Matt Mullenweg wasn't lying when he said he would go "nuclear" against WP Engine. But his attack expanded beyond WP Engine and now hits the entire WordPress ecosystem.
What could have been a legal fight between two companies now looks like Matt destroying the open-source project he created.
WordPress powers over 40% of the web with a gigantic ecosystem that allows everyone to build a website, from individuals and small businesses to big corporations and The White House. But I don't think this helps much if the people building the software are leaving.
Fork or Takeover?
Things got worse yet another time with WordPress "forking" ACF, an extremely popular plugin by WP Engine. But wait, let me say hijacked instead of forked. They didn't create their own plugin, they overtook the existing ACF plugin on the WordPress.org plugin repository and changed the name and logo. They even kept the download count currently at 2+ million, the 5-star rating, and forum history.
After the SCF announcement, the leader of the Core Fields project, Scott Kingsley Clark, stated he was "done making excuses for Matt's actions and will not associate myself with core any longer" (source). Yet another contributor who left the project.
This sets a dangerous precedence. Matt locked a competitor out of the official WordPress plugin repository and overtook their plugin, which is used on millions of sites. And because they have been locked out, WP Engine had no chance to reach the 2+ million sites and inform them how to update to the new ACF version.
Irreversible Damage
WordPress is in an alarming state, Matt and Automattic are harming the project, its community, and open-source as a whole.
"That's the deal. That's open source. I give you a gift of code, you accept the terms of the license. There cannot be a second set of shadow obligations that might suddenly apply, if you strike it rich using the software. Then the license is meaningless, the clarity all muddled, and certainty lost."
This craziness must end immediately. The actions by Matt and Automattic are doing irreversible damage to the WordPress project. What's next? Another plugin takeover? Attacks against another company? More bans and blocks on Slack and X? More contributors leaving?