Maker Taker  ## Metadata - Author: [[Open Source]] - Full Title: Maker Taker - Category: #articles - Document Note: --- tags: - #open-source - #wordpress - #maker-taker Author: Matt Mullenweg Source: Matt Mullenweg’s blog (ma.tt) Reference: https://ma.tt/2025/09/maker-taker/ date created: 2025-09-07 20:31 --- # 🏷️ Title: Maker / Taker (Matt Mullenweg) ## 🧭 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-assessment) - [🧮 Logical validity (w/ Fallacies & Tone)](#-logical-validity-w-fallacies--tone) - [🎯 Conclusion](#-conclusion) --- ## 📝 Summary **The gist:** Matt Mullenweg shares a short, upbeat post sparked by a meme about “makers vs takers” in open source. He tweaks the meme with AI so at least one person raises their hand to make their software open source, then argues that the industry has matured: many leaders now treat open source as part of their calling, and businesses increasingly see it as foundational. He frames open source as the best way to build a shared future. **Read:** https://ma.tt/2025/09/maker-taker/ **Context link:** Dries Buytaert’s deeper essay on “Maker/Taker” dynamics: https://dri.es/solving-the-maker-taker-problem **Why it matters (Axios-style):** - **Signal:** Re-centers the conversation on norms, not legal drama, by celebrating participation and moral commitment. - **Between the lines:** A gentle nudge to be “the raised hand”—to contribute, not just consume. - **Reality check:** The maker/taker tension is real; communities need structures to recognize and reward contribution (e.g., credit systems, 5ftF). - **What to watch:** Concrete mechanisms in WordPress to measure, reward, and route commerce toward “makers.” --- ## 📖 Main Content **What Matt does:** 🔹 Starts with a meme contrasting people who want *free OSS* vs. those willing to *open their own software*. He uses AI (Google’s “AI Studio”) to generate a variant with one raised hand, creating a new counter-meme. 🔹 Links to Dries Buytaert’s “Maker/Taker” essay as a framing device. 🔹 Reflects on the arc from the “Halloween documents” era to today’s widespread acceptance of OSS in business and leadership. 🔹 Ends with an aspirational claim: open source is our best bet for a shared technological future. **Notable lines (direct text-fragment links):** - “so impressed that so many… have adopted the moral framework of open source being part of their calling.” https://ma.tt/2025/09/maker-taker/#:~:text=so%20impressed%20that%20so%20many - “Open source is the best way we have to set the foundation for future generations…” https://ma.tt/2025/09/maker-taker/#:~:text=Open%20source%20is%20the%20best%20way **Connections:** 🔹 Dries’ piece details *how* to align ecosystems around contribution credit and incentives (Drupal as model): https://dri.es/solving-the-maker-taker-problem 🔹 Historic backdrop: Microsoft’s leaked “Halloween documents” recognized OSS as a strategic threat and helped galvanize the open-source movement: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_documents 🔹 WordPress’s *Five for the Future* (5ftF) positions contribution as a norm: https://wordpress.org/five-for-the-future/ --- ### 🗒️ Notes 🔹 **Meme → Message** - Raises awareness that “consuming OSS” and “contributing to OSS” are different behaviors. - AI-assisted counter-meme reframes the norm: someone does raise their hand. 🔹 **Moral framing** - Claims a cultural shift: leaders increasingly view OSS contribution as a calling. - Suggests business objections about OSS “security” are less prevalent now. 🔹 **Movement lens** - Proposes OSS as a lens for evaluating products, governance, and equity. - Elevates sustainability and stewardship as community responsibilities. 🔹 **Future-facing claim** - OSS is called “the best way” to build a shared, equitable foundation. - Invites readers to *be* the raised hand—participation over passivity. 🔹 **Link-outs that ground the frame** - Dries: a practical roadmap for credit, incentives, and governance. - Historical arc from anti-OSS memos to normalized OSS adoption. --- ## 📚 References - Matt Mullenweg, “Maker Taker” (2025-09-07): https://ma.tt/2025/09/maker-taker/ - Dries Buytaert, “Solving the Maker-Taker problem” (2024-10-02): https://dri.es/solving-the-maker-taker-problem - Wikipedia, “Halloween documents”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_documents - WordPress, “Five for the Future”: https://wordpress.org/five-for-the-future/ - Drupal.org docs on contribution credit ranking: https://www.drupal.org/drupalorg/docs/marketplace/contribution-credit-weight-and-impact-on-ranking --- ## 🗣️ Paraphrase 🔹 **Original idea:** Many leaders now treat OSS as part of their professional ethos. **Paraphrase:** A growing share of designers, engineers, and executives consider contributing to open source a core responsibility, not an afterthought. 🔹 **Original idea:** OSS lays the best foundation for future generations. **Paraphrase:** If we want tomorrow’s technology to benefit everyone, building it in the open—with shared rights and responsibilities—is our strongest path. --- ## 📰 Newsletter **Headline:** Maker vs. Taker: Be the Raised Hand **Blurb:** This week, Matt Mullenweg riffs on a classic meme—everyone wants free open source, fewer want to open their own code. He flips it with AI and a simple challenge: be the raised hand. Meanwhile, Dries Buytaert outlines practical steps for balancing “makers” and “takers” via contribution credit. If you mentor new devs or run a product team, point them to **Five for the Future** and adopt contribution goals in your roadmap. Open source isn’t a free lunch; it’s a potluck. Bring a dish. Links: Matt’s post → https://ma.tt/2025/09/maker-taker/ · Dries on Maker/Taker → https://dri.es/solving-the-maker-taker-problem · 5ftF → https://wordpress.org/five-for-the-future/ --- ## ✅ Action Items **Purpose:** Align this article with Developer Advocacy, contributor engagement, and your OSPO trajectory. 🔹 **Adopt a “Raised-Hand” KPI in GoDaddy’s OSS strategy** - Track % of teams with at least one monthly OSS contribution PR. - Reportables: #PRs, #docs updates, #meetups hosted, #mentorship hours. 🔹 **Create a “Maker Scorecard”** - Combine 5ftF pledges + measurable contributions (code/docs/community). - Publish an internal dashboard; share highlights externally quarterly. 🔹 **Route Opportunity to Makers** - Prefer vendors/partners with transparent OSS credits (Drupal-style ranking). - Bid criteria: ask for recent OSS contributions and time-boxed commitments. 🔹 **Educator’s edge** - Build a contributor onboarding workshop: Git basics → “first PR” → “first review”. - Package recordings and slide decks; release as CC-BY resources. 🔹 **OSPO-ready governance** - Draft a neutral contribution recognition policy that spans brands/business units. - Pilot with one product line, then scale; publish an annual OSS impact report. 🔹 **Community health** - Encourage leaders to sponsor contributor time (5ftF) and office hours. - Establish a mentorship rota for new contributors (pair “maker” with “new hand”). **Prompt for future article reviews (paste into your workflow):** “Assess how this piece can drive *maker behavior* at GoDaddy: identify contribution-ready tasks, teaching moments, and community incentives; map to 5ftF and a Maker Scorecard; note governance or DEIB implications; propose one low-lift pilot and one executive-level metric.” --- ## 🧪 Hypotheses - H1: Public recognition of contributions (credits, dashboards) increases ongoing contribution rates in commercial teams. - H2: Procurement policies that prefer “makers” shift market share toward contributing vendors without reducing quality or increasing cost. - H3: Mentorship-first onboarding improves first-time contributor retention more than documenta - Summary: My sister Charleen sent me this meme with the note “Someone needs to draw you in there with your arm up 🤣🤣🤣” It’s a nice ode to the Dries essay on Maker/Taker problems. Well, than… - URL: https://ma.tt/2025/09/maker-taker/?fbclid=IwZnRzaAMqzyxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHlvdQcLdzlLzHQu73Hs6CRMFZBkiXk7VBuBkZEcRimVbLHVc8mGQj8PofXf1_aem_oh5X3vL76Pe-Fs8uA-qzUA My sister [Charleen](https://charleen.blog/) sent me this meme with the note “Someone needs to draw you in there with your arm up 🤣🤣🤣” It’s a nice ode to the [Dries essay on Maker/Taker problems](https://dri.es/solving-the-maker-taker-problem).  Well, thanks to the magic of AI, I asked the [Nano Banana AI Studio](https://aistudio.google.com/) to “make it so on the bottom one person raises their hand,” and it didn’t work at first. So, I tried a few other variations, and then, voilà! Technology is amazing. And now we have a counter to the meme. Be that one hand that raises. Although this is a joke, I’m going to give humanity a high-five because, compared to when I started in technology, [which was more the Microsoft Halloween memo era, to where we are today](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_documents), I’m **so impressed** that so many makers, creators, designers, engineers, and leaders have adopted the moral framework of open source being part of their calling. Businesses, too! I used to get laughed out of the room or had spears thrown at the security of open source, but that is no longer a blocker, and the conversation has really elevated. It doesn’t feel like one person raising their hand anymore; it’s grown into a truly special movement, a lens through which you can view almost anything. Open source is the best way we have to set the foundation for future generations to build upon, ensuring the light cone of humanity’s technological expansion becomes something that belongs to all of us, not just a few., Maker Taker, Open Source, 01k4jz2j0y20j5yqkwcp8tqqea.