WordPress Feud Flares Up as Notable Accounts Deactivated
WordPress’ co-founder, Matt Mullenweg, has shaken the community by deactivating several WordPress.org members’ accounts amid discussions of a new open-source project fork.
Controversies Lead to Project Fork Proposal
Regular criticism of WordPress’ governance surfaced again when Mullenweg criticized WP Engine, a commercial host built on WordPress, for supposedly profiting without sufficient contribution back. Displeasure escalated, leading to a legal clash after WP Engine’s WordPress resources access was banned.
Key influencers within the WordPress landscape, including Joost de Valk of Yoast and Karim Marucchi, CEO of Crowd Favorite, have commented on these recent events. Vault shared a vision for a new WordPress era, discussing “federated and independent repositories.”
New WordPress Fork: Fact or Fiction?
Mullenweg is open to the idea of a new WordPress fork—an open-source project’s code copy with its own contributor community. Both de Valk and Marucchi have contemplated creating federated repository mirrors and allowing independent theme and plugin hosting, though no formal fork plans have been announced. De Valk was quick to refute suggestions of a planned WordPress split.
WP Engine has hinted at their readiness to support such a move.
Response from Automattic
Automattic, under Mullenweg, revealed a reduction in their WordPress open source project contribution, igniting de Valk’s readiness to take the lead on the next WordPress release. To jumpstart their independent efforts, Mullenweg has deactivated their WordPress.org accounts.
In addition, three other accounts were deactivated, including that of Sé Reed, CEO of a newly incorporated non-profit, the WP Community Collective. Reasons for these deactivations remain unclear.
The Power of Open Source
Alluding to the potential fork being called “JKPress,” Mullenweg claimed that de Valk and Marucchi’s daring propositions could bring value to the WordPress project. In an open-source setting, ideas can flow freely, fostering organic innovation.
Note: A WordPress.org account deactivation restricts users’ project contributions, but access to the code via GitHub remains open.
Fonte original: Leia a matéria completa no TechCrunch
