Discussion

• @tomwarrenuk Tom Warren on threads

  this entire WordPress situation is wild.  A WP Engine plugin has been forcibly taken over by WordPress.org — which is owned by Matt Mullenweg https://www.theverge.com/...

• @donw@mastodon.coffee Don Whiteside on mastodon

  This shit is unhinged.  Is there a plugin seller in existence not looking at this and wondering if it'll happen to them?  —  https://esq.social/...

• @wp_acf @wp_acf on x

  We have been made aware that the Advanced Custom Fields plugin on the WordPress directory has been taken over by WordPress dot org. A plugin under active development has never been unilaterally and forcibly taken away from its creator without consent in the 21 year history of [im…

• @verygoodplugins Jack Arturo on x

  We've just filed a cease and desist letter against @automattic and @wordpressdotcom for unauthorized use of our @wpfusion trademark at https://wordpress.com/... [image]

• @takisbig Takis Bouyouris on x

  So let's get things straight, @photomatt says they (ie @WordPress ) “forked” ACF, when actually they took it over. With its reviews, its user base, its support forum threads and its contributors, who god knows if they know. A fork might have had some dignity. [image]

• @kellie Kellie Peterson on x

  To be clear: @photomatt and @automattic have set a precedent not dissimilar to Amazon - encouraging the growth of an product built by another to then replicate it and introduce their own version of it. If you are a plugin developer you should be concerned. #wordpress #wpdrama

• @jdnoc Jordan O'Connor on x

  Matt Mullenweg saw how Sam Altman turned OpenAI from a non-profit to a for-profit and decided he was not being paid enough

• @thdxr Dax on x

  the wordpress situation just feels like someone not sleeping on a decision over and over

• @geerlingguy Jeff Geerling on x

  Looks like Automattic is forking individual plugins now? It's like the Drupal 8 / Backdrop situation, except with everyone bridge being burned down as we go.

• @wp_acf @wp_acf on x

  Our ACF plugin has been taken over forcibly by wordpressdotorg without our consent. If you are a WP Engine, Flywheel or ACF PRO customer, you do not need to take any action and will continue to get the latest from the ACF team. If you have a site managed elsewhere using ACF, in

• @mblair Mark Blair on x

  @wp_acf This is nuts. This is a mission critical plugin for many.

• @mfischface Michael Fischer on x

  @wp_acf Another new low for, @photomatt. We will continue to pay for the premium version on the 100s of WordPress sites we manage and happily receive updates from your team. Thanks for building one of the best plugins on WordPress!

• @tylerlwsmith Tyler Smith on x

  WordPress plugin and theme developers: be aware. If you get in a fight with Matt, he might lock you out and fork your plugin.

• @ryancduff Ryan Duff on x

  @wp_acf I'm so sorry... this is ridiculous at this point.

• @ozskier Dave Amirault on x

  This is completely unhinged behavior from @photomatt. Over the last three weeks he's proven to be the biggest threat to #WordPress, open source software, the community, and the open web. I hope @wpengine's legal team grinds him into dust for this abhorrent behavior.

• @imkaiarhodes Kaia Rhodes on x

  We're witnessing a man single-handedly destroy the trust of the entire WordPress community and an ecosystem that powers half the internet.

• @levelsio @levelsio on x

  I just want to suggest everyone who's still on WordPress now to move to https://ghost.org/ immediately At least until this absolutely crazy behavior by WordPress stops The people at Ghost are too humble to step in so I thought I'll write the tweet for them They have a

• @webdevlaw Heather Burns on x

  For a project that told me to shut up about law, regulation, and project involvement in politics, they're certainly guaranteeing a future full of law, regulation, and political intervention in this project. I'll help write the casebook.

• @dhh @dhh on x

  This is totally crazy. Like if the operators of rubygems dot org just decided to expropriate the official Rails gems, hand over control to a new team, and lock the core team out of it. We're in uncharted and dangerous territory for open source now. What a sad sight.

• @solarise_webdev Robin on x

  @wp_acf This is absolutely crazy, seriously saddened to see this happening. ACF has had a prime spot in my web dev toolkit for a long time. Happy to continue supporting the official version, there's absolutely no need for the attempt to take it out your hands, it's been given a l…

• @robclark Rob Clark on x

  I cannot understate how much @photomatt's decision here threatens the longevity of WordPress. Platforms frequently fail not because of quality, but because there is too little buy-in from third party developers to extend and support it. And this forcible takeover is going to

• @johannessiipola Johannes Siipola on x

  @wp_acf Step 1: Block the plugin authors from accessing the plugin directory Step 2: Claim that plugin is now unmaintained and presents a security issue Step 3: Forcefully fork and rename the plugin, taking it over from the original developers Unbelievable stuff

• @petersuhm Peter Suhm on x

  If my livelihood depended on a WordPress plugin, I would start to get really concerned about this type of appropriation.

• @hashim_warren Hashim Warren on x

  Is it hyperbole to describe this as engineering violence? You distribute software on a marketplace, then one day your access gets cut off, and the platform takes over your project and takes your users.

• @ericlbarnes Eric L. Barnes on x

  Wow. Just wow. Matt is ruining the good will of the community. I don't know you'd ever want to use Wordpress with what all that has happened in the past few weeks.

• @dingman Jon Dingman on x

  @wp_acf It's time for Matt to redesign and relinquish all power and influence over WordPress. This has gone too far.

• @greginbytes Greg Robson on x

  @wp_acf I'll continue to use ACF Pro. @photomatt is undermining the entire system of trust in the plugin repository and deployment system. @wordpressdotcom appears to have no checks and balances. Is any commercial plugin developer safe now?!

• @jeremiahprummer Jeremiah Prummer on x

  WordPress as we know it is done. Unless Matt walks all this back, apologizes, and removes himself from https://wp.org/ moving forward. Even then... Ecosystems are built on trust, and Matt is destroying that trust. Big changes are coming. I'm sad about this.

• r/WPDrama r on reddit

  Secure Custom Fields

• @mathewi Mathew Ingram on threads

  An update to my post on WordPress: Matt sent me a Google Doc with responses to some of the points I raised.  I've updated the post with a link to that doc and my response: https://torment-nexus.mathewingram.com/ ...

• @dankennedy_nu Dan Kennedy on threads

  I've been using WordPress since 2005. @mathewi has written the clearest explanation I've seen of the mess involving wordpress-dot-org, wordpress-dot-com and WP Engine.  Fortunately I'm not a WP Engine customer, though they seem to have done nothing wrong. https://torment-nexus.ma…

• @AnnemarieBridy@mastodon.social Annemarie Bridy on mastodon

  Here's a fair summary and assessment of the recent series of unfortunate events at WordPress/Automattic from @mathewi.  It captures my own thoughts and, yes, feelings about it pretty perfectly.  —  Is Matt Mullenweg defending WordPress or sabotaging it?  —  https://torment-nexus.…

• @mathewi Mathew Ingram on x

  @photomatt Thanks — forgive me if I feel that most, if not all, of these are semantic differences and that you have completely missed the larger point that I (and others who care about WordPress) are trying to make about your behavior

• @photomatt Matt Mullenweg on x

  @mathewi That's fine, we can agree to disagree, and check back where things end up in a few weeks.

• @photomatt Matt Mullenweg on x

  @mathewi Here's some notes a colleague put together, I hope you consider them: https://docs.google.com/...

• @photomatt Matt Mullenweg on x

  @mathewi That's a really bad take, and I wish you had at least tried to call me before writing it.

• @mathewi Mathew Ingram on x

  @photomatt I've read and/or listened to almost everything you have written or said about all of this, and I think you've made your position and feelings pretty clear. But I'm open to talking about it if you want to

• @rajendrazore Rajendra Zore on x

  @mathewi One of the best articles I've read so far—no bias, no BS, just straight facts. That last part really hits hard. “looks like a multimillionaire corporate executive who has come to see a nonprofit, open-source community as an extension of himself, with his own needs or des…

• @mathewi Mathew Ingram on x

  New from me at The Torment Nexus: Is Matt Mullenweg defending WordPress or sabotaging it? https://torment-nexus.mathewingram.com/ ...

• @mathewi Mathew Ingram on x

  An update to my post on WordPress: Matt (or his team) sent me a Google Doc with responses to some of the points I raised. I've updated the post with a link to that Doc and my response. This is the Ghost version but it is also on my blog and at Substack https://torment-nexus.mathe…