understand.dev

Now dedicated to ongoing coverage of the WordPress leadership crises.

[understand.dev @UnderstandDev]

@DuaneStorey @jessuppi Exactly. He once said “if you’ve donated just $1 to the WPF, you’ve donated more than WPEngine…” (paraphrase).

He uses it for virtue signalling* when it suits him. Otherwise the WPF is just ignored.

*I generally hate this expression but in this case it kinda fits.

[understand.dev @UnderstandDev]

You told us the foundation exists so WP would live on “in perpetuity” no matter what happened to you/A8C.

There’s been 15 years of donations to ensure WP survives stuff like this.

Redirecting donations to IA (etc) then implying the project is in financial peril is problematic.

[Matt Mullenweg @photomatt]

@SpencerForman @jeremyknauff What do you think happens if they win all of these cases, with full damages? I'm curious the end-game is of people who seem gleeful at the legal attacks.

[understand.dev @UnderstandDev]

@DuaneStorey @NiloVelez @sereedmedia Good point about the contributors and CA law.

Hilariously, the 2023 IRS filings for the WPF list the rough number of volunteers for the organization as 250(!)

Houston we have a problem.

[understand.dev @UnderstandDev]

@DuaneStorey @NiloVelez @sereedmedia But charities can't be solely devoted to serving an open source project as there are massive commercial benefits for most involved. Nor can charities simply be a holding entity for TM's.

So Matt tried to hack the system to get what he greedily wanted.

And here we are.

[understand.dev @UnderstandDev]

@DuaneStorey @NiloVelez @sereedmedia I feel like it was "accidental" in the sense that Matt just wanted the halo effect of a foundation to satisfy his ego and boost his public image. He also wanted to protect the TM's for his own benefit in case A8C went bad (he didn't have majority voting shares at the time).
1/

[Ars Technica @arstechnica]

Automattic shirked duty to keep WordPress free for everyone, lawsuit says https://t.co/dtMjssAxFj

[understand.dev @UnderstandDev]

@NiloVelez @sereedmedia There is a very tangled web here and I believe (but can't prove) this is why Matt is truly scared. You don't mess with the IRS.
Disclaimer: I'm not a tax or legal expert so I'm wide open to being corrected about any of the above.
/end

[understand.dev @UnderstandDev]

@NiloVelez @sereedmedia because https://t.co/fxlb2ieCkQ is not a charitable entity. Hence the need to distribute money elsewhere.

AKAIK, the WPF is not doing anything to directly support the WordPress project *software* despite what the site promises it's donors (see previous screenshot).
3/

[understand.dev @UnderstandDev]

@jessuppi Internet Archive.

Which is a worthy cause IMHO but that’s not what the donations were for.

[understand.dev @UnderstandDev]

@sereedmedia In conclusion, if MM/A8C are facing ruin, the WPF is going to need every penny. MM shouldn’t be giving it away.

(I realize all this is based on the assumption that the WPF was actually designed to do what we were told it was designed to do, and that seems increasingly unlikely)

[understand.dev @UnderstandDev]

@sereedmedia $100k of foundation money to Internet Archive (a worthy cause but that’s not the point).

This makes the community more likely to be hurt if MM/A8C are hurt. Which is what Matt was alluding to. Aka “If we go down the community goes down”

2/

[Michael Preslar @Mike_Preslar]

After @sneakytits85 posted this, I read the entire thing. Its long but a great summary read! Provided by both @wpengine and @photomatt : Descriptions of the lawsuit, time lines, claims, etc .. Here's are some of my key takeaways: (Note: IANAL, and sorry for length of post)

[understand.dev @UnderstandDev]

@photomatt @jkirker @bgardner How do you know how many users Bricks has?

[understand.dev @UnderstandDev]

@sneakytits85 @DuaneStorey Great find once again.

[Mr Niche @TheNicheWhisper]

@post_status @WordPress @michelleames @post_status Was there a reason why you didn't ask any of the questions the community wanted to know?

[understand.dev @UnderstandDev]

@dswebsme @thekevingeary @photomatt @edcatmull Haha, Burr nailed it.