With the recent WordPress conflict between Automattic and WP Engine, there’s an increased talk about forking WordPress. To that I say, it’s always a good time to fork. Whenever you fork something one of the following will happen:
- You’ll learn something you haven’t known before.
- You’ll discover all of the reasons why you shouldn’t fork the software.
- You’ll create something new which is either worth pursuing further or worth investing back into that original software.
I’m not concerned in the least about folks forking WordPress. In fact WordPress is long overdue for a good fork. A fork is an opportunity to do something different, something risky, something not possible within the current scope of development cycles. Don’t fork WordPress because you’re angry at someone. Do fork WordPress because you genuinely think you have something new and unique to share with world.
A fork is an opportunity to do a clean slate, a fresh start. WordPress has never had a clean slate moment in it’s 21 year history. It’s just been changes of code piled on top of more code changes.
Regarding the current WordPress news situation, let it fuel your creative energies. Go out there and make something great. WordPress isn’t going away anytime soon. I’m hopefully that through these heated events, open source will continue to grow and thrive. Take a step back and gain clarity on where you wish to spend your time and efforts. The internet is big place for us all.