Comment by flutas | Hacker News Reader

Comment by flutas | Hacker News Reader

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> WordPress.org isn't renting anything

and WP.org isn't being targeted at all by WP Engine.

> The analogy with AWS doesn't work because with WP money doesn't change hands. WP Engine or their users aren't paying for the services provided by WordPress.org and these are services that cost money for continued hosting.

First of all, the analogy is very good imo.

Amazon in this case is WP.com, Windows would be WP.org. They are supposed to be completely separate legal entities. Now on to your "point"

> users aren't paying for the services

Neither are people hosting it on WP.com (Automattic).

Automattic is supposed to be a completely separate legal entity. Is Automattic (again wp.COM, not ORG) paying wp.ORG for this access to the wp.ORG theme/plugin API in a way that can be verified? Is this a requirement for everyone hosting WP now? What are the API rate costs and where do you pay?

> There are many issues with how this was handled but this isn't one of them.

Yes, this is absolutely one of them. Is wp.ORG and wp.COM the same company or not. Because either way, it smells like a 501c3 getting stripped.

WP.org isn't independent obviously because it's being funded in large part by Automattic who pays the bills.

And this issue of independence is separate, don't move the discussion...

Why is WP.org obligated to provide free services to WP Engine and their users? Why the entitlement?

Why is WP.org entitled to selectively blacklist one downstream consumer and not others? Have they demonstrated that WPE is putting undue load on the infrastructure? Have they even alleged it until just now?

If wp.org is part of the foundation, then they have a legally binding mission, and "acting in Automattic's strategic interests" is not in there. If they're not, then a8c is intentionally obfuscating their ownership of wp.org, thus placing the credibility and legal status of the foundation in jeopardy.

> If wp.org is part of the foundation

It is not.

> a8c is intentionally obfuscating their ownership of wp.org

Automattic (my employer) does not own WordPress.org

There is no obligation on WordPress.org's part to provide free services to WP Engine. WP Engine uses trademarks in misleading ways while WordPress.org has a license from WPF to use the trademark.

So wordpress.org is owned entirely by Matt Mullenweg? The vast majority and default location of the whole plugin and theme distribution infrastructure is owned by one person? Perhaps you could point me to some page on wordpress.org that clarifies the ownership situation.

> Automattic (my employer) does not own WordPress.org

I really think your employer is lying to you about this. The Automattic CEO made an official WordPress.org announcement that the .org was taking action against WP Engine on September 25 in response to legal threats. WP Engine says - and neither Automattic nor WordPress.org have produced evidence to the contrary - that the only legal threat they've made was their public one to Automattic on September 23. This clearly implies to me that Mullenweg is operating WordPress.org as an extension of Automattic and its business interests, regardless of what official ownership records might say.

> Why is WP.org obligated to provide free services to WP Engine and their users? Why the entitlement?

Think about the questions I asked about this.

Why did I ask for API PRICING if I think anyone is entitled to it for free?

Stop trying to move the goalposts yourself. I never once said they were "obligated to provide free services" I asked where the pricing info is, since they clearly don't want to provide it for free..... or else they are being used to further a commercial entities fight...

Reading comprehension is easy to use.

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