Among the changes that Joost proposes is a “federated” WordPress repository, a way for multiple plugin and theme directories can curate reviews and addition which then update to the other directories, decentralizing the official WordPress theme and plugin repositories.
He expects to enter discussions with others sometime in the middle of January 2025 to come up with a plan for how to move forward.
Mullenweg Rejects Joost’s Proposals
Matt Mullenweg commented on Joost’s blog post, offering a passive-aggressive dismissal of everything he proposed. His comment was veiled in politeness while handing out indirect criticism and a recommendation that Joost should leave the WordPress community.
These parts of Mullenweg’s response suggest that Joost should start his own community outside of WordPress:
“I think this is a great idea for you to lead and do under a name other than WordPress… There’s really no way to accomplish everything you want without starting with a fresh slate…”
Here is Mullenweg’s full response:
“I think this is a great idea for you to lead and do under a name other than WordPress. There’s really no way to accomplish everything you want without starting with a fresh slate from a trademark, branding, and people point of view.”
The Internal Struggle Is Already Happening
If Mullenweg resists change, an internal struggle within the WordPress community seems inevitable. In fact, momentum for this has already begun; a group of WordPress contributors recently signed an open letter seeking governance reform.
The open letter was written by:
“Core committers and contributors
Make/WordPress team elders and contributors
Others serving in various community roles”
They wrote:
“We object to the status quo, and believe the WordPress project’s current internal operating structure threatens the health and sustainability of the project and its community.
We object to the continued opaqueness of the WordPress governance model.
We object to one person, Matt Mullenweg, controlling all official infrastructure, including the project’s website, email systems, support forums, core, plugin, and theme repositories, update systems, security tools, communication channels, and other technical assets.
We object to major decisions being made without community input, advice, or support.”
Change is coming. Joost’s proposal is a way to accomplish that change in a manner that protects the core principles and community of the WordPress open source project.