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WordPress.com Drops an oldie but goodie…

I originally wrote what you see below as a comment to a post on WPTavern. However, I decided to post it on my own blog as a post because I want my own readers and our community to have the chance to read it.  As a prelude to this post let me state we did benefit from the spat between Matt and Chris over the GPL issue.  In fact, Matt did send some new users our way and even paid for their license.

However, what has transpired even after Headway went GPL and Thesis did too, causes me and others and others to be very concerned with the future of the WordPress platform.

?The recent actions and actions and  comments and more comments, made by Matt and others associated with WordPress and Automattic should make everyone sit up and notice. And even more, it should cause the Community to wonder what the hell is going on.

In my own humble opinion, I question whether the best interest of the community is even coming into any decisions or discussions taking place right now by WordPress.

I also hope the writing is not on the wall when it comes to perhaps the ?chosen one? theme or framework. Is WordPress and another company attempting to take the position there is only one theme or framework out there for WordPress. Surely, the utopia which is being strived for is not one where competition and innovation is squashed in favor of ?the one chosen? theme or framework.

It would be fun to be part of those discussions which more likely than not, are taking place at some local Starbucks on some back street somewhere.

It is my hope and the hope of others this does not happen. The WordPress community will not be served by WordPress having a ?one chosen? theme or framework. Competition by its very nature breeds innovation. It is competition that causes Headway, Thesis, iThemes, Press75 and others to continue to build and innovate. And this is what benefits the community.

As Seth Godin stated recently,

Competition validates you. It creates a category. It permits the sale to be this or that, not yes or no. And this or that is a much easier sale to make. It also makes decisions about pricing easier, because you have someone to compare against and lean on.

The actions of WordPress and those in charge lately causes one to worry if the competitive market place will no longer be in existence at WordPress. It surely causes one to be concerned if the community as a whole will suffer because of it. I fear we may be seeing the idea of a utopia get in the way of the free market driven innovation that has benefited the WordPress community for so long.

I hope I am wrong and that I eat these words.

What would really be nice would be if all of this crap would stop.  And maybe then, those of us who only want to build the best possible solution for our own customers and community can get back to work and do just that.

 

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Published by: Grant Griffiths

Full post as published by Blawg for Profit on August 11, 2010 (boomark / email).