---
title: 'The WordPress Drama'
excerpt: "Everyone has an opinion on this drama - here's mine!"
summary: "My take on the WordPress vs WP Engine dispute: the 8% revenue demand, the trademark fight, and why moving off WordPress was the right call."
date: 2024-10-14
categories: misc, open-source, web
featureImage: '/images/wp-vs-wp-engine.webp'

prev:
  text: 'iOS Safari & :active'
  link: '/blog/safari-and-the-active-pseudo-class'

next:
  text: 'Hydration Mismatches'
  link: '/blog/hydration-mismatches'
---

> **The guy's a d*ck!**

> Simply cannot stand a healthy competition or when someone goes ahead of him.
> Why create software that powers the web, make it open-source, then whine about it because someone else earns more than
> you?

> Oh, and he also tried to extort 8% of WP Engine’s revenue. When that didn’t go through, he called WP Engine a `cancer
> to WordPress` and set out to blow up the remaining 92%.

That's the kind of behavior the whole WordPress ecosystem is dealing with.

---

Now, I’m assuming you’re already familiar with the whole riff,
so let’s dive into some _highlights_ of why I think he’s a crybaby -

1. Someone on Reddit summed it up perfectly:
   > CEOs who inherit a business that never grows, innovates, or does anything other than coast
   > on the momentum of a single successful product will always find a way to show their ass eventually and destroy
   > their product.

   Classic case, right?

2. Changing the trademark info. after the feud taking place -

    <BlogPostImage src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GYPsyoSbwAACO7X?format=webp&name=medium" alt="WordPress trademark policy update" />

3. In a brilliant display of `"maturity"`, he blocked **every** WordPress user on WP Engine. -

   <BlogPostImage src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GYY8u3hXUAENE3K?format=webp&name=medium" alt="WP Engine users blocked error message" />

4. Then there's this fuckery -
    * Cry baby moment -
      <br /><br />
      <BlogPostImage src="/images/wp-checkbox.webp" height="500px" alt="WordPress.org login with WP Engine affiliation checkbox" />

   <br />

    * Plugin **takeover** because devs work at WP-Engine and could not update due to the apparent `ban` -
      <br /><br />
      <BlogPostImage src="/images/wp-steals-acf.webp" height="500px" alt="ACF plugin takeover announcement tweet" />
      <br />
      It's not a fork introducing something new; it's a straight-up hijack & theft, see the URL slug!

5. I mean, he has **issues** -
   <BlogPostImage src="/images/matt-shares-wp-engine-ceos-number.webp" alt="Matt's post admitting sharing CEO's number" />

To be honest, I’ve never enjoyed reading anything from this Matt guy when it comes to things like this.

---

WordPress was founded in 2003, Automattic in 2005—that’s nearly **two decades**—yet this guy still acts like he doesn’t
get what open-source or community really means. How can a 40-year-old, _supposedly_ sane man, base his actions on
childish rants and emotions rather than logical, rational thinking?

> **Note: If you rant about the trademark after reading this blog post -
> know that it was allowed and free to use `WP` before all this.**

---

Seems like moving away from WordPress was a good choice after all.