WP Engine is Not WordPress, explaining how this hosting company creates confusion with the WordPress brand and what they offer. It also referenced what was said at the event: WP Engine generates half a billion dollars in profits and only contributes 40 hours, while Automattic contributes almost 4,000 hours per week.
Perhaps the most surprising part of the article was the lengthy explanation that WP Engine, by default, disables content revisions — a feature configurable through the configuration file. It’s also worth noting that WordPress’s own documentation recommends limiting revisions, both in user documentation and advanced documentation.
According to Matt, WP Engine is not offering you WordPress because it’s a modified version of the software.
Without getting too deep into the debate, it’s important to remember that WordPress is distributed under the General Public License (GPL), which grants four freedoms:
- The freedom to use the program for any purpose.
- The freedom to study how the program works and modify it to suit your needs.
- The freedom to redistribute it.
- The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others.
Perhaps the most shocking part is the language used to describe the company:
This is one of the many reasons why they are a cancer to WordPress, and it’s important to remember that without control, cancer will spread. WP Engine is setting a poor standard that others may look to and think it’s okay to replicate. We must set a higher standard to ensure WordPress will be here for the next 100 years.
On the internet, we know someone can strike a match to momentarily light up a dark room in London, and before you know it, the Amazon rainforest is on fire. And that’s what happened.
Without delving into legal matters, WP Engine issued a cease and desist letter against Automattic.
Although contributors to the project have largely stayed on the sidelines in Slack, the official WordPress chat, a fair amount can still be said, particularly because there was some movement in the Hosting channel, where a few contributors raised their hands to question whether the official WordPress blog was the right place for this post, and therefore, if it should be distributed in the admin panel of all WordPress installations worldwide.
One specific user, Ángel Plaza, published a post titled WordPress.com is Not WordPress, referencing the same title as the official blog, explaining that this hosting company also engages in some practices that limit WordPress functionality.
Matt’s response was quick:
Thank you for your opinion, but ultimately, I have final control of wordpress.org and believe that this post is appropriate to appear in every admin panel of every WordPress installation, because what WP Engine is doing is so harmful, it has been a pattern for years, and I have tried for 18 months to resolve it.
The conversation continued, with Matt continuing to demand that WP Engine contribute 4,000 hours per week or what they consider proportional to their revenue, also mentioning that, on the other hand, there’s the legal battle over trademark usage.
It’s worth noting that shortly after, Ángel was unilaterally banned from Slack without prior notice, though he hasn’t been the only person blocked during this process.
On various platforms and social networks, the battle had begun, with many people taking sides. But what was becoming clear was that, in any case, the WordPress Community was the one losing, regardless of the outcome.
At this point, the discussions generally broke down into three very distinct areas:
- Contribution, which no one disputes is necessary for an open-source project, although everywhere, including in Five for the Future, it’s clearly stated that it’s not mandatory, though we know it’s morally necessary for the sustainability of the project;
- The use of trademarks, where opinions and views vary, and this has been an issue for a long time with the handling of commercial trademarks by Automattic and non-commercial ones by the WordPress Foundation;
- And the freedom for anyone to use the software, modify it, and, ultimately, the open-source nature of the code.
The next step came when rumors began that WP Engine was blocking the widget that shows events and news in the admin panel. Let’s remember that one of Matt’s goals was to have that post appear in all WordPress installations worldwide, including those hosted on WP Engine.
This was followed by Automattic’s publication of its own cease and desist letter regarding the use of trademarks.
Shortly after, a new post appeared on the official blog: WP Engine Has Been Banned from WordPress.org. The post made it clear that WP Engine needs a license to use WordPress, and as a precaution, access to WP Engine’s networks has been blocked while the situation is resolved. The reasoning cited was that WP Engine does not contribute to the project, even though the sites they host do consume its data.
This latest move sparked even more controversy, as it now prevents WordPress users from updating plugins, themes, or the core automatically through the auto-update feature.
And here we return to the most affected: users who often don’t even know where their WordPress site is hosted. Many agencies were asking Matt to lift the ban due to the economic harm it was causing them.
On Friday, WordPress.org announced a temporary lifting of the restrictions, allowing WP Engine until Tuesday to create mirrors of the systems they use, while users can perform the necessary maintenance.
Starting October 1st, at 00:00 UTC, we will return to the situation we’ve been dealing with.
The next chapter has yet to be written.
And finally, this podcast is distributed under a Creative Commons license as a derivative version of the podcast in Spanish; you can find all the links for more information, and the podcast in other languages, at WPpodcast .org.
Thanks for listening, and until the next episode!
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