{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The WP Minute ","title":"What would we do with those keys to the Kingdom?","html":"<iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https://share.transistor.fm/e/e3d24bd1\"></iframe>","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":438,"description":"I wonder if people are generally upset that Mullenweg has control of “WordPress” or that he has control over a large chunk of the “open web.” Placing his irresponsible reactions aside for a moment, I think we should abstract why we might feel the way we do.The fight “for WordPress” is futile.It’s a distraction really. One must stop vying for shared control over the decision making, the features, and the direction. You either choose to participate and leave your mark in the direction it’s being lead (contributing, debating, communicating, etc), or just simply observe.There is no clawing away ownership.What would you do if you had shared control? What would we all do? Vote in Github for every single feature? “Hey you got a few minutes to hop on a Zoom call?” How long would that process take? Who gets to vote in the process? If you serve clients now, you already know how painful design by committee is — is that what thousands of people would do in order to choose the next default theme?The point I’m making is: I’ve yet to hear a real solution to the perceived problem, just complaints that we’re not in control and it’s mostly an Automattic driven project.I’ve worked too many jobs where “the company gets to decide the direction.” And guess what happens? No one does, because they don’t want to challenge the boss, rather have a stable paycheck, and just want to move on with their lives. Which might be happening at Automattic, but certainly would be the case if leadership ceded control to “us.”A great product needs a single leader to set the vision and guide the organization. If not Matt Mullenweg, who? Anne McCarthy? Rich Tabor? Matias?Fact of the matter is, you can still enjoy everything WordPress has to give you regardless of who holds the reigns: 4 freedoms, a career, an open source app to publish with, and a community to share in all of that.It’s too challenging, near impossible, to make any large changes to the overall direction of WordPress if we the people had...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/B7hdlYwjqhl9eXRrYH3YmT0lK4oG1XC6kdnjd-ITW0w/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8zZDhl/YzIxN2QwOWRmYjQ1/OTM2ZjMwZWRiYzli/M2ExMC5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}