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Mullenweg: WP Engine Filed Legal Action Against WordPress
(www.searchenginejournal.com)
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this post was submitted on 23 Sep 2024
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Okay, so, FOSS.
If WordPress doesn't want WP Engine doing what it's doing, they need to change their license. It's not "Free Open Source Software Until Something We Don't Like Happens."
Apparently, it isn’t about FOSS. It’s about trademark infringement.
The software is free, but it looks like the trademark is not. So WordPress bans WP engine from some WordPress stuff b/c they aren’t technically WordPress. In other words, they’re free to use (and change) the software, but they can’t (or, rather, shouldn’t) use the name—according to WordPress. WP sues for usage anyway after they are barred from some event or something, but now WordPress is suing back, turning an unofficial dispute to a legal one.
Similarly to Nextcloud. If you host an instance and remove preinstalled apps, you are obliged to also remove the Nextcloud branding.