Matt Malleneve, the scandalously known co -founder of WordPress and the general director of Automattic, recently caused bewilderment among the WordPress community, adding a mandatory flag when entering a system where users should confirm that pineapple on pizza is tasty.
The change was noticed late in the evening on Sunday, December 15, and remains relevant until now. When trying to enter or create a new account without a mark, the system gives an error.
Mallenweg’s decision was the result of a trial between WP Engine and Automattic. Earlier, the court ordered another disputed flag, which required confirmation that the user is not related to WP Engine. After that, Mallenweg expressed disappointment, saying that he no longer wanted to work on the project.
“I feel sick that I am forced to work for free on the organization, which I consider parasitic,” Mallenweg wrote in the Slack community of Post Status before deleting the account. He later repeated this statement in X (former Twitter), noting that he had fulfilled the requirements of the court, but remained extremely dissatisfied with the decision.
The WordPress community has met a criticism. Francesca Marano, a project participant with ten years of experience, said that such jokes are unacceptable for the largest CMS platform in the world. “This is not the time and no place for children’s games,” she emphasized.
Marano noted that the changes were visible in the WordPress updates system, and the flag was added in a matter of hours. In her opinion, this raises questions about the priorities and security of the project, and also jeopardizes users who cannot access their profiles.
Many developers and plug -in authors expressed concerns about the transparency of WordPress management and the lack of liability from the leadership. The open letter of the group of participants in the platform indicated “double standards” and lack of consistency in decision -making.
Despite the situation, Automattic’s leadership assured users in WordPress stability. The company’s statement says that the level of service will remain the same and the business processes will not be violated.
It is funny, as one at first glance, a slight flag is able to cause a storm in the community of developers and users. It would seem a trifle – however, she raised much deeper questions: transparency of management, project priorities and attitude to the community.
A sharp criticism, at first glance exaggerated, in fact reflects the accumulated discontent and anxiety for the future of the largest Open-Source platform. Thus, we can safely say that the essence is not in the little things, but in the cracks that they expose.