WP.com owner Mat² Mullenweg bashes WP Engine on WordCamp 2024

bikegremlin · September 21

A bit of a high-end (corpo) popcorn drama. Video timelines list and my thoughts on the discussion:

https://www.bikegremlin.net/threads/wordpress-com-owner-matt-bashes-on-wp-engine-and-silver-lake-capital.352/

Dazzle · September 26

Also, WP.com is not WP (.org)
https://io.bikegremlin.com/34897/wordpress-com-is-not-wordpress-org/

nikhm2n · September 26

What I don't understand about all this is what wordpress is blocking from WP Engine, and how wordpress installations on WP Engine got broken.

bikegremlin · September 26

@nikhm2n said:
What I don't understand about all this is what wordpress is blocking from WP Engine, and how wordpress installations on WP Engine got broken.

They blocked access from WP Engine's servers, I suppose.
You could make a workaround, that WP Engine folks may have already done.

AuroraZero · September 26

Bunch of catty bitches having a slap fight over nothing.

bikegremlin · September 26

@AuroraZero said:
Bunch of catty bitches having a slap fight over nothing.

I think it's money. Corporations, and money & power.

imok · September 26

I hope I don't get affected by this. Almost all of my sites use ACF from WP Engine.

AuroraZero · September 26

@bikegremlin said:

@AuroraZero said:
Bunch of catty bitches having a slap fight over nothing.

I think it's money. Corporations, and money & power.

As I said nothing in the end

nikhm2n · September 26

If anyone is looking for a solution, routing traffic through Cloudflare is supposed to fix it. I don't have anything on WP Engine, so can't validate it.

nikhm2n · September 26

They blocked access from WP Engine's servers, I suppose.

Wait, why would WP Engine be accessing WP.com's servers.
I would think they just interact with WP.org, the open source project.

bikegremlin · September 26

@nikhm2n said:

They blocked access from WP Engine's servers, I suppose.

Wait, why would WP Engine be accessing WP.com's servers.
I would think they just interact with WP.org, the open source project.

They've blocked the access to wp.org servers, apparently.

mwt · September 27

@bikegremlin said:
They've blocked the access to wp.org servers, apparently.

Yes, it's crazy. I wonder if WP.org being used as a tool to foreclose on WP.com's largest competitor will imperil its nonprofit status.

vyas · September 27

https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/19/automattic-raises-300-million-at-3-billion-valuation-from-salesforce-ventures/

My Unsubstantiated Hypothesis
With the 7-8 year active investment cycle of venture funds.... WordPress parent company Automattic investors (like Salesforce Ventures) might be concerned that WP Engine's deep integration with WordPress could affect the valuation. And thus impact a potential exit strategy for investors at a lower valuation. WP Engine's rival offerings might make the investors question their existing investment. Whether a further Series E or a strategic sale to another investor, or an IPO... this will be a sore point.

bikegremlin · September 27

@vyas said:
https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/19/automattic-raises-300-million-at-3-billion-valuation-from-salesforce-ventures/

My Unsubstantiated Hypothesis
With the 7-8 year active investment cycle of venture funds.... WordPress parent company Automattic investors (like Salesforce Ventures) might be concerned that WP Engine's deep integration with WordPress could affect the valuation. And thus impact a potential exit strategy for investors at a lower valuation. WP Engine's rival offerings might make the investors question their existing investment. Whether a further Series E or a strategic sale to another investor, or an IPO... this will be a sore point.

I'd add this - even though it may be a bit far fetched:

Google updates of a year ago have destroyed the traffic of a huge number of websites (and helped a small number of huge corporate sites). The kind of sites that could afford expensive hosting and would be willing to pay for it, but that are not super-huge.

If investors see that the same way, the "40% of the web" and hosting services as assets may not look very appealing (and drop in price, as you've noted).

AuroraZero · September 27

DataRecovery · September 28

@bikegremlin said:

@nikhm2n said:

They blocked access from WP Engine's servers, I suppose.

Wait, why would WP Engine be accessing WP.com's servers.
I would think they just interact with WP.org, the open source project.

They've blocked the access to wp.org servers, apparently.

This.

Explanation quote from Matt:

they [WPengine] do about half a billion in revenue on top of WordPress and contribute back 40 hours a week, Automattic is a similar size and contributes back 3,915 hours a week.

WP Engine's status page has a corresponding incident: https://wpenginestatus.com/incidents/640187

They consider it "closed – Resolved".

bikegremlin · September 28

@DataRecovery said:

@bikegremlin said:

@nikhm2n said:

They blocked access from WP Engine's servers, I suppose.

Wait, why would WP Engine be accessing WP.com's servers.
I would think they just interact with WP.org, the open source project.

They've blocked the access to wp.org servers, apparently.

This.

Explanation quote from Matt:

they [WPengine] do about half a billion in revenue on top of WordPress and contribute back 40 hours a week, Automattic is a similar size and contributes back 3,915 hours a week.

WP Engine's status page has a corresponding incident: https://wpenginestatus.com/incidents/640187

They consider it "closed – Resolved".

Nah. That’s just for the public.
They are not stupid and know very well that it’s far from resolved.

WP.com owner Mat² Mullenweg bashes WP Engine on WordCamp 2024

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