wp + microsoft = wp hypocrisy

[pkim]

There's a post up now on Automattic's Publisher Blog with the details of what was announced at PDC: http://publisherblog.automattic.com/...windows-azure/

[chipbennett]

To speak to the James issue, it’s not as personal as they’ve implied. The main reason we no longer promote their sites on the homepage of MU is that it was confusing to people. I’ve had countless folks tell me they came across (wpmu, wpmudev, wp.mu, edublogs, wpplugins, et al) and thought it was an official resource because they all link together and their confusing naming and gratuitous use of our logo. Besides, it is nobody’s God-given right to be linked from the homepage of our plugin directory and mu.wordpress.org.

That's Matt's actual statement on the reason he has removed links to incsub run sites. IOW, nothing to do with selling plugins or being a commercial enterprise.

In September, Matt asked James to change the look so that their sites did not look official. The tone of the response was "go to hell".

I applaud Matt for having far more patience than any of his critics have. How many of those critics would have stripped out every link to the offending party's sites within 24 hours?

"Offending"? How so? How were IncSub "offending" anything? Of what were they in violation?

Wasn't Matt - the GPL/FOSS purist - being hypocritical in his request, since he believes that themes are and should be - in whole and in part - GPL? If he truly believes that themes are (and should be) wholly GPL, then he should know that he has no right whatsoever to ask that a user not exercise the rights explicitly contained in the GPL, to use the GPL work without restriction.

"Tone" is very difficult to convey or infer correctly through a text-only medium. IncSub - rightly - said that they had every right to use the theme they were using.

[zamoose]

The WordPress logo is trademarked by Automattic, IIRC, as is the WordPress name (I think), which is why they've politely asked many a site with "WordPress" in their titles to change it to "WP" or somesuch...

[wpmuguru]

"Offending"? How so? How were IncSub "offending" anything? Of what were they in violation?

1- Trademark - Unauthorized & repeated use of the WordPress Logo without "WordPress is a registered tradmark of ...", wordpressmu.org uses the WordPress name, buddypressthemes.org uses the BuddyPress name.

The fact that this is being done on the web does not alter that all of the above are violations of trademark.

2- GPL only applies to software that is distributed. AFAIK, the themes in question have never been released. If they haven't but are a look-a-like copy then they are a copyright infringement to the original theme developer.

As a more general statement, there's something to be said for a business that relies heavily on official looking web sites running on official sounding domain names which are neither.

Obviously, some people feel that's a perfectly acceptable method of build a business and/or generating revenue. The larger issue from my perspective is how some the people who feel it is ok treat people who have a different standard of conduct.

[zamoose]

As a more general statement, there's something to be said for a business that relies heavily on official looking web sites running on official sounding domain names which are neither.

Obviously, some people feel that's a perfectly acceptable method of build a business and/or generating revenue. The larger issue from my perspective is how some the people who feel it is ok treat people who have a different standard of conduct.

Nuts. There goes my business plan for selling Coca Cora sodas and servicing printer/copiers under the Zerox badge.

*grin*

[Otto]

...he should know that he has no right whatsoever to ask...

He can ask anything he likes. He has no right to demand it, which, unless I'm mistaken, he did not actually do.

[Jeffro]

Actually, I know the very planet I'm on. Perhaps admitting an error is foreign to you, I know that Mullenweg groupies fail to understand the idea of making a mistake, after all your god can do no wrong.

You quoted that but obviously failed to read my next statement. Just in case:

Has this guy never seen anyone bring up the mistakes of Matts past? He has admitted a number of times that he has made mistakes and hopes to not make those same mistakes in the future but no one is perfect so they are bound to happen.

In countless video interviews, audio interviews, text based interviews, people have brought up the biggest mistake in Matt's history of WordPress and that was the paid SEO links crap spread throughout the domain. Matt doesn't respond with "Who me? I didn't do that!" instead, he admits the mistake, explains why he thought it was a good idea at the time and then expands to tell people what he learned. Matt is human after all, he will make mistakes and we'll all be there to crticize those mistakes hoping they are not repeated.

What I don't get is the way you write about the subject of WordPress, Automattic, or Matt himself. Your posts are sensational pieces of crap that provide no real explanation as to what is going on.

The contention either way remains the same: Mullenweg is an open source nazi who stops at very little to cut off or make life difficult for those outside of Automattic who seek to profit from the WordPress code.

As a site that reports on things, this is grossly inaccurate. If it were true, Matt would be doing everything he could to stop the commercialization aspect of WordPress which he's not doing. He has stated numerous times in many different interviews that he is not against the selling of plugins or themes. Being GPL compliant is the line that is drawn in the sand. A key thing to remember is that just because you can make money doing something, doesn't mean you should do it. He has his thoughts on which models are better than others but it's not like he has told any plugin or theme other to stop selling their product.

WordPress.org is a free, non profit project that Matt leads. The goal of the project is not to earn as much money as possible, but to provide the best publishing platform on the web giving anyone who has a voice a chance to use it. Matt doesn't so much work on the core of the project so much as he is an ambassador. I think Mark Jaquith provides a better explanation than I could on why the confliction is not really apparent.

http://brandingdavid.com/blogging/my...press-project/

As for the banning of folks, no one that I know of has been banned. The reason the WPMU stuff was pulled was because these two requests were not addressed.

http://wpmu.org/wordpress-creator-re.../#comment-4110

Those two requests say nothing about stopping the selling of plugins or whatever James is doing. In fact, those two requests by Matt are pretty valid if you ask me. If James complies, the links will probably go back on the site, if not then it's his own damn fault. Until then, they still have Edublogs in the showcase - http://wordpress.org/showcase/edublogs/

[Otto]

If you really have a serious issue, explain to me why Mullenweg's actions in Wordpress.org don't conflict with his role at Autoamattic. Explain to me why Automattic gets free links from Wordpress.org while others get banned?

Automattic contributes a heck of a lot back to the WordPress project. All of their custom plugins and themes are being made available for free to anybody who wants them. Several very large projects they've undertaken have been released to the public under the GPL, and for free.

Name one entity that is "banned" (your word) and who behaves in a 100% ethical and aboveboard manner, adhering to the GPL and contributing their own work back to the world.

[markjaquith]

Convince me, I'm open to it. And I've joined your forum to ask for that VERY reason.

You have proven time and time again that you don't understand WordPress, don't understand the GPL, and don't understand Automattic's relationship to the WordPress project. You say you're open to correction, but I've found that my past corrections of your ill-informed posts on these topics have had no effect. You have a chip on your shoulder and you seem to ignore those who would seek to relieve you of it. Why should I risk wasting my time again?

[Ryan]

Welcome to the forum Mark :)

I'm surprised you guys bother responding to him at all.