On Christmas Eve, WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg went on Reddit and caused quite a stir by asking what kind of drama he should make in 2025. He wrote, “What drama should I create in 2025?” I am quite open to recommendations. Should we stop naming releases after jazz musicians and instead use Drake lyrics? Eliminate all dashboard notifications. Take over any plugins in core? Change from blue to purple. I believe we can collaborate and generate better ideas than I could alone. ☺️ Also, merry Christmas! 🎄”
The post rapidly received more than 500 comments. However, the community was not amused, and a large number of responses asked him to stop posting, stand down, get professional help, or take a sabbatical to avoid causing unnecessary drama. “For someone in your position, creating extraneous drama for these people is not only disrespectful, it’s outright psychopathic to the extent that it affects their ability to work and be productive.” , according to a reply from Stubby_Shillelagh
Redditor WillmanRacing addressed a Sherman Act violation, sarcastically stating, “I have a terrific idea for some drama we can get up to. Why don’t we establish a nonprofit foundation to control our open source software product rather than our for-profit company? Why don’t we run our primary website as a distinct entity, with personnel and volunteers provided by another entity? So, why don’t we have all of these entities take action against one of our competitors and their whole customer base, refusing to do business with anyone until they cease dealing with our competitor? Why don’t we ban all of those folks from our services and try to force them to use ours instead?”
Many people expressed frustration and wished for a return to normalcy. One Redditor wrote, “I’ve been a major admirer of WordPress for a long time, and I’m sorry to see all this turmoil happening. Learning WordPress helped me secure my first official programming job. I truly hope everything will return to normal shortly.”
In response to cries to take a break, Matt referenced Shakespeare’s Macbeth: “Life’s but a walking shadow, A poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more: It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
Matt also teased that some major developments are on their way. He went on: “I’m really excited for people to experience Phase 3 of Gutenberg, things like real-time co-editing done completely peer-to-peer with WebRTC.”
Another person commented, “Matt is doing to WordPress.org what Broadcom does to VMware.” WordPress used to be such a cheerful place with a rich and healthy developer community, but now everyone is terrified that Matt may pull a rug just because he wants to.”
It (WordPress) has a very special place in my heart, as well. I think WordPress’ brightest days are ahead of it.
– Matt Mullenweg
Additionally, Matt came under fire for failing to recognize the seriousness of the situation. “How can you write such a post in a time like this?” asked one Redditor. The WordPress community requires leadership that can be trusted and stability. Regardless of your desire to be humorous, now is not the appropriate moment. When someone reads this piece, do you think they’ll say, “Yeah, that’s a project I want to contribute to?” Contributors are quitting and sometimes being banned. Customers are concerned. Users are searching for substitutes. There is a court. However, it doesn’t seem from your behavior that you understand how important this is. It’s quite depressing to observe.
“I hope you see how much this is unique to WPE and not something that has happened before or since with others,” Matt said in response to another Redditor who expressed the same viewpoint. After holding onto items for four to six years, Silver Lake flips and moves on. Many others, like myself, have been in this for decades. Their type has come and gone in the past.
“Use WordPress if you value freedom, autonomy, and want to be in complete control of your digital future,” Matt said in response to a Redditor who inquired whether to choose Shopify user to continue with WordPress. Although it can be pricey, Shopify is a fantastic proprietary option if you want to stick to their rules and not go too far. The majority of Matt’s Reddit comments received fewer votes.
Some people agreed with Matt’s recent behavior. I appreciate your “drama.” If it had been successful, it would have established the best precedent ever for all the hyper-capitalists who take advantage of other people’s hard work. However, everyone is shortsighted and self-centered. Unfortunately, they missed the chance to support you and deal with you later. One comment read, “All idiots.”
Another added, “Perhaps return WordPress to the public for free as it was meant if you want to make the change you say you want to see and Matt adopt a more moral position in his business operations. In the meantime, we ought to give thanks to the man who took us to the dance. It doesn’t mean we have to like him; more successful people are disliked. It’s heartbreaking to see a mob attack a man who gave the world half of the internet for free.
Additionally, Matt received a number of recommendations from the community, both serious and lighthearted:
- Show steadfast leadership.
- Pay attention to the community.
- Exercise self-control and think about the impact his activities have on the community as a whole.
- Make a public pledge that no repository plugins will be used.
- Support a WordPress replacement
- Federate the repos and remove Automattic’s hosting expenses.
- Provide a built-in method for making a basic contact form.
- Give WordPress.org to a community-based organization.
- Make Gutenberg a whole lot of fun.
- Provide WordPress with three alternatives from the start: Gutenberg exclusively, Classic only, or both.
- WordPress releases should be named after musicians, poets, and meteors.
- Charge anything on WordPress.org $.05 each request.
“We’ll look back on the WPE drama next year as something that seemed like a big deal at the time but isn’t that notable in the grand arc of history,” Matt stated in reference to the ongoing drama.
“Even though we don’t always agree, I really enjoy talking with people on the internet, and I appreciate everyone taking the time to share their perspective,” he said. I got my start as a teenager on forums like this one. You should have seen Usenet and IRC in the past if you think Reddit is spicy! I wish everyone a wonderful Christmas and a joyous New Year.
The conversation also spread to Twitter. “Yet another day of very unhealthy and toxic behavior from WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg,” Ryan Duff wrote.
“It is difficult to imagine how such pettiness could have been the attribute of one who led the project for so many years, or Matt has crossed some sort of personal Rubicon,” Takis Bouyouris tweeted. A waning ruler is characterized by loneliness at the top, detachment from reality, and a lack of healthy consultation. One excellent book on the subject is Gabriel García Márquez’s The Autumn of the Patriarch.
“This Christmas eve, Matt is looking down at the #WordPress community on Reddit and wondering why we are all still singing and having a good time without our WordPress.org toys,” Duane Storey tweeted.
Kellie Peterson said, “What the devil is new? Matt Mullenweg is spending Christmas Eve doing this. Instead of spending time with his mother, sister, and his supposed numerous godchildren, he is causing pandemonium.
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