After banning WP Engine from using its free resources, WordPress lifts ban on WP Engine till 1st October. WordPress founder and Automattic CEO, Matt Mullenweg who made a few scathing comments on WP Engine earlier this week, has expressed his thoughts on this situation.
The ban on WP Engine prevented its customers from using WordPress’ free resources such as themes and plug-ins. The prevention of updates left the sites vulnerable and put them at security risk. This move by WordPress was met with criticism in online spaces. WP Engine customers also took to social media to share security concerns brought by the ban.
Matt Mullenweg has made a few statements following the backlash. Mullenweg criticised Silver Lake for this feud. For context, Silver Lake is the private equity firm that owns WP Engine. In an official blog post, Mullenweg acknowledges the frustration coming from WP Engine customers. He also says that Silver Laks’s commercial decisions affected WordPress negatively.
WordPress Lifts Ban on WP Engine: More on this feud
This feud started when Mullenweg made a few comments criticising WP Engine at the WordCamp event. He then posted two more blog posts criticizing WP Engine further, one of which announced the ban on WP Engine. In the first blog post, Mullenweg called WP Engine a ‘cancer’ to WordPress. WP Engine has been allegedly lacking in its contributions towards WordPress despite using its free resources. Furthermore, WP Engine has also been accused of profiting off of the WP Engine and WordPress confusion, which has been emphasized over and over by Mullenweg. In fact, Mullenweg has reiterated a few times that ‘WP Engine is not WordPress’.
After the scathing comments and subsequent ban by WordPress, WP Engine sent Automattic a cease-and-desist letter. The hosting provider demanded for Mullenweg to retract his previous statements. In a turn of events, Automattic sent over their cease-and-desist letter to WP Engine and accused them of infringing on WordPress’ trademark.
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