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Some Automattic employees accept severance package offer

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Re: Some Automattic employees accept severance package offer

#361

Post by ppseafield »

dgacmu wrote: post #294
ppseafield wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll second the sibling poster here by saying anything useful you want to do with WordPress will probably have a non-negligible cost, and usually a subscription. WooCommerce for instance requires a subscription to add a minimum quantity to a product! I volunteer for a non-profit that uses it, and it's absolutely insane how many plugins will give you a little for free but charge $5/month or $50/year for just slightly…

If you were to guide them today, what would you set them up that's not WP that gives functionality similar to wp+woo? (asking for someone who has a site using wp+woo. I don't plan to switch us - the switching cost is too high to be worth it - but I do want to have something in my pocket for the future.)

Shopify actually might be appropriate for many of their use cases.

Re: Some Automattic employees accept severance package offer

#362

Post by gamblor956 »

the_mitsuhiko wrote: post #109
chx wrote: post #29

So now we know the lawyers on both sides. To recap, in the lawsuit post, someone said about the law firm WP Engine got: > Quinn Emanuel is one of the premier (and most expensive) litigation firms in the US. Partners in their litigation department run $2000/hour or more. Associates cost almost $1000/hour. And I noted the team is lead by Rachel Kassabian who was lead counsel for Google which in Perfect 10 v Amazon (ori…

Here is now Automattic is presenting this for an opposing view: > Neal has been adverse to Quinn Emanuel a number of times, and won every case.

He's only faced Quinn Emmanuel twice...

And one of those was a motion for summary judgment that QE's client was not expected to win.

Re: Some Automattic employees accept severance package offer

#363

Post by chx »

jart wrote: post #352
chx wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well you didn't reply to mine. You replied to meaningless word salad.

Word salad. Detailed post. Which is it boykie?

boykie? cookoo, rizz so you are answering to yourself as a sock puppet. People don't talk like this especially not here.

And once again which one it is: you didn't answer me. If you think you did that's because you forgot to switch accounts. https://i.imgur.com/LeF241n.png

Re: Some Automattic employees accept severance package offer

#364

Post by singleshot_ »

legitster wrote: post #213

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…

Winning a lawsuit generally does not create any binding precedent. You’re thinking of an appellate decision.

Re: Some Automattic employees accept severance package offer

#365

Post by auggierose »

chx wrote: post #340
auggierose wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, finally a summary of the whole thing I understand.

Someone posts literal garbage filled with nonsense words and that's what you understand? What's going on here?

Lol, are you on drugs? That's probably what is going on here. I'd chill a bit before continuing to comment.

Re: Some Automattic employees accept severance package offer

#366

Post by nolok »

Manuel_D wrote: post #306
legitster wrote: post #213

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…

It's unclear if WP Engine is actually violating any copyright or trademark: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/10/automattic-deman... > WP Engine's lawsuit points to promises made by Mullenweg and Automattic nearly 15 years ago. "In 2010, in response to mounting public concern, the WordPress source code and trademarks were placed into the nonprofit WordPress Foundation (which Mullenweg created), with Mullenweg…

How do you equate transfered to an independent company with free to use? That's not the same thing at all

Re: Some Automattic employees accept severance package offer

#367

Post by Manuel_D »

nolok wrote: post #366
Manuel_D wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's unclear if WP Engine is actually violating any copyright or trademark: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/10/automattic-deman... > WP Engine's lawsuit points to promises made by Mullenweg and Automattic nearly 15 years ago. "In 2010, in response to mounting public concern, the WordPress source code and trademarks were placed into the nonprofit WordPress Foundation (which Mullenweg created), with Mullenweg…

How do you equate transfered to an independent company with free to use? That's not the same thing at all

The logo was transferred to the WordPress foundation nonprofit, which in turn let people build products and services using the trademark free of charge. This is where the "free to use" comes from. Except secretly, the WordrPress trademark was transferred back to Automattic on the very same day.

Imagine I very publicly say "I'm making my tech project open source, you can build on it and use the logo in your projects!". Except on that same day as the announcement I revoke that open license and tell nobody. Then, after a decade and a half, I start claiming infringement and demanding that people pay royalties to use the trademark. Is that valid business practice?

This is one of the reasons why trademarks have to be actively defended to stay viable. This is why companies can be very aggressive and paranoid about use of their trademarks: inaction people infringe on the trademark can lead to the trademark being considered abandoned. In this case, Automattic let WP Engine and others use the trademark for well over a decade. There's as strong case that the trademark was abandoned by Automattic due to this inaction.

Re: Some Automattic employees accept severance package offer

#368

Post by HaZeust »

photomatt wrote: post #176
bdndndndbve wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My guy, I know lots of autistic people. You're not coming across as autistic, you're giving straight up Napoleon marching into Russia with this one.

Thank you for the feedback. I'll try to do better.

Start now.

Re: Some Automattic employees accept severance package offer

#369

Post by righthand »

keiferski wrote: post #323
righthand wrote: post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay you seem pretty cemented in this belief. My belief is that there are plenty of CMSes available. The plugin ecosystem is a side effect of a poorly developed cms, not really a feature. You can abstract a lot of need for plugins by using a CMS that isn’t “just the basics to support a plugin culture”. If you want to lock yourself into wordpress requirements then you’ll never escape it.

I don't disagree with you that there are alternatives, I'm just saying that this requires a level of knowledge, expertise, and desire that the average WordPress user simply doesn't have. WordPress is so old and so entrenched that it will take a really big push to get them to go anywhere - and the recent debacle isn't that big enough of one.

Wordpress itself doesn’t have to be deprecated or removed. It can be around forever, but people should have agency to use something else for new projects.

Re: Some Automattic employees accept severance package offer

#370

Post by righthand »

solarkraft wrote: post #353
righthand wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes using percentages to claim that those people never mattered to Automattic. Classy.

I’m not commenting on any other claim - I think it’s an interesting framing that 90% of the company still has its back (perhaps already yes-people? I suppose there were signs of his erratic behavior before this).

People still support others like Matt or worse so it’s not surprising.
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