Matt Mullenweg, WordPress co-founder, claims WP Engine tried to infringe on his First Amendment rights, sparking backlash on social media. Critics corrected his understanding of free speech and accused him of hypocrisy, highlighting the limits of free speech in private disputes.
AI
Welcome to the Morning Brew technology newsletter. Our daily newsletter with links and TLDRs of major tech and programming stories.
WordPress announces Mary Hubbard as the new Executive Director of WordPress.org, following leadership changes and controversy. Social media reactions have been mixed, reflecting recent tensions within the WordPress community and ongoing legal disputes between Automattic and WP Engine.
Google has updated its robots.txt policy, clarifying that unsupported fields will be ignored by its crawlers. Website owners should use only documented fields like user-agent, allow, disallow, and sitemap, while reviewing their existing files to ensure compliance with Google’s official guidelines.
WordPress
Josepha Haden Chomphosy resigns as Executive Director of WordPress, marking the end of her nine-year tenure. Her departure follows internal conflicts within the WordPress community, including a lawsuit against co-founder Matt Mullenweg. Learn more about the impact of her resignation.
Automattic sees 8.4% of employees resign after a voluntary severance offer from CEO Matt Mullenweg. Despite some high-profile departures, including long-term contributors, Mullenweg remains optimistic about the company’s future, focusing on those who chose to stay and continue Automattic’s mission.
WP Engine files a federal lawsuit against WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg and Automattic, alleging extortion and trademark infringement. The case could impact the future of WordPress and its open source ecosystem, raising concerns about transparency and governance within the platform.
WP Engine
Yoast co-founder Joost de Valk proposes a WordPress Contributor Board to promote transparency, fair contributions, and stakeholder representation within the community. His vision aims to sustain the open source ecosystem by encouraging companies to reinvest and collaborate for WordPress’s future.
WP Engine
WordPress has temporarily lifted the block on WP Engine users, allowing access to plugin and theme updates until October 1st amid a dispute over licensing fees. WP Engine must now implement a solution to avoid further disruption, as both companies navigate the future of their partnership.
WordPress has blocked WP Engine from accessing plugins and themes, impacting thousands of websites. The ban stems from a trademark dispute between WordPress co-creator Matt Mullenweg and WP Engine. The move has sparked frustration within the tech community and concerns about the future of WordPress.
WordPress Foundation has filed trademark applications for "Managed WordPress" and "Hosted WordPress," potentially restricting commercial use of these terms by web hosts and plugin developers. Learn how this move could impact the WordPress ecosystem and the legal dynamics involved.
WP Engine
WP Engine has filed a lawsuit against WordPress, Automattic, and Matt Mullenweg over trademark disputes. Automattic is countersuing, with both sides accusing the other of harmful conduct within the WordPress community. Learn more about this escalating legal battle and its potential impact.