Community Value Beats Monetization

Matt Mullenweg shares his perspective on open source versus proprietary software, emphasizing the long-term value and moral importance of open source development, particularly through his experience with WordPress and WooCommerce.

Key Points:

• Open Source Philosophy:

  • Believes creative output should increase freedom and liberty in the world
  • Software comes with fundamental rights (4 freedoms of GPL):
    • Freedom to use for any purpose
    • Freedom to see how it works
    • Freedom to modify
    • Freedom to redistribute modifications

• Long-Term vs Short-Term Trade-offs:

  • Proprietary models (like Shopify) easier to monetize initially
  • Open source has "slow burn" but builds "compounding momentum"
  • WordPress ecosystem generates 20x more value than the company itself
    • Automattic captures about 5% of the WordPress ecosystem value
    • Total ecosystem estimated at $10 billion yearly revenue

• Market Impact:

  • WordPress now powers 40% of websites
  • Forces proprietary competitors to be more open
  • Creates platform effects similar to Microsoft Windows
  • WooCommerce processes over $30 billion in goods/services annually

• Business Model Philosophy:

  • Believes being proprietary vs open source isn't causal to success
  • Values user freedom over immediate monetization
  • Sees greater long-term potential through community adoption
  • Focuses on building sustainable ecosystem rather than capturing all value

• Protection of Principles:

  • Will defend open source principles when necessary
  • Maintains need to prevent exploitation of open source projects
  • Has engaged in several "fights" to protect WordPress's future and sustainability