The drama at WordPress has taken a number of twists and turns in the months since Matt Mullenweg, founder and CEO of for-profit WordPress host Automattic, shut off access to WP Engine, a third-party platform that many users deploy to host their websites. But the latest controversy has taken the dispute in an absurdist direction—one that could further imperil the future of WordPress.
A California District Court granted WP Engine a preliminary injunction preventing Automattic from blocking WP Engine access to the WordPress hosting service—essentially meaning users could regain access to WP Engine for the first time in months. (Prior to the injunction, access had been limited as part of the dispute between the two entities.) In addition, the court injunction required Automattic to remove a controversial checkbox that had appeared on the WordPress.org login page during the dispute requiring users to affirm they were “not affiliated with WP Engine in any way, financially or otherwise.” And without checking the box, users couldn’t log in. The WP Engine checkbox has gone, but it’s been replaced with another one, asking people to check a box saying “Pineapple is delicious on pizza.” Just as with the WP Engine-affiliation checkbox, users can’t login or register without confirming that statement.
Industry experts are split on whether the pineapple stunt was a lighthearted clapback or a sign that all is not right at the helm of Automattic.
The pineapple stunt follows a monthslong argument that started when Mullenweg went public with concerns that WP Engine was capitalizing on the work of an open-source project. Mullenweg alleges WP Engine has raised hundreds of millions of dollars in funding by branding itself as an offshoot of WordPress, all while paying peppercorn amounts to maintain WordPress’s upkeep. The issue spiraled into a protracted legal battle that is still ongoing—and part of which the pineapple checkbox is in response to.
Sure, Wiles can understand the short-term satisfaction from the pineapple stunt, “but otherwise I don’t see how the end game to this is a win for anyone—including Matt,” he says.
It remains to be seen whether the very public spat, and the seemingly petulant responses, will have an impact on WordPress’s greater reputation. The platform currently powers around four in 10 websites. “For freelancers, consultants, and agencies, it’s a big deal because you’re picking the tech stack you’re going to live with for a long time,” says Wiles. “You want sane people at the helm.”
Others say the pineapple saga won’t matter much because Mullenweg’s reputation is already shot. “I’m not sure it harms the company other than continuing to show how deeply unserious he is and reinforcing the idea that giving 19-year-olds VC money may not be a good idea,” says Kellie Peterson, who worked as head of domains at Automattic from November 2016 to February 2023.
“He’s simply acting like an arrested-development teenager testing the boundaries of what he can get away with,” she says.
For his part, Mullenweg sees it differently. He posted on X of his frustration at the court injunction against him and WordPress: “I’m disgusted and sickened by being legally forced to provide free labor and services to @WPEngine, a dangerous precedent that should chill every open-source maintainer.” Though he disagreed with the court’s decision, he said he had “fully complied with its order.” (As for the lighthearted way he’s sought to poke fun at a court decision, Mullenweg did not immediately respond to Fast Company’s request for comment.)
Some in the WordPress community agree with him. Mullenweg reposted an approving comment from one WordPress user: “At least [he] has not lost his sense of humor in all of this.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chris Stokel-Walker is a contributing writer at Fast Company who focuses on the tech sector and its impact on our daily lives—online and offline. He has explored how the WordPress drama has implications for the wider web, how AI web crawlers are pushing sites offline, as well as stories about ordinary people doing incredible things, such as the German teen who set up a MySpace clone with more than a million users.
Related Topics: