Wordpress Drama

[Arantor]

If you're just writing bold, italics and stuff, sure, but honestly... the average corporate marketing site doesn't.

They'll be doing things like quotes, multi-column layouts with text and images alongside each other, images with captions, or as I said, more complex widgets. They'll have carousels of testimonials (which are usually image + quote + name + job title), they'll have carousels of brand images of people they work with. And doing all that responsively.

I'd show you the last couple of websites I built which my clients still update, but I don't particularly want to dox myself in so doing. But I absolutely guarantee they're not maintaining it with a WYSIWYG editor.

But I think we're talking at cross-purposes, your content needs are not their content needs, and vice versa.

What I will also note is that WYSIWYG is not nearly the solved problem you're suggesting and one of the reasons folks prefer having guide rails is so they can't break it in ways you absolutely can in a WYSIWYG editor... our dev team have been doing WordPress sites for a decade and Gutenberg + ACF was the best thing that ever happened for us.

 

[RobinHood]

Preliminary hearing going on now.

Someone is live tweeting watching the zoom stream, which is impossible to get into as it's full

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[Forsaken]

So Wordpress ended up completely ripping ACF Pro and releasing it... Which is something they literally sued someone else over.

 

[Arantor]

So Wordpress ended up completely ripping ACF Pro and releasing it... Which is something they literally sued someone else over.

And doing a half-assed job of it at that, as I said upthread:

It's not even subtle: there's a folder inside it called pro, with files named like acf-pro.php in it.

In fact, a quick glance through it suggests it is little more than just straight up taking ACF Pro and filing off the copyright and some branding (which is a violation of the GPL) because it doesn't even rename the classes to SCF.

 

[Forsaken]

And doing a half-assed job of it at that, as I said upthread:

Not normally one for piracy, but some of those WooCommerce plugins should probably be forked, because it's okay now.

 

[Arantor]

Not normally one for piracy, but some of those WooCommerce plugins should probably be forked, because it's okay now.

It was always OK because the GPL lets you do that. They’re free to deny you access to future versions but nothing stops you or me, quite legally, buying the paid ones and giving them to all your friends. Live by the GPL, die by the GPL.

 

[RobinHood]

Matt making money off of Wordpress recommended hosts is what is not confirmed,

This host is clearly on Matt's naughty list this year

https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/14210

Message:
Hosting: rm dreamhost, per matt

 

[RobinHood]

Preliminary injunction granted in favour of WP Engine. Matt must be fuming!

Court Order​

The court granted WPEngine’s motion for a preliminary injunction, requiring Automattic to:

1. Restore WPEngine’s access to WordPress.org as it existed before September 20, 2024.
2. Return control of the ACF plugin to WPEngine.
3. Remove the login pledge targeting WPEngine affiliates.
4. Cease interference with WPEngine’s resources and customers.

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.64.0.pdf

Just copy/pasting this summary from GPT for those that don't want to read through a 42-page PDF.

TL;DR: u/photomatt lost on basically everything. This is a rough start for Automattic in what is likely to be a very costly lawsuit.

---

The ruling involves​

---

Key Facts​

Background on WordPress:​

• WordPress is open-source software managing 40% of websites globally.
• Automattic and Mullenweg oversee the WordPress platform and trademarks.

WPEngine’s Role:​

• A WordPress-exclusive hosting and services provider, heavily reliant on WordPress.org for plugin distribution and updates.
• Invested heavily in WordPress-related products and employs plugins like Advanced Custom Fields (ACF), a widely used tool.

Conflict:​

• Automattic allegedly pressured WPEngine to pay royalties or commit resources to WordPress, threatening punitive measures.
• Mullenweg later restricted WPEngine’s access to WordPress.org and publicly criticized its practices, causing disruptions.

Actions Taken by Automattic:​

• Disabled WPEngine’s access to WordPress.org resources.
• Forked and renamed WPEngine’s ACF plugin to “Secure Custom Fields,” undermining WPEngine’s offerings.
• Required a pledge on WordPress.org to confirm non-affiliation with WPEngine.
• Engaged in competitive advertising against WPEngine.

---

Court Findings​

Likelihood of Success:​

• WPEngine demonstrated a strong case for tortious interference with contractual relations, showing Automattic’s actions intentionally disrupted customer relationships and caused harm.

Irreparable Harm:​

• Evidence of reputational damage, customer loss, and difficulties in maintaining plugin functionality supported WPEngine’s claim of irreparable harm.

Balance of Equities:​

• The harm to WPEngine outweighed any burden on Automattic. The injunction merely restores the prior status quo.

Public Interest:​

• The public relies on WordPress and its plugins for website stability. Preserving access and continuity aligns with broader public interest.

---

Court Order​

The court granted WPEngine’s motion for a preliminary injunction, requiring Automattic to:

1. Restore WPEngine’s access to WordPress.org as it existed before September 20, 2024.
2. Return control of the ACF plugin to WPEngine.
3. Remove the login pledge targeting WPEngine affiliates.
4. Cease interference with WPEngine’s resources and customers.

---

Conclusion​

The court ruled in favor of WPEngine, emphasizing that the preliminary injunction seeks to preserve the status quo and mitigate ongoing harm while awaiting a final decision.

 

[RobinHood]

Exactly what has to be done in the next 72 hours:

From the motion:

Defendants, and Defendants’ officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys, and other persons who are in active concert or participation with them are hereby RESTRAINED AND ENJOINED, from:

(a) blocking, disabling, or interfering with WPEngine’s and/or its employees’, users’, customers’, or partners’ (hereinafter “WPEngine and Related Entities”) access to wordpress.org;

(b) interfering with WPEngine’s control over, or access to, plugins or extensions (and their respective directory listings) hosted on wordpress.org that were developed, published, or maintained by WPEngine, including those that had been published, developed, or maintained by WPEngine as of September 20, 2024; and

(c) interfering with WPEngine’s and Related Entities’ WordPress installations (i.e., websites built with WordPress software) by using auto-migrate or auto-update commands to delete, overwrite, disable, or modify any WPEngine plugin without the express request by or consent of WPEngine and/or its users, customers, or partners (as applicable).

The above, however, does not preclude wordpress.org’s ability to ensure the security and operability of its site consistent with procedures and policies in place as of September 20, 2024.

Within 72 hours, Defendants are ORDERED to:

(a) remove the purported list of WPEngine customers contained in the “domains.csv” file linked to Defendants’ wordpressenginetracker.com website (which was launched on or about November 7, 2024) and stored in the associated GitHub repository located at https://github.com/wordpressenginetracker/wordpressenginetracker.github.io.

(b) restore WPEngine’s and Related Entities’ access to wordpress.org as it existed as of September 20, 2024, including:

(i) reactivating and restoring all WPEngine employee login credentials to wordpress.org resources (including login credentials to login.wordpress.org) as they existed as of September 20, 2024;

(ii) disabling any technological blocking of WPEngine’s and Related Entities’ access to wordpress.org that occurred on or around September 25, 2024, including IP address blocking or other blocking mechanisms; and

(iii) restoring WPEngine’s and Related Entities’ access to wordpress.org in the manner that such access existed as of September 20, 2024, including:

(1) functionality and development resources (api.wordpress.org, core.svn.wordpress.org, plugins.svn.wordpress.org, themes.svn.wordpress.org, i18n.svn.wordpress.org, downloads.wordpress.org, make.wordpress.org, and translate.wordpress.org);

(2) data resources (WordPress Plugin, Theme, and Block Directories, repositories, listings, and other password-protected resources within wordpress.org);

(3) security resources (login.wordpress.org); and

(4) support resources (trac.wordpress.org and slack.wordpress.org); and

(iv) removing the checkbox at login.wordpress.org that Defendants added on or about October 8, 2024 asking users to confirm that they are “not affiliated with WP Engine in any way, financially or otherwise”; and

(v) returning and restoring WPEngine’s access to and control of its Advanced Custom Fields (“ACF”) plugin directory listing at https://wordpress.org/plugins/advanced-custom-fields, as it existed as of September 20, 2024.

This Preliminary Injunction is immediately effective upon its entry and shall remain in full force and effect through the date on which judgment is entered following the trial of this action.

IV. CONCLUSION For the reasons set forth above, WPEngine’s motion for a preliminary injunction is GRANTED.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: December 10, 2024

 

[TLDR]

Nobody could have possibly seen that coming.

Hopefully Matt is going to cut his losses and just move back to normal mode so we can all carry on. (Not really expecting him to do, but one can dream, right?)

 

[RobinHood]

No no, we need more fuel for the drama machine to provide fodder for the Netflix script writers!

 

[Forsaken]

Preliminary injunction granted in favour of WP Engine. Matt must be fuming!

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.64.0.pdf

If Matt ends up losing everything, there are quite a number of medium to large companies who are going to possibly sue for the ACF take over, and the damages that it caused to their businesses/customers.

Nobody could have possibly seen that coming.

Hopefully Matt is going to cut his losses and just move back to normal mode so we can all carry on. (Not really expecting him to do, but one can dream, right?)

While this is the biggest drama he's been involved in, the past dramas have not ended maturely or logically. Unless he is removed from his involvement with Wordpress, he is likely to continuing abusing the authority that he has.

 

[Forsaken]

Matt had a meltdown and quit the Wordpress Slack:

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[MentaL]

Matt had a meltdown and quit the Wordpress Slack:

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Matt is an a hole.

 

[Suzanne O]

Wow this stuff still going on? Good thing i don't use wordpress anymore then.

 

[Taylor J]

He has had another meltdown and essentially shut down .org for anything new.

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