Get the F Out! Baby Please Don’t Go!  Full Document Contents/Articles/Get the F Out! Baby Please Don’t Go!.md, Get the F Out! Baby Please Don’t Go!, BDFL. > [!note]+ Document Notes > tags: > - #wordpress > - #opensource > - #automattic > Author: Antimattic.net > Source: Antimattic.net Website > Reference: https://antimattic.net/index.php/2024/10/19/get-the-f-out-baby-please-dont-go/ > date created: 2024-10-20 13:15 > > # Title: "Get the F Out Baby, Please Don’t Go" – A Critique of Automattic’s Influence on WordPress > <!-- deep-read:sections start --> ## Table of Contents: - [📝 Summary](#-summary) - [📖 Main Content](#-main-content) - [🗒️ Notes](#-notes) - [📖 References](#-references) - [🗣️ Paraphrase](#-paraphrase) - [📰 Newsletter](#-newsletter) - [✅ Action Items](#-action-items) - [🧪 Hypotheses](#-hypotheses) - [📊 Methodology](#-methodology) - [❓ Questions](#-questions) - [🔮 Future Research](#-future-research) - [💡 Implications](#-implications) - [🧠 Learning Styles Assessment](#-learning-styles-assessment) - [📊 Accessibility Assessment](#-accessibility-assessment) - [🌍 DEIB Assessment](#-deib-diversity-equity-inclusion-and-belonging-assessment) - [✅ Logical validity](#-logical-validity) - [🔍 SEO Evaluation](#-seo-evaluation) - [🎯 Conclusion](#-conclusion) ## 📝 Summary: This article critiques Automattic's growing control over the WordPress ecosystem, claiming that the company’s increasing influence is shifting the open-source nature of WordPress. The article reflects concerns about Automattic’s business decisions and their long-term impact on WordPress contributors and community governance. ## 📖 Main Content: The author argues that Automattic’s business interests are increasingly at odds with the spirit of open-source collaboration in WordPress. The article questions whether Automattic’s leadership aligns with the community’s best interests and criticizes what it sees as a commercial takeover of an originally decentralized project. The piece expresses concerns about how Automattic’s power could marginalize contributors, diminish community influence, and lead to decisions favoring profits over open-source principles. ### 🗒️ Notes: - **Automattic's Influence**: - Automattic is gaining too much control over WordPress. - Decisions increasingly favor business goals rather than open-source values. - **Community Marginalization**: - Concerns that Automattic’s power could push smaller contributors out. - The company’s commercial interests may overshadow the input from the broader community. - **Future of WordPress**: - The article questions the future direction of WordPress if Automattic continues to dominate. - There are calls for renewed governance that better represents all contributors. ## 📖 References: - [Antimattic.net, "Get the F Out Baby, Please Don’t Go"](https://antimattic.net/index.php/2024/10/19/get-the-f-out-baby-please-dont-go/) ## 🗣️ Paraphrase: 1. The article expresses frustration with Automattic's growing control over WordPress, asserting that its corporate goals are becoming more prominent, potentially eroding the open-source nature of the platform. 2. The author questions whether Automattic's increasing dominance leaves enough room for community-driven decisions, fearing that smaller contributors may be sidelined in favor of profit-driven strategies. ## 📰 Newsletter: 🔥 **Is Automattic Steering WordPress in the Wrong Direction?** This month, the WordPress community is abuzz with discussions about Automattic's growing influence on the platform. A recent article highlights concerns that the company's control could undermine the open-source ethos that made WordPress so successful. Are we seeing a shift away from community-driven decisions? Join the conversation and share your thoughts as we explore the balance between business interests and community values. Stay tuned for the latest insights and developments in the WordPress ecosystem! ## ✅ Action Items: For Courtney Robertson, this article raises key concerns that are relevant to her focus on transparency, inclusivity, and community-driven governance in open-source projects. As a Developer Advocate and someone invested in the future of WordPress, Courtney could address these issues by fostering discussions around better community representation, open-source governance models, and how large corporations like Automattic can collaborate more transparently with smaller contributors. These conversations could also align with her aspirations to become an OSPO director, ensuring open-source projects stay inclusive and representative of their entire communities. ## 🧪 Hypotheses: - Will Automattic’s growing influence lead to more centralized decision-making in WordPress governance? - Could greater transparency in Automattic’s business decisions help align their goals with the open-source community? ### 📊 Methodology: - Conduct surveys among WordPress contributors to assess their views on Automattic’s influence. - Comparative analysis of how other open-source projects maintain community governance despite corporate backing. ### ❓ Questions: - How can Automattic balance its business interests with its responsibility to the open-source WordPress community? - What governance models could be adopted to ensure fair representation for smaller contributors in WordPress’s future? ### 🔮 Future Research: - Explore alternative governance models for open-source projects, where corporate interests do not overshadow community contributions. - Investigate the long-term impact of corporate dominance on open-source ecosystems, particularly in large projects like WordPress. ### 💡 Implications: The outcome of this growing tension between Automattic and the broader WordPress community could set a precedent for how other open-source projects navigate corporate influence. Ensuring transparency and fair governance is essential for sustaining the integrity of open-source collaborations. ### 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment: 1. **Visual Learners**: - **Improve**: Add visual aids, such as flowcharts, to show the governance structure of WordPress and Automattic’s influence over it. 2. **Aural Learners**: - **Improve**: Include an audio summary or podcast on community governance issues within the open-source world. 3. **Verbal Learners**: - **Present**: The language used is clear and engages readers with strong arguments and examples. 4. **Physical Learners**: - **Improve**: Provide readers with actionable steps to engage in community governance discussions or contribute to decision-making processes. 5. **Logical Learners**: - Present: The argument builds logically, showing cause and effect between Automattic’s business strategies and their impact on the community. 6. **Social Learners**: - **Improve**: Encourage group discussions or forums about improving governance models in WordPress. 7. **Solitary Learners**: - Present: The article invites individual reflection on the broader impact of corporate control in open-source projects. 8. **Naturalistic Learners**: - **Improve**: Incorporate metaphors about balance in ecosystems to explain the relationship between community governance and corporate influence. ### 📊 Accessibility Assessment: - **Screen Reader Compatibility**: Ensure that any visuals include descriptive alt-text to make the article more accessible. - **Keyboard Navigation**: Verify that the article’s website supports full keyboard navigation for users with motor impairments. - **Contrast and Readability**: Check that the color contrast meets accessibility standards for visually impaired readers. ### 🌍 DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging) Assessment: - **Cultural Relevance**: The article primarily focuses on WordPress contributors from Western perspectives. - **Improve**: Incorporate examples of WordPress governance and community engagement from other global regions to broaden the discussion. - **Inclusive Language**: The language is direct but could be more neutral, avoiding emotionally charged terms. - **Neurodiversity Support**: The article could be broken into smaller, more digestible sections to make it more accessible to neurodiverse readers. - **Improve**: Use bullet points and simpler sentence structures to enhance readability. - **Representation**: Focuses primarily on Automattic’s influence without discussing the experiences of diverse contributors. - **Improve**: Feature insights from a broader range of voices, including underrepresented communities in the WordPress ecosystem. ### ✅ Logical validity: - **Positive Reasoning**: The article uses strong causal reasoning to argue that Automattic’s growing control could harm community-driven governance. - **Fallacy**: There is a slight **Slippery Slope** argument presented, suggesting that Automattic’s actions will inevitably lead to the end of community contributions. It could benefit from a more balanced view of Automattic’s possible intentions. - **Suggestions**: Introduce counterarguments to explore potential benefits of Automattic’s involvement while still critiquing its methods. ### 🔍 SEO Evaluation: 1. **Keywords**: - Target keywords like "WordPress governance," "Automattic," and "open-source community" are present but could be expanded with long-tail keywords like "WordPress corporate control." 2. **Meta Description**: - The meta description could include more specific terms like “Automattic’s influence on WordPress governance.” 3. **Title Tag**: - The title tag could be optimized with additional SEO-friendly terms such as "WordPress governance critique." 4. **Headers (H1, H2, H3)**: - Headers are well-structured but could use more keyword variations. 5. **Content Length**: - The article meets the recommended length but could be expanded with more in-depth analysis of governance models. 6. **Internal and External Links**: - Include more links to related discussions on open-source governance and Automattic’s business decisions. 7. **URL Structure**: - The URL is concise but could include keywords for better SEO optimization. 8. **Image Optimization**: - Ensure that all images have relevant alt-text for accessibility and SEO purposes. 9. **Mobile Optimization**: - Ensure the article’s layout is mobile-responsive and loads quickly on all devices. 10. **User Engagement**: - Add calls to action for readers to participate in community governance discussions or share their thoughts. 11. **Schema Markup**: - Consider adding schema markup to improve search engine visibility, especially for articles focused on open-source governance. 12. **Social Sharing**: - Ensure Open Graph tags are properly configured for sharing on social platforms. ## 🎯 Conclusion: The article serves as a critique of Automattic’s increasing influence over WordPress and raises important questions about the future of open-source governance in the community. Ensuring a balance between business interests and community values is essential for the long-term success of WordPress as an open-source platform. <!-- deep-read:sections end --> ## Highlights - > We have technical means to identify the leaker as well, that I obviously can’t disclose,” he continued. “So this is their opportunity to exit gracefully, or be fired tomorrow with no severance and probably a big legal case for violating confidentiality agreement.” Within the hour he announced that he had just spoken to the leaker and accepted their resignation. Within minutes a post to the Access-Checklist P2 would reveal the identity to the entire company. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jank05be8jgdp3tkf24megpc)) - Slowly through calls, texts, and rumors word began to swirl that several other people had messaged him to accept the offer but the promised acknowledged response never came. The previous offer came the day ofter Mullenweg announced that going forward all resignations would be effective and have their access removed the same day. The purgatory of limbo would stretch over two days before a question was posited about the status of the offer. Mullenweg replied: > “⁠I’ll work on an official statement. Probably after we do the hiring offer for WPE employees. We’re really short staffed at the moment! > > That may be awkward for someone who DM’d and will have a later last day (could be next year, even), but my priority is people staying, not people leaving. I’m hearing from people staying that they’re stretched thin right now, so we need to hire and ease that overload. > It’s not a time for a bunch of people to leave at once. > So, I ask people to continue fulfilling their confidentiality and work contracts.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jank8b9tste0ze3mv40d8nnz)) - Slowly through calls, texts, and rumors word began to swirl that several other people had messaged him to accept the offer but the promised acknowledged response never came. The previous offer came the day ofter Mullenweg announced that going forward all resignations would be effective and have their access removed the same day. The purgatory of limbo would stretch over two days before a question was posited about the status of the offer. Mullenweg replied: > “⁠I’ll work on an official statement. Probably after we do the hiring offer for WPE employees. We’re really short staffed at the moment! > > That may be awkward for someone who DM’d and will have a later last day (could be next year, even), but my priority is people staying, not people leaving. I’m hearing from people staying that they’re stretched thin right now, so we need to hire and ease that overload. > It’s not a time for a bunch of people to leave at once. > So, I ask people to continue fulfilling their confidentiality and work contracts.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jank8eyvsggktph2p7g5g90f)) - The stress of having been put into a situation where they had to make a life changing decision about their future within hours, in many cases after having only been made aware of it from friendly colleagues who contacted them to let them know another window of opportunity has opened must be significant. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jank90k5catvjsd158nwrxd8)) - Aside from the tortuous human impact of such a switcheroo what he’s done may not be legal in California according to section 12964.5(b)(4) of the CA Gov Code which stipulates that employees are to receive a reasonable time of not less than five business days to consult an attorney when receiving an offer of separation. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jank9envt5fzz91j3ch3mk0b))