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What Matt Mullenweg thinks about open source

@matt-mullenweg · 12 positions · 0 changes of mind

Co-founder of WordPress, which runs a large share of the web, and chief executive of Automattic. Writes at ma.tt. In September 2024 he began a public campaign against WP Engine, the private-equity-owned WordPress host, over trademarks and what he says is its failure to contribute back to the project.

Matt Mullenweg did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

9 dated positions, 2024, in their own words. Our reading of what Matt Mullenweg has said — not written or endorsed by them.

  1. Our readingAn open source project’s trademarks must be defended, and that defence is separate from the software’s licence.

    Their wordsTrademarks must be protected, as evidenced by Rails trademark policy.

    ↗Response to DHHma.tt 2nd of 4 in this piece

    Interesting

  3. Our readingBuilding a business on open source is a good thing; the objection is to trademark abuse, not to commercial use.

    Their wordsI think it’s fantastic when businesses are built on open source, the WordPress ecosystem is at least 10B+ a year; Automattic and WP Engine are less than 5% of that.

    ↗Response to DHHma.tt 4th of 4 in this piece

    Interesting
  4. 3 weeks earlier

  5. Our readingA business making hundreds of millions from an open source project owes it money or contribution, and can be refused its trademarks if it gives neither.

    Their wordsThis isn’t a money grab: it’s an expectation that any business making hundreds of millions of dollars off of an open source project ought to give back, and if they don’t, then they can’t use its trademarks.

    ↗WPE & Trademarksma.tt 1st of 3 in this piece

    Interesting

  7. Our readingRespect for trademarks and other intellectual property is part of what open source means, not a departure from it.

    Their wordsWordPress is licensed under the GPL; respect for copyright and IP like trademarks is core to the GPL and our conception of what open source means.

    ↗WPE & Trademarksma.tt 2nd of 3 in this piece

    Interesting

  9. Our readingA company that will not accept a project’s terms is free to go and use a more permissive project instead.

    Their wordsIf WP Engine wants to find another open source project with a more permissive license and no trademarks, they are free to do so; if they want to benefit from the WordPress community, then they need to respect WordPress trademark and IP.

    ↗WPE & Trademarksma.tt 3rd of 3 in this piece

    Interesting
  10. 9 days earlier

  11. Our readingLlama is not open source: a licence that revokes itself once a user gets large enough is proprietary, whatever it is marketed as.

    Their wordsI believe Meta should have the right to set their terms—they’re smart business, and an amazing deal for users of Llama—but don’t pretend Llama is Open Source when it doesn’t actually increase humanity’s freedom.

    ↗WordCamp US & Ecosystem Thinkingma.tt 1st of 5 in this piece

    Interesting

  13. Our readingCorporations dishonestly claiming the open source label for marketing is evidence that open source has won.

    Their wordsWhen corporations disingenuously claim to be “open source” for marketing purposes, it’s a clear sign that Open Source is winning.

    ↗WordCamp US & Ecosystem Thinkingma.tt 2nd of 5 in this piece

    Interesting

  15. Our readingA licence is only the floor of open source; what keeps a project alive is an ethos of contribution that no licence can compel.

    Their wordsBut what makes Open Source work isn’t the law, it’s the ethos. It’s the social mores.

    ↗WordCamp US & Ecosystem Thinkingma.tt 3rd of 5 in this piece

    Interesting

  17. Our readingUsers of an open source project should choose which vendors to pay by how much those vendors contribute back to it.

    Their wordsSo it’s at this point that I ask everyone in the WordPress community to vote with your wallet.

    ↗WordCamp US & Ecosystem Thinkingma.tt 5th of 5 in this piece

    Interesting