WordPress Is in Trouble

Post by CrimsonRain » Mon, Jan 13, 2025, 9:42 PM UTC

daitangio wrote: post #142

Sorry I switched to hugo my https://gioorgi.com and it was easier than expected. Initially, I only followed the ‘drama’ tangentially, also because I have always considered myself a mere "end user" of Wordpress, even if long-time one (I used it for about 20 years). For me, the fact that Wordpress.com sold a service based on an "extended" version of Wordpress.org was never a particular problem, but I never thought it w…

Post by emaro » Mon, Jan 13, 2025, 9:44 PM UTC

ethbr1 wrote: post #144

simple10 wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel for him and the people in his wake. Benevolent dictators of open source are great for productivity until benevolence gives way to malevolence. At this point, if he stepped down it would be seen as giving in. So highly unlikely until the legal dust settles a bit. I also agree with other commenters that it's not a mental breakdown but more of a poorly executed strategy that's been in the works for awhile. To tak…

> Benevolent dictators of open source are great for productivity until benevolence gives way to malevolence. Autocracy is more efficient, with the best leaders. Democracy is more stable, with the worst leaders. The suboptimal cases are autocracy with bad leaders or democracy with good leaders. I think it's also pretty common that autocratic leaders go badly quickly. The same focus and dedication that drove them also…

Post by goatlover » Mon, Jan 13, 2025, 9:45 PM UTC

chrismsimpson wrote: post #168

dangrossman wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it's a mental breakdown, I think this is a (poorly executed) long pivot into Matt's companies having tighter control over the ecosystem and keeping more of the profits from hosting, plugin and theme sales. He's burning down "the community" on purpose. In a couple years, it'll be run more like Shopify, where the theme store and app store only list products that run their billing through Shopify and give…

Perhaps more indicative of late stage capitalism where rent seekers try to extract more and more value and consolidate more and more power.

Post by dowager_dan99 » Mon, Jan 13, 2025, 9:47 PM UTC

pier25 wrote: post #141

prepend wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They can certainly be hacked, just like any static site. Web servers have vulnerabilities. And the files can certainly be edited as they aren’t immutable. They are less resource intensive and easier to maintain, but aren’t immune. (Running mostly static sites converted from Wordpress sites, but also running 10 year old+ word press sites that haven’t been changed in forever)

Even if it's remotely possible to hack Nginx... what's the motivation to hack a static site? There's no DB with juicy data and no compute to abuse for mining crypto or running DDOS attacks.

Post by moshegramovsky » Mon, Jan 13, 2025, 9:49 PM UTC

gspencley wrote: post #140

beshrkayali wrote: post #64

I really think Matt is suffering from some sort of a mental breakdown. It’s a sad situation and there’s a lot to learn about open source projects with a huge user base and where the bottle necks exist. But I think people who know or are close to him should seriously consider an intervention. I can’t believe after two decades he’d just decide to throw it all out in a blazing fire and tarnish his reputation (and Wordpr…

My personal take on this has to do entirely with how the decision to block WP Engine access to WordPress.org, unless they were willing to pay for it, was arrived at. And this is a critical detail that I'm fuzzy on. If anyone has context (even links with further info) I'd be very much appreciative. I have since read the WP Engine complaint. I understand what they are alleging. I'm just not 100% clear on the nitty and…