Yes Matt Mullenweg is being an ass, but this isn’t new. 14 years ago Matt got capital_P_dangit added to core without a Trac ticket testing or discussion. Justin Tadlock did a good summary of events at the time.

That was when I decided I wanted to stay off Matt’s radar because they way he treated the community was bad and foreshadowed all the other crap he’s guilty of. No that’s not an exhaustive list either.

Even Matt’s claim that his company is aligned because 8% of staff took his buyout offer is untrue. 8% of staff felt like it was economically viable to leave his companies in a market where tens of thousands of developers have been laid off in the last year. 8% of staff could go without income or healthcare or…whatever.

I’ve even hesitated to comment because I run 80+ sites on WordPress and I don’t want my company impacted by a tyrant that has a tantrum.

The most interesting thing for me hearing some people stepping away from the project with fairly polite words, but saying how upset they are with Matt’s behaviour when they get to talk in a space that Matt can’t attack them for.

Working with WordPress got me the career I have today, but I’m very happy that I do DevOPS work now and don’t need to worry about building a WordPress site. I wouldn’t build a business on WordPress anymore.