The messy WordPress drama, explained

WordPress is fundamentally net infrastructure. It’s wide used, mostly stable, and doesn’t thin to make galore splashy headlines arsenic a result.

But implicit the past week, the WordPress assemblage has swept up into a conflict implicit the ethos of the platform. Last week, WordPress cofounder Matt Mullenweg came retired with a harsh onslaught connected WP Engine, a large WordPress hosting provider, calling the company a “cancer” to the community. The connection has cracked unfastened a nationalist statement surrounding however profit-driven companies tin and can’t usage open-source bundle — and if they’re obligated to lend thing to the projects they usage successful return.

The struggle has escalated successful the days since with a barrage of ineligible threats and has near swaths of website operators caught successful the crossfire of a struggle beyond their control. WP Engine customers were chopped disconnected from accessing WordPress.org’s servers, preventing them from easy updating oregon installing plugins and themes. And portion they’ve been granted a impermanent reprieve, WP Engine is present facing a deadline to resoluteness the struggle oregon again person their customers’ entree autumn isolated erstwhile again.

WP Engine is simply a third-party hosting institution that uses the free, open-source WordPress bundle to make and merchantability its ain prepackaged WordPress hosting service. Founded successful 2010, WP Engine has grown to go a rival to WordPress.com, with more than 200,000 websites utilizing the work to powerfulness their online presence.

Mullenweg leads 2 antithetic WordPresses. There’s WordPress.org, the unfastened root task that develops the backbone of the WordPress publishing platform, and past there’s WordPress.com, a institution that sells a hosted mentation of the open-source WordPress bundle — just similar WP Engine. Mullenweg runs Automattic, which owns WordPress.com. Data suggests that astir 43 percent of each websites usage WordPress, but it’s not wide however galore are hosted by WordPress.com oregon different party.

Along with selling plans connected WordPress.com, Automattic contributes a batch of improvement effort to the unfastened root project, which itself relies connected donations and assemblage contributions to run. According to Mullenweg, the squad contributes 3,988 hours per week. The institution whitethorn not person to wage to usage WordPress, but it surely pays to make and amended it.

WP Engine operates a spot differently. It says it focuses connected investing successful the assemblage done sponsorships and encouraging the adoption of the platform. The hosting level was acquired by the private equity steadfast Silver Lake successful 2018, and Mullenweg views it arsenic a concern that profits disconnected of open-source codification without giving thing back.

That vexation came to a caput past week erstwhile Mullenweg took the signifier astatine WordCamp — a WP Engine-sponsored WordPress league — and took nonstop purpose astatine WP Engine. “The institution is controlled by Silver Lake, a backstage equity steadfast with $102 cardinal successful assets nether management,” Mullenweg said. “Silver Lake doesn’t springiness a dang astir your unfastened root ideals — it conscionable wants instrumentality connected capital. So, it’s astatine this constituent I inquire everyone successful the WordPress assemblage to spell ballot with your wallet. Who are you going to springiness your wealth to: idiosyncratic who is going to nourish the ecosystem oregon idiosyncratic who is going to frack each spot of worth retired of it until it withers?”

Mullenweg followed up this connection with a September 21st blog post, wherever helium lambasted WP Engine for contributing conscionable 40 hours per week to the WordPress.org unfastened root project. “WP Engine is mounting a mediocre modular that others whitethorn look astatine and deliberation is good to replicate. We indispensable acceptable a higher modular to guarantee WordPress is present for the adjacent 100 years,” Mullenweg wrote successful the blog. He ripped into WP Engine adjacent more, saying it’s “strip-mining the WordPress ecosystem” and giving users a “crappier acquisition truthful they tin marque much money.”

Mullenweg doesn’t look to beryllium incorrect astir WP Engine’s contributions. But WP Engine is yet abiding by the rules of WordPress’ open-source license: it’s mostly escaped to use, and WP Engine doesn’t have to springiness backmost to the WordPress assemblage conscionable due to the fact that it’s banking disconnected the open-source code. Of course, it’d beryllium bully if WP Engine did, but thing requires that it bash so.

Complicating this further: Mullenweg isn’t conscionable defending the ethos of unfastened root — he’s besides defending his competing WordPress provider. In his blog post, helium claims WP Engine is “profiting disconnected of the confusion” caused by the company’s branding. Mullenweg alleges that WP Engine is promising to springiness customers WordPress but that the institution is really offering a distilled mentation of the service. He goes connected to accidental WP Engine volition request a commercialized licence for the “unauthorized” usage of the WordPress trademark, which is controlled by the WordPress Foundation and aboriginal sent a cease and desist letter successful an effort to marque the institution wage up.

WP Engine isn’t staying silent. It sent a cease and desist letter that tells a precise antithetic communicative of what has been going connected down the scenes. In its letter, WP Engine claims Automattic demanded a “very ample sum of money” days earlier Mullenweg’s keynote astatine the September 20th WordCamp normal — and if the institution didn’t person it, Mullenweg allegedly threatened to transportation retired a “scorched world atomic approach” toward WP Engine.

WP Engine alleges Mullenweg harassed the institution done substance messages and calls, with 1 screenshotted substance saying: “If I’m going to marque the lawsuit to the WP assemblage astir wherefore we’re banning WPE I request to bash it successful my speech tomorrow.” The texts, which Mullenweg confirmed helium sent successful an interrogation with Twitch streamer ThePrimeagen, accidental helium prepared respective presumption slides for his WordCamp talk, with the moving rubric “How Private Equity tin Hollow retired and Destroy Open Source Communities, a Story successful 4 Parts.”

After WP Engine refused to wage WordPress, the institution alleges Mullenweg followed done connected his threats. “Mr. Mullenweg’s covert request that WP Engine manus implicit tens of millions to his for-profit institution Automattic, portion publically masquerading arsenic an altruistic protector of the WordPress community, is disgraceful,” WP Engine’s missive states. “WP Engine volition not accede to these unconscionable demands which not lone harm WP Engine and its employees, but besides endanger the full WordPress community.”

WordPress.org has present made it wide that it’s going aft WP Engine for not lone failing to springiness backmost to the WordPress task but besides for its alleged misuse of the WordPress trademark. Mullenweg present says Automattic has fixed WP Engine 2 ways to “pay their just share”: either by paying a licensing interest oregon making contributions to the unfastened root WordPress project. “This isn’t a wealth grab: it’s an anticipation that immoderate concern making hundreds of millions of dollars disconnected of an unfastened root task ought to springiness back, and if they don’t, past they can’t usage its trademarks,” Mullenweg said. 

The WordPress Foundation — the charitable enactment that backs the unfastened root WordPress task — is led by Mullenweg and other lesser-known committee members who aren’t displayed connected its website. It seems the WordPress Foundation has made immoderate tweaks to its trademark guidelines successful caller days. As of September 19th, the argumentation said you are “free” to usage the WP abbreviation successful “any mode you spot fit.” But present WordPress has deleted that language, replacing it with a enactment that says not to usage WP “in a mode that confuses people. For example, galore radical deliberation WP Engine is ‘WordPress Engine.’” The updated argumentation besides explicitly states: “If you would similar to usage the WordPress trademark commercially, delight interaction Automattic, they person the exclusive license.”

WordPress.org banned WP Engine from accessing its servers escaped implicit their “legal claims and litigation” — a determination that has made it much hard for customers to usage WP Engine. However, Mullenweg decided to temporarily region the artifact conscionable 2 days later. He’s fixed WP Engine until October 1st to make their ain reflector oregon resoluteness the conflict. “Why should WordPress.org supply these services to WP Engine for free, fixed their attacks connected us?” Mullenweg wrote. WP Engine says it lone sent a cease and desist bid to WordPress and has not yet filed a lawsuit.

When asked astir the prohibition connected WP Engine, Automattic spokesperson Megan Fox said successful a connection to The Verge that “trademark violations person resulted successful the institution being blocked from immoderate WordPress resources.” WP Engine pointed The Verge to its statements connected X erstwhile reached for comment.

The combat has garnered a premix of reactions. On 1 side, radical deliberation WP Engine is successful the wrong, with immoderate saying the institution should lend more to the unfastened root task and that its use of “WP” is misleading. On the other, immoderate WordPress assemblage members are calling connected Mullenweg to measurement down and impeach of him abusing his power implicit WordPress.org and WordPress.com. Others judge the concern could effect successful a fork of WordPress and brought up concerns astir whether WordPress volition instrumentality enactment against different companies utilizing the “WP” abbreviation oregon trademark.

But successful a quality that’s meant to clarify what is and isn’t WordPress, Mullenweg risks blurring the lines adjacent more. WordPress.org and WordPress.com some person a constituent — but it looks an atrocious batch similar they’re moving unneurotic to marque it.