Mullenweg to Cloudflare: Keep WordPress Out of Your Mouth
14 hours ago
- #WordPress
- #Cloudflare
- #Tech Conflict
- Matt Mullenweg criticized Cloudflare's claim that EmDash is the spiritual successor to WordPress, highlighting WordPress's flexibility and mission to democratize publishing.
- Mullenweg used a compliment sandwich approach in his blog post: mixing praise for Cloudflare with criticism that EmDash promotes vendor lock-in and exists to sell Cloudflare services.
- He originally ended the post with a reference to Will Smith's Oscars slap, telling Cloudflare to 'keep the WordPress name out of your mouth,' but later edited it to tone down the language.
- Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince responded by acknowledging the critique while still mentioning WordPress, subtly defying Mullenweg's demand with understated irony.
- The exchange reflects broader tensions in the tech community over open-source principles, vendor lock-in, and competitive messaging in the CMS space.