Keep Seeing Chatter About @Salesforce Acquiring @Automattic...  🔗 **Source:** [Keep Seeing Chatter About @Salesforce Acquiring @Automattic...](https://twitter.com/courtneyr_dev/status/2098478189643186178/?rw_tt_thread=True) > [!note]+ Document Notes > tags: [automattic, salesforce, open-source-commons, investor-returns] > author: Seth (@VivaLaSeth); reply by Courtney Robertson > source: X (@VivaLaSeth, @courtneyr_dev) > reference: https://twitter.com/courtneyr_dev/status/2098478189643186178 > date created: 2026-09-12 > > > [!info] Generated analysis — not the author's words. Sections below are machine-written > > from the captured source. Only text inside `> [!quote]` blocks is verbatim from the author. > > Do not quote or attribute any other line to the named author. > > <!-- deep-read: light-touch --> > Light-touch by design: a 72-word exchange, Seth's post plus Courtney's one-post reply. The saved URL is the reply, though Reader labels the doc "Seth." > > # 🏷️ Title: Keep seeing chatter about @Salesforce acquiring @Automattic > <!-- deep-read:sections start --> ## 📝 Summary Seth notes chatter about Salesforce acquiring Automattic and asks whether people are mixing up "CMS" and "CRM," since a CRM manages relationships and conversations, not content. Courtney replies that investors expect a return somehow, and hopes it doesn't come at the expense of "the commons and the bazaar that built the cathedral." ## 🗒️ Who said what **Seth** (@VivaLaSeth): > [!quote] > Keep seeing chatter about @Salesforce acquiring @Automattic... are people confusing the terms "CMS" and "CRM?" **Courtney Robertson** (@courtneyr_dev), replying to @VivaLaSeth, @brendanocwp, @salesforce and @automattic: > [!quote] > Investors do expect a return on their investment somehow. I hope it isn't at the expense of the commons and the bazaar that built the cathedral. ## 🔗 Context - Posted 2026-09-11, the day TechCrunch reported the Automattic board dispute. That story doesn't mention Salesforce or any acquisition. - "The bazaar that built the cathedral" inverts the image in Eric S. Raymond's *The Cathedral and the Bazaar*, where the two are competing development models. ## ⚖️ What it does not establish - **Any acquisition.** The thread calls it "chatter" and links no report. - **Why the rumor exists.** Seth's CMS/CRM mix-up is a guess about its origin, not a sourced explanation. - **Salesforce's stake.** The reply treats Salesforce as an Automattic investor, but the thread cites no investment record. ## 🎯 Conclusion Keep it as Courtney's own framing of the week: investors' return expectations pull against the commons that WordPress's contributors built. It's a thesis to develop with sourced investment and governance facts, not evidence of a deal. <!-- deep-read:sections end --> 📄 **Full text:** [[Full Document Contents/Tweets/Keep Seeing Chatter About @Salesforce Acquiring @Automattic....md|Keep Seeing Chatter About @Salesforce Acquiring @Automattic... by Seth (@VivaLaSeth); reply by Courtney Robertson]] ## Highlights - [@VivaLaSeth](https://twitter.com/VivaLaSeth) [@brendanocwp](https://twitter.com/brendanocwp) [@salesforce](https://twitter.com/salesforce) [@automattic](https://twitter.com/automattic) Investors do expect a return on their investment somehow. I hope it isn't at the expense of the commons and the bazaar that built the cathedral. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01m2aztt42zrttxsvq5j9qjk5a)) - Note: Investor return pressure vs the open source commons; references Raymond's The Cathedral and the Bazaar. - Tags: atom/zettel/z1