WP Engine Banned from WordPress.org
WordPress.org banned WP Engine after WP Engine took legal action against WordPress. Co-founder and CEO of WordPress Matt Mullenweg announced on Reddit that WP Engine initiated legal actions against WordPress, Automatic, and himself. Mullenweg claims that WP Engine, one of the top-managed WordPress host companies, is infringing on the WordPress trademark.
Mullenweg also shared a post in a community where he alleged that the WP engine was violating WordPress; in a post, he took his attention to WP engine removal from WordPress.org. He said,” WP Engine wants to control your WordPress experience, they need to run their user login system, update servers, plugin directory, theme directory, pattern directory, block directory, translations, photo directory, job board, meetups, conferences, bug tracker, forums, Slack, Ping-o-matic, and showcase. Their servers can no longer access our servers for free.”
Read the community post here: (wordpress.org)
To put things in perspective, WordPress powers over 40% of the internet. While anybody can use open-source software to manage a website, several companies have sprung up to offer hosting services and technical know-how. These include WP Engine, a managed WordPress hosting company that has raised nearly $300 million in funding over its 14-year history, the majority of which came from a $250 million investment from private equity firm Silver Lake in 2018. These are also Automattic, which Mullenweg founded in 2005 to monetize the project he had created two years earlier.
Recall that Mullenweg just spoke at WP Engine’s conference, and Automattic has a history of supporting WordPress-hosting businesses, having invested in WP Engine back in 2011. In addition, Automattic invested in GridPane after purchasing the bulk of Pressable, a WordPress hosting provider, back in 2016.
Speaking this week at Portland, Oregon’s WordCamp US 2024, a conference centered around WordPress, Mullenweg spoke over the WP Engine WordPress.org dispute, and he wasn’t holding back when he criticized the WP Engine. As he took the stage, Mullenweg read aloud from a piece he had just written for his personal blog. In it, he highlights the two companies’ separate “five for the future” investment commitments to provide resources to support WordPress’ continued growth: Automattic has committed 3,900 hours per week, while WP Engine has committed only 40.
Mullenwegs Post on Reddit
Mullenweg’s post comment on, titled “Matt Mullenweg needs to step down from WordPress.org leadership ASAP,” described and explained the issue with the WP engine.
He further stated that last Friday, he had discussed the situation with WP engine employees at the Wordcamp WordPress conference; if WP Engine was prohibited, he raised the prospect of giving staff members attendance badges. Until his concluding Q&A, he continued that he had been attempting to find a solution with the company. However, this had morphed into a speech concerning his accusations against WP Engine.
After the ban imposed on WP engine, even WP Engine clients are facing several issues as they are restricted from installing or updating themes and plugins via the WordPress Admin Dashboard. Most of the users have reported this through social media.
After the WP engine disallowed from WordPress, Matt Mullenweg received a cease-and-desist letter from WP Engine, requesting that he stop making “false, misleading, and disparaging statements” and that he stop using his position at WordPress.org to further the interests of Automatic, his for-profit business. In the letter, Mullenweg lays out his requests for tens of millions of dollars in order to avoid using a “nuclear approach” against WP Engine, while also refuting his public claims.
A screenshot of text by Mullenweg: (Source: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/wp-engine-cd-alleges-coercive-threats-by-mullenweg/528002)
WP Engine has mainly made four demands:
- Cease Making false statement regarding WP engine.
- Cease interfering with WP Engine’s employees’ contractual relationships.
- Cease interfering with WP Engine’s contractual obligations to its clients.
- Save All Documents and Data That May Be Relevant.
Well, In the middle of Matt Mullenweg vs WP engine controversy, many members of the WordPress community are not satisfied with Mullenweg’s action and Some on the reddit have demanded Mullenweg to step down.
Read the Full Reddit Post: (Reddit)
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