Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg announced on Friday the shutdown of nearly all services on WordPress.org. WordPress.org, an open source project website that is home to software, plugins, and the WordPress community, has no idea when it will be relaunched.
IDC said the move significantly increases uncertainty for WordPress. "My sense is that under these circumstances, many enterprise WordPress administrators will think twice about continuing to use the software," said research manager Michele Rosen. "It's a real shame to watch leaders in the open source community repeatedly sabotage their own projects."
She added: "At this point, I am very concerned about the impact of Matt Mullenweg's words and actions on the overall image of open source software. Even if he believes that WPEngine acted unethically and the court's decision was wrong, his actions clearly have an impact on the WordPress ecosystem, including his own business. It seems to be self-destructive."
To put it into context, the WordPress.org shutdown only directly affects WordPress.org, while most businesses using Automattic WordPress are using WordPress.com (commercial hosting sites). But given the knock-on effects for all WordPress, it’s likely that enterprise users will be affected as well.
"WordPressCMS is GPL licensed, so it's always free. However, a lot of WP's value comes from themes and plugins," Rosen said. "My understanding is that in some cases the wordpress.org URL is hardcoded into WordPress, making it difficult or impossible to update themes and plugins if they haven't been added to the directory. It really depends on the configuration of the specific website."
Mullenweg's announcement didn't start out with any malicious intent, simply saying that the WordPress.org team would be taking some time off at the end of the year. But the situation becomes troubling when it comes to the possibility of reopening in 2025 at all.
"To give myself and WordPress.org's many tired volunteers a break over the holidays, we will be suspending some of the free services we currently offer. New account registrations on WordPress.org - To avoid confusion in the media, people can still install WordPress themselves and register accounts." The statement added that the suspended services will also include "new plugin directory submissions, new plugin reviews, new theme directory submissions, and new photo directory submissions. We will keep services such as localization and forums, as these services do not require as much moderation."
But after mentioning his legal dispute with WPEngine, Mullenweg said, "I hope to find the time, energy, and funds in the new year to reopen all of this. Right now, much of the time I would have spent improving WordPress is being spent fending off WPEngine's legal attacks."
Peter Zeitsev, founder of open source database software vendor Percona, said that if the shutdown lasts through 2025, "it will stifle WordPress development - no new user accounts, no new plugin releases, etc. It may also trigger the creation of a wordpress.org alternative hub, one that truly serves the interests of the [open source] community."
Zeitsev said if the shutdown continues, he fears there will be a significant impact on businesses. Many WordPress users don't actually interact with WordPress.org at all, but some commercial enterprise users also rely on WordPress.org functionality and they may be affected.
When asked how this move would help WordPress.org, Zeitsev suggested that it would most likely not help and could ultimately hurt them.
"Perhaps [Mullenweg] thought that the public/community would put pressure on WPEngine and the courts to side with him, but I think the opposite was true. Matt has been a great steward of the WordPress community for a long time and therefore did not think twice about the management and ownership of WordPress.org," Zeitsev said.
"Now that things have changed, business and community players in the WordPress space will consider how much authority Matt has personally, and whether they can trust him to operate the ecosystem in which they have invested heavily in a way that reflects their interests."
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