Open Source Royalty and Mad Kings

WordPress.org has taken control of WP Engine's Advanced Custom Fields plugin, renaming it "Secure Custom Fields" and removing commercial elements, citing security concerns and ongoing litigation between WP Engine and Automattic. This move marks an unprecedented forcible takeover in the WordPress ecosystem. David Heinemeier Hansson, co-founder of 37signals, has criticized the move, pointing out the irony in Automattic hijacking users looking for ACF onto their own plugin. Hansson argues that Automattic's actions are a breach of open source norms and that the company is using the plugin registry as leverage in a contract dispute. He compares the situation to Meta getting into a dispute with Microsoft and Microsoft taking over the official React repository. Hansson emphasizes that open source code registries must remain neutral and cannot be used as a weapon in commercial disputes. He believes that the principles at stake extend beyond the two companies involved and that the move endangers the open source peace that has reigned for decades. Hansson notes that this is the most significant threat to open source stability since the SCO-Linux dispute in the early 2000s. The situation has sparked concerns about the potential for fear, doubt, and uncertainty in the open source realm. The takeover has significant implications for the WordPress ecosystem and the open source community as a whole.