General Wordpress VS WP Engine (2 Viewers)

[Cedric]

I wanted to share something I read about a few days ago and have been following closely. Since most of us are familiar with WordPress, I figured it’s worth talking about here.

There’s a major feud happening between WordPress and WP Engine. WP Engine is a big company with over 1,000 employees and a ton of clients, including businesses, schools, and charities. Recently, WordPress has banned WP Engine from using its resources, and this is causing serious problems for WP Engine and its customers. The ban stops them from getting updates to themes and plugins, leaving many sites vulnerable to security risks.

The tension goes back to some disagreements between WP Engine and Matt Mullenweg, the co-founder of WordPress. He’s accused WP Engine of profiting from WordPress without giving back enough. WP Engine, in turn, says they’re being unfairly targeted, even sending a cease-and-desist letter to try to stop what they see as false claims. For now, WordPress has temporarily allowed WP Engine users access to resources again, but it’s unclear what will happen next.

It’s something to keep an eye on if you’re using WP Engine for your site or are just interested in how this all plays out.

Some interesting links:

The WordPress vs. WP Engine drama, explained | TechCrunch

The world of WordPress, one of the most popular technologies for creating and hosting websites, is going through a very heated controversy. The core issue

techcrunch.com

On with Theo / T3.gg

On Thursday, a prominent developer, YouTuber, Twitch streamer, and journalist posted a video titled This might be the end of WordPress. It was very harsh. In that video you’ll hear him say a…

ma.tt

WP Engine Must Win - Pre-Thought Listen

On stage at WordCamp US last week, Matt Mullenweg gave a keynote presentation which made a wide range of points about contribution, the ethics of open source, and the commitments various companies make to contributing. In particular, he called out WP Engine in what was a fairly clear direction...

journal.rmccue.io

https://wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Complaint-WP-Engine-v-Automattic-et-al-with-Exhibit.pdf

The Truth About Thesis.com

On July 8, 2015, I lost a legal battle against Automattic over thesis.com, despite owning the trademarks for Thesis and Thesis Theme in the website software space. Many of you have probably read the initial account of what happened on WP Tavern along with all of the comments. Unfortunately, as...

pearsonified.com

 

[Cpvr]

 

[Cedric]

So far 159 people left Automattic - 8.4% of the company walked.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

I've been following it. It's getting strange.

My worry is this - could you imagine a world without the downloadable WP software and only a paid SaaS version?

That's what online communities are turning into. People would rather pay Circle or Mighty Networks $100 a month to host on their cloud rather than install XF or VB on their own server.

It's nice until you can't pay, and then you simply lose it.

Rented space.

 

[Cedric]

I've been following it. It's getting strange.

My worry is this - could you imagine a world without the downloadable WP software and only a paid SaaS version?

That's what online communities are turning into. People would rather pay Circle or Mighty Networks $100 a month to host on their cloud rather than install XF or VB on their own server.

It's nice until you can't pay, and then you simply lose it.

Rented space.

It’s not interesting for a hobbyist to go this route. This kind of concept was designed was designed for businesses in the first place. And they wouldn’t simply delete your space overnight. You’d be given a notice months in advance.

 

[2TonWaffle]

WordPress as a whole (talking about the open-source .org) will be fine as it's open source but, Matt is not making his case easy with claiming that WPEngine is confusing potential customers. They're already confused when you search up the term WordPress and you're presented with the .com and the .org, those of us in the know but everyone else isn't sure from the very start.

Seeing how so many have left the company Automaticc tends to reflect that just like any large corporation, there is an underlying toxic environment. Matt's actions lately, make it seem that he's a difficult person to work under. I wouldn't be surprised in there's a potential for the board of directors to pressure Matt to resign, as the overall public perception of WordPress is being soured by this one person's actions.

 

[Cedric]

WordPress as a whole (talking about the open-source .org) will be fine as it's open source but, Matt is not making his case easy with claiming that WPEngine is confusing potential customers. They're already confused when you search up the term WordPress and you're presented with the .com and the .org, those of us in the know but everyone else isn't sure from the very start.

Seeing how so many have left the company Automaticc tends to reflect that just like any large corporation, there is an underlying toxic environment. Matt's actions lately, make it seem that he's a difficult person to work under. I wouldn't be surprised in there's a potential for the board of directors to pressure Matt to resign, as the overall public perception of WordPress is being soured by this one person's actions.

It's surprising how he is still voicing his opinion. Surely by now his lawyers should've said he needs to shut up?

 

[capnsquarepants]

As a person who develops WordPress sites for a living, this is actually quite scary, since we also offer managed WordPress hosting, and have ACF deeply integrated into our workflow.

Granted, they are very unlikely to go for small fishes like us, but it is still scary.

 

[ken_gitahi]

I had a conversation with someone about WordPress doing something like this when they launched their "hosted" and paid plans. I believe WPEngine is the biggest independent WordPress platform, so they are competing directly with what WordPress is offering on its end. So, why wouldn't WordPress want to take them down a peg to grow its own business?

It's stupid and petty, and it will only hurt WordPress and the ecosystem in the end if they do not stop doing this ASAP.

 

[ken_gitahi]

WP Engine added this to its footer over the last week:

"WP Engine is a proud member and supporter of the community of WordPress® users. The WordPress® trademark is the intellectual property of the WordPress Foundation, and the Woo® and WooCommerce® trademarks are the intellectual property of WooCommerce, Inc. Uses of the WordPress®, Woo®, and WooCommerce® names in this website are for identification purposes only and do not imply an endorsement by WordPress Foundation or WooCommerce, Inc. WP Engine is not endorsed or owned by, or affiliated with, the WordPress Foundation or WooCommerce, Inc."

The latest viable records from the Wayback Machine are from September 26 and this footer addition does not exist.

I just find it interesting they would add this in the middle of everything that is happening.