You Can’t Single Out Just WPEngine  ## Metadata - Author: [[Jonathan Jernigan]] - Full Title: You Can’t Single Out Just WPEngine - Category: #articles - Document Note: --- tags: [#wordpress, #webdevelopment, #opensource] - #wordpress - #webhosting - #opensource Author: Jonathan Jernigan Source: Jonathan Jernigan's Blog Reference: [You Can’t Single Out Just WP Engine](https://jonathanjernigan.com/you-cant-single-out-just-wpengine/) date created: 2024-09-23 10:00 --- # Title: You Can’t Single Out Just WP Engine ## 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) ## 📝 Summary: This article criticizes the selective backlash WP Engine faces due to its investment in proprietary features and enterprise-level hosting within the WordPress ecosystem. The author suggests that the focus should not solely be on WP Engine, but on larger dynamics within the ecosystem, such as the use of proprietary code by many organizations in open-source projects. By understanding the ecosystem's broader challenges, developers and users can better engage with hosting providers. ## 📖 Main Content: The central argument addresses the criticism directed at WP Engine for using proprietary systems within their WordPress hosting, while many other hosting companies do the same. Jonathan Jernigan points out that WP Engine’s practices are not unique. Other players in the WordPress ecosystem also mix open-source elements with proprietary innovations, making WP Engine just one example of a larger trend. Jernigan advocates for a more holistic view of the ecosystem, encouraging users to consider the role of proprietary systems in enterprise hosting, the advantages of managed hosting services, and the importance of sustainable business models in the open-source space. ### 🗒️ Notes: - **WP Engine’s Proprietary Code**: The article defends WP Engine’s use of proprietary code, explaining how it contributes to their competitive edge in the hosting market. - Managed hosting services are tailored for large-scale applications. - Proprietary code can enhance user experience and security. - **Broadening the Discussion**: Jernigan insists the issue extends beyond WP Engine. - Other hosting companies like GoDaddy and SiteGround also implement proprietary features. - The larger trend within the WordPress ecosystem is to balance open-source ideals with business models that require unique selling points. - **Sustainability in Open Source**: The author emphasizes the need for sustainable funding models to ensure the WordPress ecosystem thrives. - Investment in proprietary features helps companies maintain profitability and invest in further development. ## 📖 References: - [Jonathan Jernigan's Blog](https://jonathanjernigan.com/you-cant-single-out-just-wpengine/) ## 🗣️ Paraphrase:   1. Original: "The focus shouldn't be on WP Engine alone. Almost every major hosting provider has its own set of proprietary tools that differentiate them from the competition, yet WP Engine seems to bear the brunt of criticism." - Paraphrase: "Criticism is often directed at WP Engine for its proprietary tools, but most major hosting providers also rely on proprietary features to stand out. WP Engine is unfairly singled out." 2. Original: "If we truly care about the future of open-source projects like WordPress, we need to acknowledge that the balance between open-source ideals and profitable business models is essential." - Paraphrase: "To secure WordPress' future, we must recognize that a healthy balance between open-source principles and business profitability is crucial." ## 📰 Newsletter: 📰 **Community Highlights**: In this week's WordPress news, Jonathan Jernigan defends WP Engine from criticism regarding its proprietary features. As the hosting landscape evolves, Jernigan argues that it’s not just WP Engine that blends open-source and proprietary elements. This balanced approach helps ensure innovation and profitability within the WordPress ecosystem, making managed hosting services more effective for enterprise users. What are your thoughts on proprietary code in WordPress hosting? Let us know on [our community forum](#)! ## ✅ Action Items: - **Professional Focus**: Align the discussion around WP Engine’s proprietary code with broader themes in open-source advocacy and education. This can be leveraged in community discussions on sustainable open-source development models. - **OSPO Role**: This article offers insights relevant to discussions around establishing an Open Source Program Office (OSPO). It highlights how proprietary features are integrated into open-source ecosystems, a key aspect of transparency and inclusivity efforts. ## 🧪 Hypotheses: 1. Hosting providers that invest in proprietary tools alongside open-source platforms are more likely to retain high-end customers. 2. The WordPress ecosystem will continue to see increased collaboration between proprietary and open-source technologies to remain competitive. ### 📊 Methodology: - Conduct surveys among users of managed WordPress hosting platforms to measure satisfaction levels with proprietary tools. - Analyze the financial reports of hosting providers to evaluate the impact of proprietary investments on profitability. ### ❓ Questions: 1. How do proprietary tools affect the scalability of open-source platforms like WordPress? 2. Can a completely open-source business model survive in today’s competitive hosting market? ### 🔮 Future Research: - Investigate the long-term impact of proprietary tools on the open-source nature of WordPress. - Examine the implications of proprietary tools for user privacy and data protection in managed hosting environments. ### 💡 Implications:   - Future research could clarify the balance between innovation through proprietary tools and maintaining open-source community values. This may impact decisions on managed hosting and WordPress development. ### 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment: 1. **Visual Learners**: The article lacks infographics or diagrams. Adding a flowchart comparing various hosting providers' proprietary offerings could improve understanding. 2. **Aural Learners**: No auditory content is included. Embedding a podcast or a brief audio summary would be helpful. 3. **Verbal Learners**: Rich with examples and analogies, the article uses language effectively. 4. **Kinesthetic Learners**: No interactive components are present. Incorporating hands-on hosting configuration examples would engage kinesthetic learners. 5. **Logical Learners**: Logical progression is evident, but adding charts to quantify hosting features would appeal more. 6. **Social Learners**: No prompts for community engagement are included. Providing links to forums or discussion groups could enhance social learning. 7. **Solitary Learners**: Reflective elements are absent. Suggest including questions or tasks for personal reflection on hosting choices. 8. **Naturalistic Learners**: Environmental or real-world analogies are not present, which could engage naturalistic learners. ### 📊 Accessibility Assessment: - **Screen Reader Compatibility**: The article lacks alt-text for images, although it doesn't contain many visuals. - **Keyboard Navigation**: Needs improvement to ensure all elements are keyboard-accessible. - **Contrast**: Good readability, but could be enhanced by offering high-contrast options. - **Text Resizing**: The article adjusts well to different text sizes without breaking layout. ### 🌍 DEIB Assessment: - **Cultural Relevance**: The article does not reference diverse examples, though it avoids bias. - **Inclusive Language**: Uses neutral language, but could improve by defining technical jargon for non-experts. - **Neurodiversity Support**: The article is fairly - Document Tags: [[open source corporate contribution]] [[wordpress]] [[wpdrama]] [[wp engine]] - Summary: WCUS Keynote After Thoughts Continent level WordCamps are the capstone events throughout the world that bring together the entire WordPress community.  I’v - URL: https://jonathanjernigan.com/you-cant-single-out-just-wpengine/  #### WCUS Keynote After Thoughts Continent level WordCamps are the capstone events throughout the world that bring together the entire WordPress community. I’ve been to three WordCamps now, one in Europe and two in the US, and after each one I’ve left with wildly impactful opportunities and learnings sourced directly from the conference. If you’re curious what it’s like to attend, check out my video on WordCamp US 2023. Almost everyone leaves feeling similarly excited, having forged new relationships and opportunities, and ready to tackle new challenges in their work come Monday morning. Organizing and putting on an event of this scale is not cheap and it’s done by volunteers, and attendees sacrifice time away from families, work, and put out large sums of money to attend. But, ticket costs are incredibly low to keep things accessible to anyone. Attending means you have access to multiple days filled with a slew of speakers and vendors, unparalleled networking in and around the venue, lunch each day, and tons of after-hours events, many of which are open to everyone. A 3-day ticket for WordCamp US in 2024 was just $100. Compare that to a national 3-day conference for vacation rental management companies (VRMA). The cheapest ticket is a minimum of $1,400. Over **14x** the cost for a conference of nearly identical length, format, and purpose. And you still have to factor in your own travel and lodging for both of these events. I could’ve paid for my hotel, my flight across the country, and still only had *just* the ticket paid for if I attended VRMA. All of this is to say that it’s a huge undertaking to attend a national level WordCamp and certainly not an easy feat to put it on. #### How The Parade Got Rained Out It’s been customary for as long as I’m aware that Matt Mullenweg, the co-founder of the open source WordPress project, closes WordCamp with a long form keynote and a Q&A session. As with any quasi-CEO level keynote at a conference like this, it’s mostly big picture stuff, talking about the good that WordPress does in the world, what is to come over the next few years, etc. I left the keynote in WCUS 2023 learning more or less nothing of substance except the next few stages of the Gutenberg / Block Editor project, which are public information anyway. So that’s why it was particularly strange that this year’s keynote was largely spent reading verbatim a blog post he had posted a few days prior entitled “WordCamp US & Ecosystem Thinking”. In it, he discusses what makes a piece of software truly open source and how it continues to thrive and survive. He advocates for spending money with companies that support open source and to “vote with your wallet”, closing the post/live reading advocating for avoiding companies that exploit open source. The room is filled with hundreds of people who are passionate about WordPress, traveled a great distance to be here and are now present to hear from the WordPress figurehead, and they just had a blog post read to them like a bedtime story. He continues the keynote by introducing a new section he called “How Private Equity Can Hollow Out and Destroy Open Source Communities” where he gives specific examples of a firm called Silver Lake Capital who realized massive profit at the expense of the overall health of some of their other assets. And then he asks “what’s another Silver Lake company? WPEngine.” “And who is the person behind all of this? This guy, his name is Lee Wittlinger”, he continues. And puts up Wittlinger’s photo and a media relations email address on screen. Mullenweg then states that this might be the last WordCamp that we see WPEngine at. Keep in mind that WPEngine is a “Super Admin” level sponsor of WordCamp US, meaning they paid a fee of [$75,000](https://us.wordcamp.org/2024/call-for-sponsors/#:~:text=Super%20Admin%20%2475%2C000%20(Sold%20Out)) to have a large booth and receive prominent branding throughout the event. There were roughly 6 or 8 Super Admin spots, 5 of which were sold, but 2 of those were Automattic owned properties. (I wonder if any money changed hands?) WPEngine have sponsored others events this year, like WordCamp Europe 2024 at the Admin level, costing [€40,000](https://europe.wordcamp.org/2024/sponsors/call-for-sponsors/#:~:text=mono%20phase%20electricity-,Administrator,-Price%3A%20%E2%82%AC40%2C000). Remember those affordable ticket prices? Mullenweg, of course, goes on to shift the blame entirely on the previously mentioned Wittlinger as the person responsible. As he continues, he says that a presentation was given at WordCamp Europe discussing the slowing of the growth of WordPress and claims that it can be mapped “to the revenue growth of a company like WPEngine.” He asks the audience to imagine you’re running a company and that some of your budget goes to R&D, and then proposes how great it would be if you could “get all of the software for free, don’t spend a single dollar on it, or spend 40 hours a week, call that $100,00 a year, and you can make $450,000,000 per year off it, that’d be pretty sweet right?”. “But then what happens to the software that you’re taking the business from companies like the other ones I mentioned, Automattic, Newfold, etc that, like, actually put back to that software. Now those companies are fighting with one hand tied behind their back.” Mullenweg is the CEO of Automattic, which owns WordPress.com, a hosting service that competes with WPEngine, along with other massive WordPress related properties like Jetpack, Woocommerce, and more. “I have 100 full time people working on Core and things in the Commons. I could have those 100 people working on things like getting more customers for WordPress.com or something like that, but they’re not. They’re working on things that benefit all of us, that belong to all of us, that are part of open source.” And that’s it. He closes his talk with that, reading a bedtime story and bashing on one singular WordPress host. While he opens the floor to Q&A, he continues with more strange comments about offering to print WPEngine employees different badges because the company and its booth were nearly removed from this currently active WordCamp, and also saying that WPEngine likely won’t be back at future WordCamps. #### Immediate Crowd Reaction Very sparse applause follows from the crowd after all that they had just listened to. The first Q&A question asks Mullenweg if he went through higher level channels before bringing this to the public in this particular venue and he responds saying that yes he tried, spoke to people at WordCamp, and states that it was “scary” to give this presentation. The largest applause came from a very brave person who states that Mullenweg punching down feels like vendettas and are demotivating. This person continues by saying that if he had spent the time on stage promoting meetups and talking about bringing new people into the fold, that the positivity would be far more effective than this targeted attack. Another audience member says that it sounds like Mullenweg is calling for a strike from WPEngine and he responds by saying that he hopes all of their customers watch this presentation and then consider other hosts like Hostinger, Bluehost Cloud, and Pressable (owned by Automattic). Let me be clear on my personal position here. I have absolutely no affiliation with or investment into WPEngine. In fact, I often advise clients against using WPEngine as their host for a variety of reasons. I do use ACF extensively and the product has improved greatly after WPEngine bought it. And even then, spending this keynote publicly shaming WPEngine was incredibly distasteful, pointless, and a waste of a keynote. As we’ve seen, a huge portion of the crowd was uncomfortable and upset at the way the keynote devolved into a verbal attack, many of whom shared their distaste on social media. The worst part of the live event for me was thinking about who actually suffered during this talk. It certainly wasn’t Wittlinger. It was the human beings on the ground representing WPEngine. These folks have nothing to do with their CEO or investors tactics. They’re at this event because they either believe in the company, they need to feed their families, or they’re passionate about WordPress, most likely some combination of all three, and yet they had to listen to the figurehead of WordPress bash them for 30 minutes. Mullenweg should’ve kept working on this privately with WPEngine and Silver Lake executive teams until all possible avenues were exhausted. Instead, it seems he didn’t get his way immediately and decided to waste a keynote calling them out. But the reality here is that the actual problem cannot be blamed exclusively on WPEngine. #### Mullenweg’s Actual Problem Not contributing enough back to Core and they make as much money as him. It’s as simple as that. But by what metric are we measuring “enough”? There’s a page on WordPress.org covering a program called “[Five for the Future](https://wordpress.org/five-for-the-future/)” which calls on organizations to donate 5% of their resources back to the open source WordPress project. But the problem is, on that very page, the messaging states: “The 5% in Five for the Future is an aspirational target, not a strict requirement. It represents a goal to contribute 5% of your time or resources to the WordPress project, recognizing that any contribution, no matter the amount, is valuable.” As clearly stated, there is no strict requirement or obligation whereby using WordPress commits you to investing 5% back into WordPress, so how can we just single out WPEngine? On that site, you can find a list of pledges to the program organized by hours given per week. #1 on the list is Automattic at 3,915 hours per week. #2 is Awesome Motive at 194 hours per week. #4 is Godaddy at 177 hours a week. #10 is Google at 92 hours per week. #21 is Bluehost at 55 hours per week #30 is WPEngine at 40 hours per week. Are any of these companies after #1 giving back “enough”? It doesn’t appear so if we’re using those pledge numbers vs revenue as the metric. So why are they not getting equal shit live on stage? If that isn’t the metric Mullenweg is judging them by, then tell me what is? Google’ers even got a shoutout from Mullenweg on stage during the keynote, despite their relatively tiny pledge and Mullenweg acknowledging they have revenue the size of some entire countries GDPs. And Godaddy was called “[parasitic](https://wptavern.com/matt-mullenweg-identifies-godaddy-as-a-parasitic-company-and-an-existential-threat-to-wordpress-future)” by Mullenweg in 2022. Sources tell me that WPEngine and Automattic have similar revenue figures, which we know based on what Mullenweg said in his presentation is somewhere around $450 million dollars per year. Bluehost got mentioned as a positive player in the space more than once during the keynote. But, Bluehost’s parent company is Newfold whose [revenue is estimated at $400 million](https://www.fitchratings.com/research/corporate-finance/fitch-affirms-newfold-digital-idr-at-b-outlook-remains-stable-04-06-2024#:~:text=Newfold%20Digital%27s%20GC%20EBITDA%20to%20be%20approximately%20%24400%20million). Even if you argue that they’re independent companies from the parent brand, add up the properties Newfold owns that contribute (Bluehost, Yoast, YITH) and you get 315 hours. They’d still be just 8% of #1 on the list, despite having similar annual revenue. WPEngine is way down on the pledges list at 40 hours per week, which is what Mullenweg called out on stage. While I agree this is a shame to see based on their immense revenue figures, they aren’t the only ones Mullenweg should be calling out for “not giving back enough.” What about other companies absent from the pledge list that have made double-digit, even triple-digit millions off of WordPress? Why don’t their contributions match accordingly, or even appear at all? Many WordPress brands are private companies and don’t share revenue figures, but just take a look at some of the pledges from other large brands you’re familiar with. Some of them are very low or not present there at all. Why aren’t they being called out too? If this is such a show-stopping problem that we have to use a keynote to cover it, then spend the presentation highlighting the importance of Five for the Future and providing an action plan for companies and employees to improve their pledges over the next 12 months. Even if he still singled out WPEngine, encouraging employees and teams to work with their companies to contribute more would be far more effective long term. Some employees expressed their fear of speaking up for more paid time on WordPress Core in case they lost their jobs, but he said on stage he’d fight for them if they were retaliated against. So why still single out WPEngine and no one else? I’m not oblivious to the fact that a company making $450 million a year off a free and open source software that they don’t ***directly*** contribute back to in a substantial way is problematic, but we also have to consider the indirect impact they might have. I say again – remember those cheap ticket prices? Imagine if we could quantify the revenue going straight into the pockets of attendees from the connections and networking that took place at WordCamp. That wouldn’t have happened if the ticket prices were $1,400. Just like you cannot quantify or prove indirect impact, so too is it impossible to ignore the obvious conflict of interest by standing on stage at a premier WordPress event focused on democratizing publishing and inclusivity to tell its most devoted supporters that there’s evil among them and to use the hosting company he owns or gets a kickback from instead. #### Stealing Business From Automattic Mullenweg mentioned in the presentation that there’s a common misunderstanding consumers have when researching WordPress and hosting. They think WPEngine is official based on the usage of “WP” in the name, thereby infringing to some extent on the trademark, along with their use of a blue color scheme, and more. As I highlighted previously, during the keynote he calls out other hosts hungry for business by name, including Bluehost as well as Pressable, the latter of which his company also owns. Perhaps he’d argue that customers switching to Pressable would contribute more resources to Core, but then Bluehost was a Super Admin sponsor as well and only contributed 53 hours to Five for the Future. Go look for yourself! Where’s the call out for Bluehost? Ahh, wait… They’re on the official WordPress.org recommended hosting list. Do I smell fish? This was not the venue, time, or the place to call out WPEngine exclusively. And, some users online have pointed out that he crossed the line of the WordCamp [Code of Conduct](https://us.wordcamp.org/2024/code-of-conduct/) in his presentation. Edit: while writing this post, Mullenweg posted a blog on the official wordpress.org website titled “[WPEngine is Not WordPress](https://wordpress.org/news/2024/09/wp-engine/).” He gives one small example of WPEngine “strip mining” WordPress by disabling revisions to save on storage costs. A twitter user highlighted that the page titled “[Philosophy](https://wordpress.org/about/philosophy)” gives anyone full permission to use WordPress anyway they want in the “[Our Bill of Rights](https://wordpress.org/about/philosophy/#:~:text=Our%20bill%20of%20rights&text=The%20freedom%20to%20run%20the,your%20modified%20versions%20to%20others.)” section. Everyone except WPEngine and those that Mullenweg doesn’t like, I guess? The page reads: “We believe that the community as a whole will reward those who focus on supporting these licensing freedoms instead of trying to avoid them.” Then let the community decide if WPEngine isn’t worth supporting. If people hate the fact that they disable revisions, they will move elsewhere. Or like me, not recommend them to clients. Simple as that. #### WordCamp is More Than The Event Itself I had an absolutely wonderful time at WordCamp US 2024, just like I did last year, and the year before at WCEU. The beauty of WordCamp is that while not all the sessions will be for you, the in-person networking and connections are absolutely invaluable. People who you know and interact with all the time online are no longer separated by an arrangement of pixels on a screen. They’re right in front of you, in the flesh, with a proper conversational cadence, a connection of body language, and an exploration of ideas that can come from nowhere else except in person. And because of this, new deals and opportunities present themselves. New connections are made that might eventually blossom into something life changing. I personally left with contacts I never envisioned getting, and connections with folks I barely knew who now feel like friends I’ll have forever. All of this might not be possible without sponsors contributing massive sums of money. Is spending $75,000 on WordCamp sponsorship not considered a contribution? We discussed how cheap ticket prices are for attendees. Crank the ticket prices to $1,400 like the vacation rental conference and I bet you lose 90% of the attendees, even if they can afford it. With all of this in mind, if you’ve never been to a WordCamp, you need to go for all the reasons I shared and more. Just maybe skip the closing keynote next time., You Can’t Single Out Just WPEngine, Jonathan Jernigan, 01j8gydsdpgp9vtfe49p5kszv4.