An engineer who has been involved in WordPress development for over 14 years announces his departure, “A cult is forming around Automattic” – GIGAZINE

Owner of WordPress.org, the WordPress open source development project, and CEO of Automatticmatt mullenwegMr.commentIn the wake of this, WordPress.org and Automattic engaged in a heated dispute with WP Engine, which provides web hosting services, and the stage of the dispute finally came to a close.courtroomIt has developed to. Meanwhile, an engineer who has contributed to WordPress.org for over 14 yearsChris Wiegmanhas announced a break with WordPress.

So Long WordPress – Chris Wiegman
https://chriswiegman.com/2024/10/so-long-wordpress/

Mr. Wiegman is Vice President of Engineering at SuperFile, a security technology company. At the same time, he has been involved in WordPress core coding and plugin development for over 14 years, and has also served as a moderator for the official WordPress recruitment site for over 11 years. Previously, he was a lead software engineer at WP Engine.

However, Wiegman says that he gradually began to distance himself from WordPress-related projects around 2017. “Many people have dedicated their lives to contributing to WordPress, and their important work has been wasted simply because the direction differs from Mr. Mullenweg’s wishes,” he said. I am.

Not only have the contributions of well-meaning people who sought to protect users and strengthened communities been ignored, particularly in important areas such as privacy, accessibility, and governance, but contributors themselves have been criticized for making fundamental recommendations. He has witnessed how people are being oppressed and expelled from the community.

Mr. Wiegman also made a harsh point about WordPress-related companies, stating that many companies promised “better” treatment but actually forced employees to work for low wages. From well-known product companies to well-known agencies, he said, threats like “you’re not good enough to leave” were used to justify low pay and benefits.

In particular, he says that a cult-like organization has been formed regarding Automattic, which was incorporated to monetize WordPress. Mr. Wiegman himself was considering employment at Automattic in 2014, but his trust in Automattic was weak because his friend who had been employed earlier had been treated badly. After that, although he participated in Automattic’s paid trial, he ended up choosing a job that he found before the trial started.

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Wiegman also said that he joined WP Engine in 2018, saying that “WP Engine was the only company that was honest about its true nature.” WP Engine aims to be the largest hosting company, without tying its employees around the word “family” or claiming to be “better than non-WordPress organizations” like other companies. Apparently it offered some of the best pay and interesting work in the WordPress industry.

Mr. Wiegman pointed out the hypocrisy of Mr. Mullenweg’s actions, saying, “These actions are not surprising to those who have watched Automattic for more than a decade, but this incident with WP Engine is the final straw.” “It has become,” he said. Wiegman admitted that he should have left WordPress when his friends were being oppressed, and that he was naive in thinking he could make a difference.

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He also acknowledged that WP Engine is “not completely innocent in the world of WordPress and open source,” but that the attacks Mullenweg and Automattic are making against WP Engine go too far. Wiegman points out that there are. He said this situation shows the world what WordPress really is: “a predatory organization that abuses other companies and organizations in order to obtain free work.”

Mr. Wiegman declared that he would archive the last WordPress-related project development environment he was involved with, Kana, and the themes of his own site until proper governance was established at WordPress.org. He will also stop contributing to Meetups and other WordPress events, and will no longer serve as a moderator on the official job site. However, if the following conditions are met: “excessive ambitions to aim for a huge share of the Internet as a whole” and “appropriate governance in line with the spirit of the virtues advocated by the project” are met. There is a possibility that it may be reconsidered.

In closing, Wiegman would like to thank the many good people who remain at WordPress for their conversations and support over the years. Although we are critical of WordPress as a whole, we acknowledge that many people have contributed tremendously to WordPress on an individual and small community level, and wherever our activities may take us in the future, we will continue to do so. He expressed his desire to continue conversations and support with these people.