Today, we delve into a saga worthy of the best episodes of Silicon Valley. At the center of the drama is WordPress, the CMS that powers 40% of the web, embroiled in a conflict that makes the disputes of Game of Thrones look like a game of Candy Crush.
It all began when Matt Mullenweg, the father of WordPress, unleashed a barrage against WP Engine during a conference. To say he held back would be an understatement; he outright labeled the company a “cancer for WordPress.” Ouch, that stings!
But what’s behind this animosity?
According to our national hero Matt, WP Engine is raking in profits from WordPress without giving back in return. It’s reminiscent of a teenager mining Bitcoin on their gaming PC while never chipping in for the family electricity bill.
The numbers speak for themselves: both Automattic (Matt’s company) and WP Engine generate about $500 million in revenue. However, when it comes to contributions to the open-source project, the difference is stark: Automattic reportedly “gives” 3,900 hours per week compared to a mere 40 hours for WP Engine.
Matt also accuses WP Engine of disabling certain key features of WordPress. For instance, they limit the number of post revisions you can keep. Not very convenient, to say the least…
But wait, this is just the beginning of our saga! WP Engine wasn’t pleased about being branded a parasite in front of the WordPress elite. Consequently, they retaliated with a heavy artillery response: a cease-and-desist letter! Yes, indeed… They are demanding that Automattic retract its statements and cease its criticisms. That’s like asking Linus Torvalds to stop trolling Windows developers!
As if this weren’t juicy enough, WordPress.org (the official site of the open-source project) has decided to ban WP Engine! Just imagine for a moment: one of the largest WordPress hosting providers finds itself persona non grata on the very site of WordPress. That’s quite a blow.
In practical terms, this ban means that sites hosted by WP Engine can no longer access resources from WordPress.org. No more automatic updates, no access to the plugin directory… In short, it’s a total mess for WP Engine customers.
So, who’s in the right in this situation? On one side, we have Matt Mullenweg staunchly defending the open-source spirit of WordPress. On the other, WP Engine is simply trying to profit from its offerings (and apparently doing quite well). It’s the eternal battle between idealism and capitalism…
But why is Matt so fired up against WP Engine? It seems to be a story about big bucks (as is often the case in Silicon Valley). According to him, WP Engine is capitalizing on the confusion between WordPress (the open-source project) and their brand.
So, how will this all end?
It’s hard to say… On one hand, WP Engine has the resources to defend itself legally. On the other, WordPress wields the power to cut off their access by banning them from their ecosystem. In the meantime, it’s the users who are suffering. Just imagine for a moment… you have your site hosted with WP Engine, and one day, poof! No more automatic updates, no access to the official plugin directory… It feels like a return to the Stone Age.
So, what should you do if you’re a WP Engine customer and want to prepare for the worst? Well, aside from migrating your site to another host, there isn’t much else you can do.
In short, this war between WP Engine and WordPress reminds us that even in the open-source world, financial stakes can create tensions. We’re talking millions of dollars at play and millions of users impacted.
In the meantime, keep an eye on this situation. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a new twist in the near future. Who knows, maybe WP Engine will fork WordPress and create its own CMS to continue the adventure? Or perhaps Matt will buy WP Engine just to shut it down? The bets are on!
