Open-Source Software is in Crisis

Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress, has accused WP Engine of violating WordPress trademarks, and the two are now in a legal battle. Mullenweg says WP Engine should pay a direct licensing fee or make in-kind contributions to the open-source project, since it profits from WordPress without contributing enough. WP Engine responded by suing Mullenweg and Automattic, the company behind WordPress. The article frames the dispute within a broader "maker-taker problem," in which creators of open-source software bear costs while others profit, and it cites Chad Whitacre of Sentry as a leader of the Open Source Pledge, which asks companies to pay at least US $2,000 per full-time developer to maintainers.