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Some Automattic employees accept severance package offer

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Re: Some Automattic employees accept severance package offer

#241
It will be interesting how many customers start flying the coop. Wordpress can be entrenching software but I have also found that a lot of the plugin heavy sites are just using plugins/customizations for trivial things you could easily eclipse. Migrating off of it is easier done than said in that case. We will be leaving WP Engine and Wordpress behind after we spend 2 months rebuilding on sensible software on a sensible host (WP engine is also terrible) this Q4.

We actually had a contingency plan to just leave WP Engine and fix our wordpress up, but in light of Matt’s nonsensical actions we have scrapped that option.

Congrats to these employees on fleeing what appears to be tyranny for the Automattic employees and the customers.

Good riddance Wordpress.

Re: Some Automattic employees accept severance package offer

#243

It will be interesting how many customers start flying the coop. Wordpress can be entrenching software but I have also found that a lot of the plugin heavy sites are just using plugins/customizations for trivial things you could easily eclipse. Migrating off of it is easier done than said in that case. We will be leaving WP Engine and Wordpress behind after we spend 2 months rebuilding on sensible software on a sensi…

Probably not too many. The average WordPress site is run by a small business that doesn’t care the slightest bit about tech industry drama, or what open source even means.

Re: Some Automattic employees accept severance package offer

#244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you an employee? I’ve seen a bunch of comments like this on various forums. Is Matt telling his employees to spin the folks who left? Edit: it seems like he is. Wow.

Yes I am. I’m not spinning anyone. Several of my friends took the offer, they were unhappy, it was great timing. I support them 100%.

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Re: Some Automattic employees accept severance package offer

#246

TIL Pocket Casts is an Automattic product. Anyone have recommendations to switch (and not to the disaster that is Overcast)?

Just keep using Pocket Casts rather than being buffeted on the winds of the news cycle.

This particular matter also affects me professionally (although not directly, but by precedent), so as a matter of principle, I'll find another solution.

Re: Some Automattic employees accept severance package offer

#247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems like a great deal at any company, if you're confident you can find a new job within six months. This plus the extortion makes me wonder if Automattic is strapped for cash?

They raised $588m across rounds in 2019 and 2021. For a company founded in 2005. They’ve started doing something that’s burning A LOT of cash and I didn’t find public product direction that explains it (in only 20 minutes of googling tbf). Dwindling runway as a theory to explain squeezing WPE and Matt’s public communications is getting harder to ignore.

Matt has stated in a recent Slack conversation that Automattic is doing great financially.

Re: Some Automattic employees accept severance package offer

#249
post #50

TIL Pocket Casts is an Automattic product. Anyone have recommendations to switch (and not to the disaster that is Overcast)?

Without knowing why you consider overcast a disaster, no What features are you looking for? What features are you avoiding?

Overcast had an update earlier this year which made it completely unusable (for my use case, at least). The developer's reaction to feedback from and apparent contempt of users was so poor that I wouldn't use a product they created again.

Re: Some Automattic employees accept severance package offer

#250

I've brought this up in another thread, but what's stopping Automattic from going after anyone making a profit in the WP community? Website developers, plugin makers, theme designers, etc. Everyone is using the Wordpress trademark to promote their service and the plugins library to keep their services updated. If that's the legal precedent being used now, Automattic winning the lawsuit implies that nearly the entire…

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What happened seven years ago?
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