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tinystepsforward · 2 months ago

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autocrattic (more matt shenanigans, not tumblr this time)

I am almost definitely not the right person for this writeup, but I'm closer than most people on here, so here goes! This is all open-source tech drama, and I take my time laying out the context, but the short version is: Matt tried to extort another company, who immediately posted receipts, and now he's refusing to log off again. The long version is... long.

If you don't need software context, scroll down/find the "ok tony that's enough. tell me what's actually happening" heading, or just go read the pink sections. Or look at this PDF.

the background

So. Matt's original Good Idea was starting WordPress with fellow developer Mike Little in 2003, which is free and open-source software (FOSS) that was originally just for blogging, but now powers lots of websites that do other things. In particular, Automattic acquired WooCommerce a long time ago, which is free online store software you can run on WordPress.

FOSS is... interesting. It's a world that ultimately is powered by people who believe deeply that information and resources should be free, but often have massive blind spots (for example, Wikipedia's consistently had issues with bias, since no amount of "anyone can edit" will overcome systemic bias in terms of who has time to edit or is not going to be driven away by the existing contributor culture). As with anything else that people spend thousands of hours doing online, there's drama. As with anything else that's technically free but can be monetized, there are:

Heaps of companies and solo developers who profit off WordPress themes, plugins, hosting, and other services;

Conflicts between volunteer contributors and for-profit contributors;

Annoying founders who get way too much credit for everything the project has become.

the WordPress ecosystem

A project as heavily used as WordPress (some double-digit percentage of the Internet uses WP. I refuse to believe it's the 43% that Matt claims it is, but it's a pretty large chunk) can't survive just on the spare hours of volunteers, especially in an increasingly monetised world where its users demand functional software, are less and less tech or FOSS literate, and its contributors have no fucking time to build things for that userbase.

Matt runs Automattic, which is a privately-traded, for-profit company. The free software is run by the WordPress Foundation, which is technically completely separate (wordpress.org). The main products Automattic offers are WordPress-related: WordPress.com, a host which was designed to be beginner-friendly; Jetpack, a suite of plugins which extend WordPress in a whole bunch of ways that may or may not make sense as one big product; WooCommerce, which I've already mentioned. There's also WordPress VIP, which is the fancy bespoke five-digit-plus option for enterprise customers. And there's Tumblr, if Matt ever succeeds in putting it on WordPress. (Every Tumblr or WordPress dev I know thinks that's fucking ridiculous and impossible. Automattic's hiring for it anyway.)

Automattic devotes a chunk of its employees toward developing Core, which is what people in the WordPress space call WordPress.org, the free software. This is part of an initiative called Five for the Future — 5% of your company's profits off WordPress should go back into making the project better. Many other companies don't do this.

There are lots of other companies in the space. GoDaddy, for example, barely gives back in any way (and also sucks). WP Engine is the company this drama is about. They don't really contribute to Core. They offer relatively expensive WordPress hosting, as well as providing a series of other WordPress-related products like LocalWP (local site development software), Advanced Custom Fields (the easiest way to set up advanced taxonomies and other fields when making new types of posts. If you don't know what this means don't worry about it), etc.

Anyway. Lots of strong personalities. Lots of for-profit companies. Lots of them getting invested in, or bought by, private equity firms.

Matt being Matt, tech being tech

As was said repeatedly when Matt was flipping out about Tumblr, all of the stuff happening at Automattic is pretty normal tech company behaviour. Shit gets worse. People get less for their money. WordPress.com used to be a really good place for people starting out with a website who didn't need "real" WordPress — for $48 a year on the Personal plan, you had really limited features (no plugins or other customisable extensions), but you had a simple website with good SEO that was pretty secure, relatively easy to use, and 24-hour access to Happiness Engineers (HEs for short. Bad job title. This was my job) who could walk you through everything no matter how bad at tech you were. Then Personal plan users got moved from chat to emails only. Emails started being responded to by contractors who didn't know as much as HEs did and certainly didn't get paid half as well. Then came AI, and the mandate for HEs to try to upsell everyone things they didn't necessarily need. (This is the point at which I quit.)

But as was said then as well, most tech CEOs don't publicly get into this kind of shitfight with their users. They're horrid tyrants, but they don't do it this publicly.

ok tony that's enough. tell me what's actually happening

WordCamp US, one of the biggest WordPress industry events of the year, is the backdrop for all this. It just finished.

There are.... a lot of posts by Matt across multiple platforms because, as always, he can't log off. But here's the broad strokes.

Sep 17

Matt publishes a wanky blog post about companies that profit off open source without giving back. It targets a specific company, WP Engine.

Compare the Five For the Future pages from Automattic and WP Engine, two companies that are roughly the same size with revenue in the ballpark of half a billion. These pledges are just a proxy and aren’t perfectly accurate, but as I write this, Automattic has 3,786 hours per week (not even counting me!), and WP Engine has 47 hours. WP Engine has good people, some of whom are listed on that page, but the company is controlled by Silver Lake, a private equity firm with $102 billion in assets under management. Silver Lake doesn’t give a dang about your Open Source ideals. It just wants a return on capital. So it’s at this point that I ask everyone in the WordPress community to vote with your wallet. Who are you giving your money to? Someone who’s going to nourish the ecosystem, or someone who’s going to frack every bit of value out of it until it withers?

(It's worth noting here that Automattic is funded in part by BlackRock, who Wikipedia calls "the world's largest asset manager".)

Sep 20 (WCUS final day)

WP Engine puts out a blog post detailing their contributions to WordPress.

Matt devotes his keynote/closing speech to slamming WP Engine.

He also implies people inside WP Engine are sending him information.

For the people sending me stuff from inside companies, please do not do it on your work device. Use a personal phone, Signal with disappearing messages, etc. I have a bunch of journalists happy to connect you with as well. #wcus — Twitter I know private equity and investors can be brutal (read the book Barbarians at the Gate). Please let me know if any employee faces firing or retaliation for speaking up about their company's participation (or lack thereof) in WordPress. We'll make sure it's a big public deal and that you get support. — Tumblr

Matt also puts out an offer live at WordCamp US:

“If anyone of you gets in trouble for speaking up in favor of WordPress and/or open source, reach out to me. I’ll do my best to help you find a new job.” — source tweet, RTed by Matt

He also puts up a poll asking the community if WP Engine should be allowed back at WordCamps.

Sep 21

Matt writes a blog post on the WordPress.org blog (the official project blog!): WP Engine is not WordPress.

He opens this blog post by claiming his mom was confused and thought WP Engine was official.

The blog post goes on about how WP Engine disabled post revisions (which is a pretty normal thing to do when you need to free up some resources), therefore being not "real" WordPress. (As I said earlier, WordPress.com disables most features for Personal and Premium plans. Or whatever those plans are called, they've been renamed like 12 times in the last few years. But that's a different complaint.)

Sep 22: More bullshit on Twitter. Matt makes a Reddit post on r/Wordpress about WP Engine that promptly gets deleted. Writeups start to come out:

Search Engine Journal: WordPress Co-Founder Mullenweg Sparks Backlash

TechCrunch: Matt Mullenweg calls WP Engine a ‘cancer to WordPress’ and urges community to switch providers

Sep 23 onward

Okay, time zones mean I can't effectively sequence the rest of this.

Matt defends himself on Reddit, casually mentioning that WP Engine is now suing him.

Also here's a decent writeup from someone involved with the community that may be of interest.

WP Engine drops the full PDF of their cease and desist, which includes screenshots of Matt apparently threatening them via text.

Twitter link | Direct PDF link

This PDF includes some truly fucked texts where Matt appears to be trying to get WP Engine to pay him money unless they want him to tell his audience at WCUS that they're evil.

Matt, after saying he's been sued and can't talk about it, hosts a Twitter Space and talks about it for a couple hours.

He also continues to post on Reddit, Twitter, and on the Core contributor Slack.

Here's a comment where he says WP Engine could have avoided this by paying Automattic 8% of their revenue.

Another, 20 hours ago, where he says he's being downvoted by "trolls, probably WPE employees"

At some point, Matt updates the WordPress Foundation trademark policy. I am 90% sure this was him — it's not legalese and makes no fucking sense to single out WP Engine.

Old text: The abbreviation “WP” is not covered by the WordPress trademarks and you are free to use it in any way you see fit. New text: The abbreviation “WP” is not covered by the WordPress trademarks, but please don’t use it in a way that confuses people. For example, many people think WP Engine is “WordPress Engine” and officially associated with WordPress, which it’s not. They have never once even donated to the WordPress Foundation, despite making billions of revenue on top of WordPress.

Sep 25: Automattic puts up their own legal response.

anyway this fucking sucks

This is bigger than anything Matt's done before. I'm so worried about my friends who're still there. The internal ramifications have... been not great so far, including that Matt's naturally being extra gung-ho about "you're either for me or against me and if you're against me then don't bother working your two weeks".

Despite everything, I like WordPress. (If you dig into this, you'll see plenty of people commenting about blocks or Gutenberg or React other things they hate. Unlike many of the old FOSSheads, I actually also think Gutenberg/the block editor was a good idea, even if it was poorly implemented.)

I think that the original mission — to make it so anyone can spin up a website that's easy enough to use and blog with — is a good thing. I think, despite all the ways being part of FOSS communities since my early teens has led to all kinds of racist, homophobic and sexual harm for me and for many other people, that free and open-source software is important.

So many people were already burning out of the project. Matt has been doing this for so long that those with long memories can recite all the ways he's wrecked shit back a decade or more. Most of us are exhausted and need to make money to live. The world is worse than it ever was.

Social media sucks worse and worse, and this was a world in which people missed old webrings, old blogs, RSS readers, the world where you curated your own whimsical, unpaid corner of the Internet. I started actually actively using my own WordPress blog this year, and I've really enjoyed it.

And people don't want to deal with any of this.

The thing is, Matt's right about one thing: capital is ruining free open-source software. What he's wrong about is everything else: the idea that WordPress.com isn't enshittifying (or confusing) at a much higher rate than WP Engine, the idea that WP Engine or Silver Lake are the only big players in the field, the notion that he's part of the solution and not part of the problem.

But he's started a battle where there are no winners but the lawyers who get paid to duke it out, and all the volunteers who've survived this long in an ecosystem increasingly dominated by big money are giving up and leaving.

Anyway if you got this far, consider donating to someone on gazafunds.com. It'll take much less time than reading this did.

#tony muses #tumblr meta #again just bc that's my tag for all this #automattic #wordpress #this is probably really incoherent i apologise lmao #i may edit it

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hostinginfoh · 2 years ago

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What is Hosting and Types of Hosting?

youtube

Web hosting refers to the practice of hosting a website on the internet by renting or purchasing space on a server. This space is used to store the website’s content, including HTML files, CSS files, and images. Web hosting allows a website to be accessed by users via the internet, regardless of the physical location of the server or the website owner.

To read the full Article click the link below:

#hosting #domain #godaddy #server #hostinginfoh #website #blogger #blog #wordpress #webdev #Youtube

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stjohnstarling · 6 months ago

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do you have any basic pointers for writers who might want to try out doing a serialised story online but have no idea where to start?

I'm hesitant to give too much general advice because every situation is specific - what you should do depends on what you're writing, your goals with your book, and where you're at with regards to community, connections, and followers. There isn't a lot of one-size-fits-all advice I can give that isn't me making up scenarios and speculating about them. That being said I can point you towards a couple platforms.

I serialize my novels via a newsletter hosted on Substack, though I have VERY mixed feelings about Substack as a platform. I am a fan of newsletters in general though. They have some significant benefits - for instance you can download and keep your subscriber list, so you don't have the problem of being trapped on any individual platform. They're free below certain subscriber thresholds, however most services do cost money once you get a large enough audience, they can be a bit involved to set up, and you have to do the heavy lifting of getting people to subscribe. Off the top of my head, newsletter hosts include: Beehiiv, Buttondown, Ghost, Substack, Mailchimp, GoDaddy, and ConvertKit, but there’s loads more out there.

I am aware of Wattpad, Ream, RoyalRoad, and Radish as serial platforms but have not explored them and cannot speak to how they work. Some of those cater to specific kinds of books. Wattpad is the biggest and most general one.

If you consider your book broadly "fannish" you can serialize it on AO3 (it's a grey area, I would read that page before deciding.)

You can also always host it on your own website and link to there from whatever social media you use. I'm less familiar with web hosts though. (Neocities is popular but you'd have to want to play with HTML. If you don't want to do that, maybe Wordpress?)

I hear a lot of people talking about feeling abandoned and ignored when making the jump from fanfiction to original writing. So, breaking my own rule immediately, (you can see I'm making an assumption here based on this being Tumblr) one piece of advice I'll give is that if you're starting from scratch BUT you're in a fandom, writing something original that still appeals to other fans is a good way of bridging the gap between fanfiction and original writing - e.g. if you're into OFMD and you write an original novel about gay pirates, you're a Good Omens fan and you write a novel about angels and demons, etc.

Oops that ended up super long. Followers let me know if there are any platforms I missed!

#original post #asks

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ineffablefool · 7 months ago

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Anyone out there have their own website and want to rec their host?

I'm looking for domain registration and managed hosting for a domain or three, good connection speed and bandwidth caps and such but no need for the leading edge. Preferably includes managed SSL (might as well join the 2020s I guess), database services (relational preferred but not required), and some kind of control panel interface (please don't make me relearn the command line), all preferably in the same package. Honestly everything should ideally be managed/hidden behind slick interfaces, so I can just click some buttons to upload my own content and then let everything else be taken care of by the professionals.

Don't care if it's Linux or Windows but it 100% must allow server-side scripting so I can toss up like a springboot site or something. (Nothing WordPress-only; I do not currently feel like learning that ecosystem.)

Very important that the domain registration piece be through a company where you can actually get your domain back from them relatively easily if you decide to move to somewhere else. I've heard horror stories.

Does not need to be free -- I actually specifically would like to pay professionals to do all the boring stuff for me -- but I'm hoping to stay under a couple hundred USD per year.

I am aware that GoDaddy exists, is very common, and will do the whole shebang, but I don't know if it's actually a good experience for a fairly technical but very lazy person. And I mean, I could google to see what else is out there these days, but [points at last three words of previous sentence], so! A post hurled into the Tumblr void it is. Hopefully it will not immediately land in one of the many dumpster infernos.

If you read any part of this post (even just this one sentence) then I hope your tomorrow will be unexpectedly wonderful.

#ineffablefool original post #not good omens

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direct-actions · 1 year ago

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Liberate the Internet -- Levels of Control

I've been thinking a lot about the way the internet has shrunk to just a few major platforms that can boost or silence us at a moment's notice.

I wanted to make a post talking about different types of platforms and the ways that they control what we see or say.

(disclaimer: I'm not an expert on this and am trying to start a conversation, so if you have more information or corrections please reblog and add / put in the comments / message me)

I'm not saying everyone needs to become experts on self-hosting (I don't know too much about it myself). There are options for people at all levels. So let's take a look.

Algorithms and Rules

This is your TikToks and your Facebooks. Here, all it takes is the algorithm being tweaked to suppress keywords or accounts and suddenly your content isn't being seen.

The pros here of course is that when you're not actively being suppressed, you have a much higher chance at reaching new people vs other options.

Moderated Spaces

Today, these platforms are generally separated into individual communities (think, MightyNetworks/Circle, Discord, forums, etc.). Reach is limited and niche, and content moderation is generally done by human beings instead of algorithms (with some exceptions).

The pros in these spaces are that you have stronger connections to people who will see your content, but your reach is narrower. As a community you get to decide what happens inside your group, but with the platform itself still in control, they could easily shut down an entire community if they wanted to.

Website Builders / Hosting

This is your Wordpress blogs, Blogger, and even Neocities, etc. Here, the website is mostly yours. You get to decide what's on it. Your content isn't being directly moderated or censored. But you're still part of a larger platform that helps connect / promote your site to others.

Pros here are of course you have MUCH more leeway in what you can post / share. Cons are that there is a lot less chance compared to some others for your website content to reach people. Also, your blog / site can in theory be disabled by the host platform if they decided to.

There's also using something like GoDaddy or IONOS or some other website hosting thing. There's a lot of variety and crossover in this area but basically the website belongs to you more than say a Wordpress Blog would. In theory the web host could decide to drop you but I think that's pretty rare.

Self-Hosting

This is now territory I'm not very familiar with but you could in theory fully host your own stuff making it harder for anyone to shut you down. There's even creating your own internet networks but that's way beyond me. (Really cool tho, I'd love to learn.)

Email Lists

This one is very different but I think really important. Email lists / mailing lists are not just for businesses wanting to promote their latest sale or latest online course. This is one of the most DIRECT ways you can have access to your followers if they're interested in what you have to say. No matter what happens to any platform, if you have their emails you will likely retain the ability to contact them (unless email is somehow destroyed but at that point I think we'll be having very different conversations)

(This could even be physical addresses or an old-school mailing list)

---

I bring this up because I'm really interested in moving toward a more autonomous and networked internet, and I think it's going to be necessary in the years to come.

Look up digital gardens for an example.

And if you're hoping to create / share anything online, consider diversifying the kinds of platforms you use, and pushing followers to places where you have more control over what you can share, and getting their emails.

#leftist #global liberation #total liberation #revolution #internet #censorship #liberate the internet

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loosiusgoosius · 8 months ago

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If I disappear from society, don't be surprised.

I am so so so tired of capitalism.

For Christmas I got a Raspberry Pi. The goal was to host my own website off it. This was entirely for fun.

Step one: set up raspberry Pi so I can host a site on it. Easy. Ubuntu is free (thank fuck), I know how to set it up, but hold on! According to xfinity, I cannot change dmz or dms rules on their router. I can't even REQUEST it. I can't even use a workaround because I'm not allowed to edit the port forward that was automatically added to my router. I dig through years old forums and find out that this is because I'm using the modem provided by xfinity. I now have to buy a new modem from xfinity's "approved list".

Step two: get a domain. I swim through 4 million outrageous prices that say shit like "pay $0.01 for the first year!" with the text below saying "with purchase of 3 year agreement". I finally get to godaddy and am able to convince the stupid checkout to give me 1 year of my domain (after, of course, it corrected my awful mistake to 3 years and, if I hadn't been hyper-vigilant, I wouldn't have noticed. I have to dig through 5 pages in settings to find a way to turn off auto pay because I know better by now. While I'm there I also turn off all email notifications, which were all automatically on. It also didn't tell me that I can't transfer my domain outside of godaddy for 60 days, so I just essentially paid for something I can't use for 2 months. Great. (out of curiosity, I dug through godaddy for some time. The 60 day thing appears nowhere except on the help center page when specifically searching for it.)

Step three: create a site. WordPress, once my most beloved website creation software, now slams subscription fees on me like cardi B audios on teenager girls's tiktoks. Unrelenting. Bloodthirsty. I power through to just get past "let AI design your site!" and "pick one of our patterns" so I can reach the point where I can edit the template. I already have a free template zip file. I drop it in the box. "wait!" says WordPress, in a screen-covering popup "upgrade to the creator plan to access the theme install features!" I click the only button on the screen. It takes me IMMEDIATELY to a filled out checkout page. WordPress Creator is $300 per year. Per. Year.

I read through the "features included with your purchase" to see things like "sftp/SSH certificates", "github deployments", "free staging site", and "install plugins and themes". All of these were free 5 years ago. "Save 20% by paying for two years!" No, I don't think I will.

Out of pure spite against the demon that is modern capitalism, I'm teaching myself html and css. I would kiss the creator of w3schools on the mouth, right after I kiss the creator of Ubuntu. I'm so angry. The internet is useless now.

#enshittification #honks from the goose #Death of the internet #computer programming

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alessiatummino · 9 months ago

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How to start blogging topic:- how to cancel

Starting a blog is a rewarding endeavor that allows you to express yourself, share your expertise, and potentially even earn income. Whether you're passionate about a specific topic, want to document your journey, or simply love writing, blogging offers a platform to connect with like-minded individuals and make an impact. Here's a comprehensive guide on how to start blogging:

1. Define Your Purpose: Before diving into the world of blogging, take some time to clarify your purpose. Ask yourself why you want to start a blog and what you hope to achieve with it. Are you looking to share your knowledge, inspire others, or build a personal brand? Understanding your motivation will help guide your blogging journey.

2. Choose Your Niche: Selecting a niche is crucial for attracting a targeted audience. Consider your interests, expertise, and the needs of your potential readers. Focus on a specific topic or niche that you're passionate about and have knowledge in. This could be anything from travel and food to fitness and personal finance.

3. Pick a Blogging Platform: There are several blogging platforms to choose from, each with its own set of features and benefits. Some popular options include WordPress, Blogger, Medium, and Wix. WordPress.org is highly recommended for its flexibility, customization options, and scalability.

4. Secure a Domain Name: Your domain name is your blog's unique address on the internet. Choose a domain name that reflects your brand, is easy to remember, and aligns with your niche. You can purchase a domain name through domain registrars like GoDaddy, Namecheap, or Bluehost.

5. Set Up Web Hosting: If you choose a self-hosted platform like WordPress.org, you'll need to find a reliable web hosting provider. Look for hosting companies that offer good performance, uptime, security, and customer support. Some popular options include Bluehost, SiteGround, and HostGator.

6. Design Your Blog: Select a visually appealing theme or template for your blog. Choose a design that reflects your brand personality and is easy to navigate. Customize the layout, colors, fonts, and other elements to create a unique look and feel for your blog.

7. Create Compelling Content: Content is the heart of any successful blog. Start by brainstorming topics that resonate with your target audience. Write high-quality, engaging, and informative posts that provide value to your readers. Incorporate multimedia elements like images, videos, and infographics to make your content more engaging.

8. Develop a Content Strategy: Plan your content strategy by creating an editorial calendar. Decide on the frequency of your posts, types of content you'll create, and topics you'll cover. Consistency is key to building an audience and keeping them engaged.

9. Optimize for SEO: Search engine optimization (SEO) is essential for improving your blog's visibility in search engine results. Conduct keyword research to identify relevant keywords and phrases related to your niche. Optimize your blog posts for SEO by including keywords in your titles, headings, meta descriptions, and content.

10. Promote Your Blog: Once you've published your blog posts, it's time to promote them to your target audience. Share your posts on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Engage with your audience, participate in online communities, and collaborate with other bloggers to expand your reach.

11. Build an Email List: Start building an email list from the get-go. Offer a lead magnet or incentive in exchange for visitors' email addresses. Use email marketing tools like Mailchimp or ConvertKit to create and send newsletters, updates, and promotions to your subscribers.

12. Monetize Your Blog: There are various ways to monetize your blog and generate income. These include affiliate marketing, sponsored content, selling digital products or services, offering online courses or coaching, and displaying ads through ad networks like Google AdSense.

13. Analyze and Iterate: Track your blog's performance using analytics tools like Google Analytics. Monitor key metrics such as traffic, engagement, conversion rates, and revenue. Use this data to analyze what's working and what's not, and make adjustments to your strategy accordingly.

14. Stay Consistent and Patient: Building a successful blog takes time, effort, and patience. Stay consistent with your posting schedule, keep learning and experimenting, and don't get discouraged by slow progress. With dedication and perseverance, you can achieve your blogging goals and create a thriving online presence.

Conclusion: Starting a blog is an exciting journey that offers endless opportunities for creativity, connection, and growth. By following these steps and staying true to your passion and purpose, you can build a successful blog that resonates with your audience and makes a meaningful impact in the digital world.

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#blog #cancelled

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