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How Will the Recent WordPress Drama Impact Open-Source Software?

In case you missed it, the #WordPressDrama is a giant hoohaa where it seems the founder of WordPress has gone off the deep end burning everything down around him. All that really has happened is the guy has had a series of tantrums and is now facing lawsuits resulting from his actions.

There are far better summaries of the WordPress drama by WPBeginner and The Verge if you want all the hot gossip. This behaviour has not been without consequences. This is why I invited CEOs, business founders, and other experts to help me answer how the drama with WordPress will impact open-source software.

These are the replies I received.

Decentralization Is the Future of Open Source

As CTO of a platform serving 100K+ users, the recent WordPress drama taught me a crucial lesson: decentralization is the future of open source. While maintaining our WordPress-based products, we’ve already shifted our new projects to a federation-based development model where no single entity has complete control.

Build governance protocols before they’re needed. We now require a 75% consensus from our core contributor community for major architectural changes, preventing the exact situation WordPress faced. The WordPress drama isn’t about updates or testing-it’s a wake-up call that open source needs democratic governance as much as it needs open code.

Jessica Shee, Tech Editor & Marketing Manager, M3datarecovery.com

Redefine Innovation and Community Cohesion

I think the #WordPressDrama will force open-source projects to redefine the intersection between innovation and community cohesion. As I’ve witnessed, incidents like these illustrate how easily trust gets damaged when contributors aren’t treated well. It will probably push open-source communities to formalize decision-making, such as contributor councils or weighted voting.

These frameworks guarantee that key decisions are made by the masses and not the few, which would help avoid conflict and strengthen feelings of ownership. This would, I believe, lead to a higher adoption rate for releases and enhancements because both developers and users feel more engaged in the direction of the project.

Most open-source projects are heavily based on volunteers and thus cannot scale as effectively. This drama, I believe, will drive more initiatives to do hybrid funding, with a mix of community and paid services or sponsorships. This would provide predictable resource usage for important releases without sacrificing the open-source community feel.

Anders Bill, Cofounder/CPO, Superfiliate

Balance Between Commercial and Open-Source Ethos

The #WordPressDrama highlights the ongoing tensions between commercial interests and the open-source ethos, which could fundamentally reshape the future of open-source software. As WordPress continues to evolve, the increasing corporate influence might push the platform toward more closed systems, challenging the community-driven ideals that initially made open-source software so successful. At Software House, we see this as an opportunity for developers and companies to innovate in a way that emphasizes transparency and collaboration, ensuring that the spirit of open-source remains intact despite external pressures.

However, this also presents a chance for the broader open-source community to reflect on its sustainability. If more proprietary elements are introduced into core platforms like WordPress, other open-source projects may need to adopt new business models to remain viable without compromising their values. As we look ahead, businesses and developers will need to be proactive in preserving open-source principles while adapting to the evolving landscape. The future of open-source could depend on finding a balance between innovation, community involvement, and financial sustainability.

Shehar Yar, CEO, Software House

Offer Diverse CMS Solutions

At Maplin.com, we’ve been closely watching the WordPress situation since many of our tech-savvy customers use it for their online stores and blogs. Just yesterday, I had a long chat with our development team about possibly offering more diverse CMS solutions in our business services package, especially seeing how this drama has made some of our clients nervous about relying too heavily on one platform. I think this whole situation will actually lead to more innovation in the open-source space, with smaller players getting more attention and potentially better funding.

Ollie Marshall, CEO, Maplin

Contribute More to Open-Source Communities

The saga is stirring up some big questions about the future of open-source software and how companies should contribute to the communities they benefit from. It’s basically about the tension between staying true to open-source values and dealing with the realities of businesses making money off those platforms without giving much back. This isn’t just a WordPress thing, it’s a wake-up call for how open-source projects are run and how they can stay sustainable.

It’s clear that companies using open-source tools need to do more than just take; they need to contribute in meaningful ways, whether that’s code, funding, or support. At the same time, these communities need better rules and systems to keep things fair and balanced. Honestly, it’s a tough but necessary conversation, and it might push the whole open-source world to step up and figure out how to handle these relationships better. If anything, it’s proof that the open-source ecosystem is evolving, and hopefully for the better.

Inge Von Aulock, Founder & COO, Penfriend

Over to you

I am extremely grateful for the time this post’s contributors took to give me answers. I think they offer a lot of hope that this is neither the end of WordPress nor of Open Source as a whole.

Now I would love to hear what you think. How will this drama shape the future of WordPress and Open Source projects?

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