The community around WordPress, one of the most popular technologies for creating and hosting websites, is going through a very heated controversy. At the core is a fight between WordPress’ co-creator and Automattic’s CEO Matt Mullenweg and WP Engine, which hosts websites built on WordPress.
WordPress’ technology is open source and free, and it powers a huge chunk of the internet — around 40% of websites are built on top of WordPress. Websites can host their own WordPress instance or use a solution provider like Automattic or WP Engine for a plug-and-play solution.
In mid-September, Mullenweg, who owns WordPress.org and the WordPress Foundation, launched a campaign against WP Engine with a blog post in which he called the company a “cancer to WordPress,” calling it out for not contributing sufficiently to the open-source project. He also said WP Engine’s use of the “WP” brand has confused customers into believing it is part of WordPress.
Since then, Mullenweg/Automattic and WP Engine have been locked in a legal battle. Mullenweg has accused WP Engine of infringing the WordPress Trademark, while WP Engine has hit Mullenweg and Automattic with a lawsuit, accusing them of extortion, interference with operations, abuse of power, and harm to business.
The turmoil has affected both companies and the WordPress community at large. Contributors to the open-source project as well as leaders of companies in the ecosystem have spoken out against the fight, calling for governance changes, and highlighting concerns about Mullenweg’s lack of accountability.
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