The ACF plugin on the WordPress directory has been taken over by WordPress.org • Hacker News Board

Re: The ACF plugin on the WordPress directory has been taken over by WordPress.org

#231

Post by shprd » Mon, Oct 14, 2024, 8:10 AM UTC

chiefalchemist wrote: post #223

shprd wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Suggesting they're not contributing is disingenuous. Where did I say they don't contribute? I said they don't contribute beyond their mouth > You don't see the non-premium version of ACF as contributing? It's a marketing strategy, first and foremost. If they didn't offer it, an alternative would come along and attract the crowd. You know what's disingenuous? Claiming it's a contribution when you're doing it as mark…

> It's a marketing strategy And what makes Automattic's contributions any different? They "steer" the product to their benefit and sell that as what's good for them is good for all. That's rubbish. It's not contributing to "the cause" when the features you add are solely for your own benefit. Not that self-serving is wrong. But to sell it as benevolent red lines any decent bullshit detector. Matt defined the license.…

> And what makes Automattic's contributions any different?

Well, unlike WPEngine, Automattic and Matt make significant contribution beyond their ecosystem, here are some:

- Let's encrypt: https://letsencrypt.org/sponsors/

- Matrix's open protocol: https://matrix.org/

- The PHP Foundation: https://thephp.foundation/

- Open Source Initiative: https://opensource.org/

- And the list goes on: contributing and sponsoring many projects and developers that everyone using the web benefited from, including you and billions of people (not counting wordpress's impact)

Please educate yourself before spreading FUD about people who made great contributions constantly to the open web, the entire industry, and promoted open source on every chance they got.

Re: The ACF plugin on the WordPress directory has been taken over by WordPress.org

#232

Post by shprd » Mon, Oct 14, 2024, 8:37 AM UTC

philistine wrote: post #229

shprd wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not new, Matt has been trying to reach an agreement for years.[1] To be fair, he has done everything he can for the health of the ecosystem for all these years. WP Engine leech off the WordPress brand from head to toe. Literally, from trademark to infrastructure, while Automattic covers the bill for the most part. Of course, legally, WPE doesn't have to contribute beyond its mouth but if we are going down that r…

You sound like those armchair communists who feel they need to agree with Stalin because he was a communist too. You know, a person doing evil things for the right reasons is still doing evil things.

You got the wrong idea. What I care about is open source and fight back against those encouraging to take without contributing. Yes you don't have to give back, the same way you don't have to be nice, but promoting that you intentionally commit NOT to contribute and wear that badge proudly is stupid and harmful.

I don't care about specific individual or technology since I don't use WordPress and I'm not in that business to begin with but these discussions are spreading the wrong message and values.

Please make sure you're contributing to the discussion in the future, not just attacking people based on your limited view.

Re: The ACF plugin on the WordPress directory has been taken over by WordPress.org

#233

Post by chiefalchemist » Mon, Oct 14, 2024, 9:32 AM UTC

FreakLegion wrote: post #225

chiefalchemist wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you're saying no other investor(s) - which btw Matt / Automattic has - anywhere are going to be concerned about what leverage they have if the founder goes sideways? That's naive at best. Plenty of investors are already asking "Can I get f*ked like this?" And going forward investors will be sure not to be exposed unnecessarily. Zero impact? That's silly. Investors what high returns and lowest possible risk. Matt h…

No, it hasn't. I'm a founder. I have investors. Nobody serious is asking these questions, for reasons that make perfect sense when you're familiar with the mechanics of venture investing and corporate governance. I won't say nobody is asking questions at all, because "investor" is a loosey-goosey term and there are plenty of people writing small checks who call themselves investors. But those people never had leverag…

Your investors are fools then.

I can not imagine writing a cheque for anything above $999 and not ensuring I have some sort of protection against this type of sideways.

Frankly, if my investors weren't now concerned I'd be concerned about the quality of my investors. It's not a win to say they're not comcerned.

Re: The ACF plugin on the WordPress directory has been taken over by WordPress.org

#234

Post by chiefalchemist » Mon, Oct 14, 2024, 9:45 AM UTC

shprd wrote: post #231

chiefalchemist wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's a marketing strategy And what makes Automattic's contributions any different? They "steer" the product to their benefit and sell that as what's good for them is good for all. That's rubbish. It's not contributing to "the cause" when the features you add are solely for your own benefit. Not that self-serving is wrong. But to sell it as benevolent red lines any decent bullshit detector. Matt defined the license.…

> And what makes Automattic's contributions any different? Well, unlike WPEngine, Automattic and Matt make significant contribution beyond their ecosystem, here are some: - Let's encrypt: https://letsencrypt.org/sponsors/ - Matrix's open protocol: https://matrix.org/ - The PHP Foundation: https://thephp.foundation/ - Open Source Initiative: https://opensource.org/ - And the list goes on: contributing and sponsoring m…

You left out Matt & Co partnering with privacy-crusher Google, and other "f*k the users this partnership is good for Automattic and my pockets" deals and decisions. And what about his anti-accessibility transgressions (with Gutenberg).

Matt championing himself as benevolent and using OSS as a shield is BS. No one is expecting him - or anyone - to be perfect. But he and his hypocrisy has jumped the shark.

Re: The ACF plugin on the WordPress directory has been taken over by WordPress.org

#235

Post by perks282 » Mon, Oct 14, 2024, 3:41 PM UTC

shprd wrote: post #144

chiefalchemist wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate to speculate, especially from a distance. But I do wonder: - Why now? What snapped? Clearly WPE didn't go to "billions" over night. So why go nuclear now? - Doesn't he have a close and immediate circle of advisors and confidants? Are they speaking to him and he's not listen? Or has he locked himself in a room so to speak and is completely unapproachable? Either way, not good. - Is he trying to force WPE to for…

It's not new, Matt has been trying to reach an agreement for years.[1] To be fair, he has done everything he can for the health of the ecosystem for all these years. WP Engine leech off the WordPress brand from head to toe. Literally, from trademark to infrastructure, while Automattic covers the bill for the most part. Of course, legally, WPE doesn't have to contribute beyond its mouth but if we are going down that r…

Some folks on this list spewing out misinformation, perhaps because of personal interests in WPE. Matt has done more than any of us to create and preserve an amazing open-source ecosystem that we all benefit from. Can you imagine what it would be like if WPE controlled WP? The claims in WPE's lawsuit, as you'll see, are not facts.

Re: The ACF plugin on the WordPress directory has been taken over by WordPress.org

#236

Post by prymeklickdev » Mon, Oct 14, 2024, 7:01 PM UTC

luuurker wrote: post #186

Brian_K_White wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where in the world, how the hell did you get the idea that stealing free code isn't stealing?

The code was shared under a GPL license. If the license allows you to reuse, fork, etc, then it makes no sense to accuse you of "stealing". Obviously there's more to it here as they've also taken over the plugin's reviews, users, etc, but the code is GPL.

Open source is open source. To my best knowledge I believe its stealing if you make use of resource an individual or group of people came together to develop and add minor adjustments to it and then put it up for sale. That's stealing.

But if you willingly able to contribute back to the community with between 20 - 40% of profit generated from the open source used, is and will be considered fair play.