This is an open reply to Joost de Valk on this blog post: Breaking the Status Quo
I began a reply on Joost blog post, and it became rather lengthy, so I thought it would be better to publish it here on my blog and link to it from there.
See related links:
- My own WordPress Leadership Proposal, with additional external links.
Other related posts can be found at the end of this post. - The WPMustWin open letter, with 250+ signatories
- The Open letter published on The Repository, with 20+ “senior and influential figures” signatories.
- “Culture of Fear in WordPress Community” post on The Repository.
- After WordPress article by Morten Rand-Hendriksen
Hello Joost
I’ve been speaking with many people during the two events I attended recently (WC Karlsruhe and the Rome Core Days), as well as online, and my feeling is that the vast majority think alike, but most stay silent for fear of retaliation and they cannot risk their agencies, employees and customers. Some even told me I could speak on their behalf so that they can remain silent, as I do not have a boss, employees and my few customers (I barely make money out of WP) do not even know the existence of Matt or WPE and barely speak English anyway.
I even reached out to Matt to propose to interview him on all those questions community members want to ask but can’t for the above reasons.
I agree with so much of what you (Joost) say here:
- A WordPress foundation like entity becomes the lead of the project, and gets a board of industry people, from diverse backgrounds (and your other points)
- I’m still, to this day, very thankful for what Matt has created. I would love to work with him to fix all this. But it’s clear now, that we can no longer have him be our sole leader, although I’d love it if we could get him to be among the leaders.
A board is the only solution because it represents different backgrounds: contributors sponsored by Automattic (who could be represented by Matt or someone else), representatives of contributors sponsored by other companies, and representatives of non-sponsored contributors. Diverse countries and cultures should also be represented. All should have a say, and all decisions should go through individuals who abide by a board of representatives. It could even be beneficial to Matt: shared responsibilities, reducing the pressure on him and the toll on his well-being, as well as funding for community resources, servers, distribution and more.
I understand that some people have moved beyond this and can no longer trust Matt; this is not my case. I might be an eternal optimist, but I want to believe that, once he realises what is best for WordPress, he could agree to cede control to a board on which he would also have a place. WordPress is his lifework and he cares a lot about it!
The future of the project depends on restoring trust, trust that there will be no more sudden decisions and announcements with significant implications and consequences for contributors.
For example: using community social accounts to criticise individuals, endorsing unrelated projects (such as crowdfunding for a bridge in San Francisco), taking over a plugin and threatening to do the same to others, closing community account creation which prevents new users from asking for help on support forums, deactivating community Slack accounts without an IRT process (such as in the case of prominent contributors politely asking questions), and, more generally, acting or speaking “on behalf of the community” without its consent.
I would like to add that no one should feel afraid to sponsor, speak at, or volunteer for events such as Alt Ctrl Org or similar initiatives.
Disclaimers
The following paragraphs act as disclaimers:
See at the bottom the disclaimer I add to all my posts related to this topic here on my blog: “The opinions expressed in this post …”
Matt has always been nice when I (briefly) met him, and I hope we can keep it that way. I trust that he acts * believing * he is doing good for the future of the project, but he may not realise that some actions harm everyday companies and contributors, those who make the community project what it is and without whom WordPress would not have come this far. I don’t like when people speak about him disrespectfully, as I think that does not help move things forward. I would much prefer to work towards a board project, under the WordPress name, with him (and you Joost, and many others) rather than against him.
I personally agree with him about the trademark, but I know nothing about American lawsuits (and really don’t want to). In my opinion, this is a completely separate topic from the community issue.
I often talk with a very good friend of mine, who is an Automattician, about all the issues we see (we= non-A8C contributors) and how to work all together for the future of the project.
As part of the WCEU organising team, I initially remained silent, but I do not belong to anyone and am free to express my own opinions, which do not represent those of the WCEU organising team or, of course, WordCamp Central and the WP Community team.
I am sponsored for 1/4 of my contribution time, 5 hours out of about 20 per week, by Themeisle since last August. They did not ask me to remain silent, and we did not discuss this topic. The opinions expressed here are mine alone. I have been contributing for 10 years without any sponsorship (and spent money out of my personal pocket to organise events) and continue to do so for the remaining hours (I’m open to be sponsored by other companies with same values as mine). I completely understand all issues non-sponsored contributor face.
What now
I’m open to working with you, Joost, and others with similar ideas to help create such a board or “Foundation v2.”
I wish everyone a happy holiday season, if you have one, and hope that 2025 brings restored trust in the WordPress project.
Related posts
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the views of my sponsors or the projects I am part of, such as the WordCamp Europe organising team, the WordPress Contributor Mentorship Program, my roles in the Make Community team, GatherPress community engagement or WPpodcast translation. If there is any conflict with these projects, I welcome any feedback, and I am open to stepping down from my roles.
These opinions and texts are mine, with the assistance of ChatGPT solely to improve the quality of the English language.
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