WordPress on Hiatus – Surgical Diversions

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Style Pass

2024-10-26 18:00:06

I’ve been using WordPress since 2007. Throughout the vast majority of that time Matt has been an excellent steward of the WordPress project. It was never about ego. It was only about what was best for the project. I had the privilege of attending WCUS 2024 in Portland. I’ve been to many WordCamps in my native Southern California, Arizona, and have sponsored many of them.

Portland was the first WordCamp that I flew to attend. Normally I have this deal with my wife that I can go to any WordCamp I can drive to. Portland was an exception for several reasons. First, most of my Southern California WordCamps have gone dark since COVID. Second, I finally started charging a little for a plugin that I’ve been developing for 11 years now, Git Updater. It makes enough for me to pay for airfare, hotel, and maybe a bit more. This is the only income I’ve ever made from working with WordPress.

Some time after the WCUS 2024 keynote it seems to have become about ego — Matt’s ego. Matt has banned and removed access to WordPress.org for huge groups of people. Most he doesn’t even know, they simply host with WPEngine. Others seem to have drawn Matt’s ire in WP Slack, or on X/Twitter, which has resulted in them also being banned.