THE MESSY WORDPRESS DRAMA, EXPLAINED

Summary from the TLDR newsletter

WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg last week came out with a harsh attack on major WordPress hosting provider WP Engine, calling the company a 'cancer' to the community. This has escalated into a barrage of legal threats that has caught many website operators in a conflict beyond their control. WP Engine customers were off from accessing WordPress.org's servers, but the company has been granted a temporary reprieve. WP Engine claims that Automattic demanded a very large sum of money days before Mullenweg's attack and threatened to carry out a 'scorched earth nuclear approach' toward WP Engine if the amount wasn't received. Many more details about the situation are available in the article.