Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of WordPress and CEO of Automattic announced on Reddit that WP Engine initiated legal action against WordPress, Automattic, and Mullenweg himself. Mullenweg wrote that WordPress is countersuing.
WP Engine is a leading managed WordPress host provider that Mullenweg alleges is violating the WordPress trademark.
For those out of the loop:
There’s WordPress (the non-profit and open-source software), and Automattic (which runs for-profit companies like a paid WordPress, Tumblr, Gravitar, etc).
Automattic (Matt’s company) pays their devs to support the open-source software.
Lots of companies sell WordPress hosting.
Matt is calling out WP Engine for not just using WordPress without a lot of contribution back to the open-source software, but also selling a chopped up experience.
The metaphor would be: imagine if a company selling tablets contained VLC, bragged about all the movies you can watch, gives back very little to VLC, and you can’t use the playlist feature.
Also, not trying to shit on WP Engine. This is the post everyone should get to see.
https://www.briancoords.com/the-wcus-closing-i-wish-wed-had/
There’s no expectation to contribute back when you use FOSS software, that makes no sense. I’m running Linux on like 10 devices and I’ve never merged anything in the kernel.
Technically true, but FOSS isn’t “free” in the sense that someone is contributing labor to build and maintain the software. Free to use, but not free to make. I personally wouldn’t expect or shame a person for using FOSS without contributing. But if you make a profitable business off a FOSS project, it seems reasonable to expect some form of contribution back to the project - not because it is technically required, but because who better to sponsor a project than someone profiting from it?
I mean, it’s the smart thing to do (even from a purely selfish perspective where you want to make sure the project continues to go into the development direction that keeps making you money), but it’s not something that’s actionable in court or anything like that.
Exactly.
The reason most companies decide to contribute to FOSS is because it’s a lot more efficient to fix bugs and add/influence features upstream than to do it at your end of the code independently of everybody else.
Okay, so, FOSS.
If WordPress doesn’t want WP Engine doing what it’s doing, they need to change their license. It’s not “Free Open Source Software Until Something We Don’t Like Happens.”
Apparently, it isn’t about FOSS. It’s about trademark infringement.