5 ms·

"Unfortunately"??

gkoberger 23d ago
"Unfortunately", because Matt did a lot of good for the internet over the past two decades. WordCamp is (or was) really amazing, the community he built is really great, the Automattic Lounge was cool, he's donated millions of dollars to good causes, and WordPress powers a large portion of the Internet.
- solarkraft 23d ago
  Automattic also bought Tumblr and Pocket Casts, publishing the code of the latter. I used to have a subscription just to support them.
  - dofm 23d ago
    And Simplenote.
    - joelanman 23d ago
      Which is no longer in active development https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47195093 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47195093
      - dofm 23d ago
        That is sad but not surprising. I think they always had a bit more trouble with its sync system than they would have wanted. I loved Simplenote for the longest time but ultimately simple pragmatism switched me to Apple Notes after dalliances with several task management apps.
      - kjksf 23d ago
        They clearly changed their mind. That "no longer developed" note is from September 2025. They made a bunch of non-trivial improvements in 2026: https://simplenote.com/blog/ https://simplenote.com/blog/
        dofm 22d ago
        These appear to be a sort of AI-driven re-evaluation. I am a sort of engaged cynic about AI but I am happy to chalk this one up as a straightforward win for the machines. (I'm also quite intrigued about the other blog post regarding an MCP for Simplenote — I love the idea of an LLM's knowledge-base being accessible in such an instantaneous way)
  - technion 23d ago
    The purchase of Tumblr was basically Elon purchasing Twitter without the political gain. I'm amazed the purchase decision was ever made, and more amazed that it still exists after the hit to the user base.
    - piperswe 23d ago
      And unlike the Twitter acquisition, Tumblr users basically universally hate its new owner. Twitter has plenty of Elon boosters, but I've never seen someone on Tumblr actually _like_ photomatt.
  - burkaman 23d ago
    Wow I had no idea Pocket Casts was open source now. I still have a subscription because it's a perfect app I use every day.
- Gualdrapo 23d ago
  Huh. I still remember back in the Gutenberg launch era and all the drama around it (2018) the internet saying he was the devil for profiting from WP.
- antonvs 23d ago
  > WordPress powers a large portion of the Internet. Unfortunately.
solarkraft 23d ago
He still contributed a lot to the world during the good times.
Arnt 23d ago
He read the commit logs and understood much of what he read. That's deep understanding of the product. That alone puts him in the top few percent of CEOs. IMO.
gpm 23d ago
Yeah, it's unfortunate when anyone goes off the deep end.
- deleted 23d ago
  [deleted]
zrn900 22d ago
Unfortunately, Mullenweg, for all his faults, is a very good open source project leader. He carried WordPress to success, and he kept it at the top and as relevant for two decades, successfully navigating a lot of trials while also creating a community and spreading open source culture. During all of this, he protected the community and the interests of the project's users to the maximum extent. Again, for all his faults, he is a very good project leader. Not unlike Linus, who has the habit of going postal when any discussion about any change to the Linux kernel reaches the 'Linus in CAPS' stage of discussion. I dont see such stuff as bad things. But as side effects. I can live with those if the project is healthy enough. In any case, if he does anything new, there would be a lot of people who would support him for those reasons. Yeah, he needs to mature personally somewhat. And that's not really easy when you are entering midlife and your parents are getting old and whatnot. But everyone passes through those hurdles. And he will also pass through them.

"Unfortunately"??

"Unfortunately", because Matt did a lot of good for the internet over the past two decades. WordCamp is (or was) really amazing, the community he built is really great, the Automattic Lounge was cool, he's donated millions of dollars to good causes, and WordPress powers a large portion of the Internet.

solarkraft 23d ago
Automattic also bought Tumblr and Pocket Casts, publishing the code of the latter. I used to have a subscription just to support them.
- dofm 23d ago
  And Simplenote.
  - joelanman 23d ago
    Which is no longer in active development https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47195093 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47195093
    - dofm 23d ago
      That is sad but not surprising. I think they always had a bit more trouble with its sync system than they would have wanted. I loved Simplenote for the longest time but ultimately simple pragmatism switched me to Apple Notes after dalliances with several task management apps.
    - kjksf 23d ago
      They clearly changed their mind. That "no longer developed" note is from September 2025. They made a bunch of non-trivial improvements in 2026: https://simplenote.com/blog/ https://simplenote.com/blog/
      - dofm 22d ago
        These appear to be a sort of AI-driven re-evaluation. I am a sort of engaged cynic about AI but I am happy to chalk this one up as a straightforward win for the machines. (I'm also quite intrigued about the other blog post regarding an MCP for Simplenote — I love the idea of an LLM's knowledge-base being accessible in such an instantaneous way)
- technion 23d ago
  The purchase of Tumblr was basically Elon purchasing Twitter without the political gain. I'm amazed the purchase decision was ever made, and more amazed that it still exists after the hit to the user base.
  - piperswe 23d ago
    And unlike the Twitter acquisition, Tumblr users basically universally hate its new owner. Twitter has plenty of Elon boosters, but I've never seen someone on Tumblr actually _like_ photomatt.
- burkaman 23d ago
  Wow I had no idea Pocket Casts was open source now. I still have a subscription because it's a perfect app I use every day.
Gualdrapo 23d ago
Huh. I still remember back in the Gutenberg launch era and all the drama around it (2018) the internet saying he was the devil for profiting from WP.
antonvs 23d ago
> WordPress powers a large portion of the Internet. Unfortunately.

solarkraft 23d ago

He still contributed a lot to the world during the good times.

Arnt 23d ago

He read the commit logs and understood much of what he read. That's deep understanding of the product. That alone puts him in the top few percent of CEOs. IMO.

gpm 23d ago

Yeah, it's unfortunate when anyone goes off the deep end.

deleted 23d ago
[deleted]

zrn900 22d ago

Unfortunately, Mullenweg, for all his faults, is a very good open source project leader. He carried WordPress to success, and he kept it at the top and as relevant for two decades, successfully navigating a lot of trials while also creating a community and spreading open source culture. During all of this, he protected the community and the interests of the project's users to the maximum extent. Again, for all his faults, he is a very good project leader. Not unlike Linus, who has the habit of going postal when any discussion about any change to the Linux kernel reaches the 'Linus in CAPS' stage of discussion. I dont see such stuff as bad things. But as side effects. I can live with those if the project is healthy enough. In any case, if he does anything new, there would be a lot of people who would support him for those reasons. Yeah, he needs to mature personally somewhat. And that's not really easy when you are entering midlife and your parents are getting old and whatnot. But everyone passes through those hurdles. And he will also pass through them.