WordPress Drama: From the Sidelines  ## Metadata - Author: [[ericmann]] - Full Title: WordPress Drama: From the Sidelines - Category: #articles - Document Note: --- tags: [#WordPress, #open-source, #drama, #community] - #WordPress - #open-source - #drama Author: Eric Mann Source: [WordPress Drama from the Sidelines](https://eric.mann.blog/wordpress-drama-from-the-sidelines) Reference: [Eric Mann’s Blog] date created: {{date:2024-09-26}} {{time:16:45}} --- # Title: WordPress Drama from the Sidelines ## 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](#✅-logical-validity) - 🔍 [SEO Evaluation](#🔍-seo-evaluation) - 🎯 [Conclusion](#🎯-conclusion) ### References: Include a list of sources consulted and cited in the article. ## 📝 Summary: This article by Eric Mann offers a reflective take on the ongoing internal conflicts within the WordPress community. It focuses on how the drama surrounding leadership decisions and community dynamics have escalated, affecting contributors' morale and the overall direction of the project. ## 📖 Main Content: Eric Mann discusses the friction between leadership in WordPress and various community members, highlighting how different views on governance and development have led to conflicts. The article delves into specific incidents that have sparked heated discussions, with Mann observing from a more neutral perspective. He points out how these issues are affecting community participation, development speed, and the sense of collaboration that was once the cornerstone of WordPress. ### 🗒️ Notes: - The article reflects on key incidents within WordPress governance leading to conflict. - Mann argues that the centralized decision-making is alienating contributors. - Friction over leadership styles and community expectations is a recurring theme. - The piece emphasizes the impact on development speed and community morale. ## 📖 References: - Mann, Eric. [WordPress Drama from the Sidelines](https://eric.mann.blog/wordpress-drama-from-the-sidelines) ## 🗣️ Paraphrase:  1. Mann highlights that leadership decisions within WordPress have often caused divisions in the community. The centralized decision-making process has led to frustration among contributors who feel their voices aren't being heard, which has, in turn, led to reduced participation in some areas. 2. He observes that while the WordPress community was initially built on open collaboration, the recent leadership struggles have created a hierarchical environment, making it harder for new contributors to feel welcomed or motivated to engage. ## 📰 Newsletter: In this week's newsletter, we take a closer look at Eric Mann’s insightful article, “WordPress Drama from the Sidelines,” which reflects on the recent leadership and community tensions within WordPress. Mann discusses how centralized decision-making is affecting contributor morale and slowing down development. For anyone involved in the WordPress ecosystem, this is a crucial read to understand the underlying dynamics influencing its future. Read the full article [here](https://eric.mann.blog/wordpress-drama-from-the-sidelines). ## ✅ Action Items: - Explore how decentralized governance structures in other open-source projects foster inclusivity and collaboration. - Create spaces within the WordPress community that allow for more democratic decision-making. - Encourage open discussions within the WordPress contributor community on leadership transparency and inclusivity. ## 🧪 Hypotheses: - Decentralized governance models will increase contributor engagement and reduce conflict within the WordPress community. - Improving communication between leadership and contributors will accelerate development and reduce tension. ### 📊 Methodology: - Conduct interviews with both long-time and newer contributors to identify pain points in governance. - Analyze contribution rates before and after significant leadership decisions to measure the impact of governance changes on participation. ### ❓ Questions: - How can WordPress foster a more inclusive decision-making process? - Are leadership tensions stifling innovation in the WordPress project? ### 🔮 Future Research: - Investigate the long-term effects of hierarchical governance models on community-driven projects. - Compare the WordPress community’s governance structure with other large-scale open-source projects like Drupal to identify key differences and areas for improvement. ### 💡 Implications: Future research could provide insights into how open-source projects can strike a balance between leadership and community collaboration, ensuring long-term success without alienating contributors. ### 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment: 1. **Visual Learners (Spatial)**: - **Present**: No visuals are provided. - **Improve**: Diagrams explaining the governance structure of WordPress would enhance understanding. 2. **Aural Learners (Auditory-Musical)**: - **Present**: No auditory content. - **Improve**: Include podcasts or interviews with key figures in the WordPress drama for auditory learners. 3. **Verbal Learners (Linguistic)**: - **Present**: Rich in descriptive language discussing the governance and drama. - **Improve**: Add links to articles or further readings on open-source governance. 4. **Physical Learners (Kinesthetic)**: - **Present**: Lacks interactive components. - **Improve**: Introduce hands-on activities like governance workshops or virtual forums. 5. **Logical Learners (Mathematical)**: - **Present**: Offers logical progression of arguments about governance. - **Improve**: Include statistics or case studies comparing different open-source governance models. 6. **Social Learners (Interpersonal)**: - **Present**: No social learning opportunities. - **Improve**: Link to community forums or collaborative governance discussion groups. 7. **Solitary Learners (Intrapersonal)**: - **Present**: Opportunities for self-reflection on governance issues. - **Improve**: Add reflection prompts or self-assessment quizzes on the reader’s view of open-source leadership. 8. **Naturalistic Learners**: - **Present**: Not applicable to the subject matter. - **Improve**: No suggested changes for naturalistic learners. ### 📊 Accessibility Assessment: - **Screen Reader Compatibility**: Ensure the use of semantic HTML and include alt-text for any future images. - **Keyboard Navigation**: Ensure the site is fully navigable via keyboard. - **Contrast and Readability**: Review contrast settings for accessibility. - **Text Resizing**: Verify that text scales without breaking the layout. ### 🌍 DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging) Assessment: - **Cultural Relevance**: The article does not highlight diverse perspectives in leadership. - **Improve**: Introduce examples from non-Western or underrepresented groups in open-source communities. - **Inclusive Language**: Uses neutral, inclusive language. - **Neurodiversity Support**: The content is well-organized but could be broken up into smaller sections for better readability. - **Representation**: No significant diversity in perspectives is presented. - **Improve**: Include insights from a more diverse set of contributors in WordPress governance. ### ✅ Logical Validity: - **Sound Deductive Reasoning**: The argument about the negative effects of centralized leadership is well-supported. - **Causal Reasoning**: The article does a good job of linking leadership struggles to reduced community participation. - **Coherent Counterarguments**: No counterarguments are presented; the piece would benefit from exploring the potential benefits of a centralized leadership model. ### 🔍 SEO Evaluation: 1. **Keywords**: - **Present**: Keywords like “WordPress drama,” “community,” and - Document Tags: [[matt mullenweg]] [[open source corporate contribution]] [[wcus]] [[wordpress]] [[wpdrama]] [[wp engine]] - Summary: Yeah ... the inside track of WordPress is a mess right now. I'm sure we all have opinions, so I figured I should log mine in as well. - URL: https://eric.mann.blog/wordpress-drama-from-the-sidelines/  Last week I had the opportunity to attend [and reflect](https://eric.mann.blog/wordpress-hosts-and-hosting/) on WordCamp US 2024 in Portland. It was a great event that left me more than a little conflicted about the state of WordPress today – specifically the stagnant level of innovation I see with popular WordPress hosts. For those who missed the news, the event [capped off with an address from Matt Mullenweg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnI-QcVSwMU), one of the co-founders of the WordPress project. It was a polarizing talk that called out a specific host (WP Engine) and their private equity investors (Silver Lake) for [purported harm to the community](https://wordpress.org/news/2024/09/wp-engine/). Since then, [WP Engine has openly published a cease and desist letter](https://x.com/wpengine/status/1838350670564377051) against Matt and his company Automattic. Then Matt and his legal team [published a counter to them alleging trademark infringement and intentional market confusion](https://automattic.com/2024/09/25/open-source-trademarks-wp-engine/) on the part of WP Engine. He doubled down this week by [blocking WP Engine from free access to the APIs provided by WordPress.org](https://wordpress.org/news/2024/09/wp-engine-banned/) for installing and updating WordPress software. It’s a messy situation that has many people conflicted on where they stand and how to respond. #### Why Open Source Matters WordPress is free and open source software. It’s built by a community around the world, many of whom write the software on their own time with their own resources and give it freely to the world. I’ve personally written a *lot* of code for WordPress, both in the form of free plugins and code for the core system. My work – for which I was not paid – literally powers millions of websites. I give back because WordPress is one of the things that made me who I am today. It introduced me to blogging.[1](javascript:void(0)) It exposed me to the GPL, copyleft licensing, and the idea of free software. WordPress introduced me to the broader PHP community, where I’ve been an active speaker, writer, and core contributor for nearly 20 years. Blogging directly led to one of my first jobs. Contributing code back to the WordPress community led to another. Speaking about PHP led to being asked to write [multiple](https://www.phparch.com/books/security-principles-for-php-applications/) [books](https://amzn.to/3V3ExHE) on the language and my eventual inclusion into the project as a release manager. I also know, from first-hand conversations, of the impact my own work has had on the lives of individuals. From the engineer in Kenya who used my blog to start coding and eventually provide for his family through a job in the WordPress space. To the inmate learning to code because of my books. There are a lot of other stories – but the point is that WordPress made me a better developer and helped me put my work into the world. And my work has had a direct, positive impact in the lives of many. It’s personally rewarding for me, but reinforces the fact that WordPress (and the people who build and fight for it) is a major force of good in the world. #### Who is Right? Disclaimer I am not a lawyer and this stance is my personal opinion. It does not reflect deep legal advice or an detailed understanding of any relevant legal precedents. This is merely my read on the situation based on my own background in the community and events / situations to which I’ve been privy. ##### Trademarks There has been a lot of confusion in the past between WordPress the open source project and wordpress.com, the paid hosting service provided by Automattic. Given the legacy of the “WordPress” trademark, and Automattic being granted explicit rights to use the trademark commercially, this confusion is understood and has been argued to death in the path. WP Engine never calls itself “WordPress Engine” in marketing. However, searches for “WordPress Engine” do yield sponsored advertisements for WP Engine. [Until this week](https://web.archive.org/web/20240902035042/https://wpengine.com/agency-directory/mastroke/), they even had partner agencies listed on their own website as “WordPress Engine Preferred Partner Agenc[ies].”[2](javascript:void(0))  Even if WP Engine isn’t *actively* trying to brand itself as “WordPress Engine,” they aren’t doing anything to avoid others doing so. [A talk at their recent DE{CODE} conference](https://wpengine.com/resources/decode-headless-101-for-wordpress-developers/) even referred to them as such. It’s clear they are directly benefiting from the name confusion but they do not have the same rights to the trademark as Automattic and WordPress.com. ##### Community Contributions The initial arguments made by Matt were related to WP Engine’s failure to contribute back to the open source community. These are arguments that have yet to be addressed and are incredibly valid. Especially when, amidst all of these conversations, WP Engine advertises their contributions to WordPress on their homepage! WP Engine homepage, claiming passion for WordPress and contributions to the open source project. It’s true that WP Engine has published tutorials and their own plugins to enhance their product offering. But are those contributions to WordPress itself? The first argument from Matt is that WP Engine as a company only contributes 40 people-hours per week to the project, which does not reflect a culture focused on “ensuring an open future with […] contributions to WordPress.” ##### End-user Impact The biggest unfortunate side effect of this battle is the impact on end users. When Matt blocked WP Engine servers from communicating with WordPress.org’s APIs, many people (rightfully?) flagged concern about how this would be seen by stakeholders. Most of those stakeholders won’t know, understand, or even care about the issues above – all they will see is instability and an overall concern about the safety and security of the project. That’s a valid concern. But it’s also a misplaced one. Actions have consequences. Inaction also has consequences. The inaction on WP Engine’s part to address very valid concerns raised directly by Matt and his team led consequentially to the removal of API access – an issue that *any* web host should have had a reasonable protection against. Any system pulling remote data from a third party source should have protections against that source becoming unavailable, whether that’s a pull-through cache or even just a [circuit-breaker](https://medium.com/geekculture/design-patterns-for-microservices-circuit-breaker-pattern-276249ffab33) in their system. WP Engine, a very large and successful host, did not have protections in their system for an unexpected outage of WordPress.org API services. As a result, end users could not fetch updates and instead saw errors.[3](javascript:void(0)) I feel for impacted end users. But that they were impacted at all is WP Engine’s fault and responsibility to fix. They’ve been providing access to free services hosted on WordPress.org and, due to a major disagreement on community contributions and trademark licensing, permission to use those services has been revoked. It sucks, but to pin the blame on anyone other than WP Engine is disingenuous. Earlier in my career, I built a virtual machine image for running Ubuntu on top of Hyper-V for running a [vvv](https://varyingvagrantvagrants.org/) developer environment. It worked for me, and I published the image to allow colleagues to use it as well. Down the road, another developer leveraged the image as a base for building a completely unrelated product. I only found out when my cloud service provider sent me the bill for serving that image to the developer’s thousands of users. I contacted the developer and asked them to pitch in to cover the cost – they refused. So I deleted the image. My removal of that image hurt Hyper-V users of vvv. It hurt users of [Laravel Homestead](https://laravel.com/docs/master/homestead), who were also using my image for free. While I regret hurting those users, it was because another member of the community chose to build a paid service atop my free services – costing me thousands of dollars in infrastructure – while refusing to contribute in any way (i.e. paying me a fee or hosting their own image) to aid in the delivery of those services. WP Engine has done the same thing. They’ve built a powerful, profitable platform leveraging free services provided by a third party. That third party asked them to give back to the community and, when they refused, revoked their access to those free services. This revocation hurts end users, yes, but it’s WP Engine who is responsible for that harm. Do not misplace that blame. #### Where To From Here? I don’t know how this ends. I don’t know what the lasting impact will be to WordPress or even the broader open source community from this battle. What I do know is that I’ll still continue to use WordPress. I’ll still contribute to open source. I’ll still advocate for a free, open web and the tools and technologies that keep it that way. The whole dispute could easily have been circumvented if only WP Engine would live up to their stated culture of being “passionate for giving back and WordPress.” Fixing the damage that’s been done will be hard, but is possible. There’s a path forward if only the decision makers involved are willing to tread. At the end of the day, I’m on the sidelines here, waiting to see how the entire situation evolves and resolves. It’s painful to watch, but will hopefully answer a lot of questions about the health of this particular part of the open source community. Will the conflict resolve amicably? Will the legal battle result in further litigation that sets the precedent for these disagreements in the future? Who will still meet up with me at WordCamp US 2025? I hope to see answers to all of these questions soon … * 1I had a blog before WordPress, built manually using Microsoft FrontPage and published to my university servers over FTP. But … it was inconsistent and, except for a cached copy on a thumb drive, no longer exists. * 2An archive.org search shows that this particular agency listing was changed from “WordPress Engine Preferred Partner Agency” to “WP Engine Preferred Partner Agency” on September 24, 2024. At the time of this writing, at least [one other partner](https://wpengine.com/agency-directory/perpetual-solutions-llc/) still references “WordPress Engine” on pages with case studies. * 3WP Engine has since stood up a proxy for the services provided by WordPress.org and various reports suggest the outage is, at least for now, resolved., WordPress Drama: From the Sidelines, ericmann, 01j8r17820kpg4jkmq9agnc8ar.