--- title: "What does an open source license decide, and what doesn’t it?" date: 2026-11-13 author: "Courtney Robertson" featured_image: "https://courtneyr.dev/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/oss-2.1-open-governance-license-cover-v1.png" categories: - name: "Open Source" url: "/category/open-source.md" - name: "WordPress" url: "/category/wptips.md" tags: - name: "open source" url: "/tag/open-source.md" - name: "open source governance" url: "/tag/open-source-governance.md" - name: "Merge Conflicts" url: "/tag/merge-conflicts.md" - name: "wordpress" url: "/tag/wordpress.md" --- # What does an open source license decide, and what doesn’t it? Open governance starts where an open source license stops. The license decides what you can do with the code: use it, study it, change it and share it. It doesn’t decide who runs the project, who keeps an account or who can say no. Those calls are governance, and the license is silent on them.[1](#39cf9387-1b64-4b89-8019-6ecbcd9dedb9) ## Key takeaways - **The big picture:** A license grants rights over code to everyone. It grants no vote, account, seat or say over servers. - **Why it matters:** The name, the domain, your account and the final no get settled elsewhere, in writing or not. - **Yes, but:** WordPress writes down plenty, like plugin review. The gaps sit in decisions about people, access and the top role. - **What to do:** Before you join any project, ask the four questions at the end. **Key takeaways** - **The big picture:** A license grants rights over code to everyone. It grants no vote, account, seat or say over servers. - **Why it matters:** The name, the domain, your account and the final no get settled elsewhere, in writing or not. - **Yes, but:** WordPress writes down plenty, like plugin review. The gaps sit in decisions about people, access and the top role. - **What to do:** Before you join any project, ask the four questions at the end. ## 🪑 Where I sat when these calls were made [account](https://courtneyr.dev/merge-conflicts-methods/#h-which-six-evidence-labels-do-the-merge-conflicts-methods-use) You get my stake before my evidence. I volunteered in the WordPress project from about 2013 to 2019, much of it on the Training Team. I’m a former faculty member and rep there, and I’m not active on the team now. In 2014, that team argued in public chat about workshop slides. My side opened with four words: “slides – i like them.”[2](#48111f48-9051-4566-bc23-07349c6711f5) Reader, the slides survived. For a while. In 2024, I asked a question from the WordCamp US stage. [Merge Conflicts 1.0 covers that question](https://courtneyr.dev/2026/11/02/open-source-governance-procedures/), and my words from that day now sit in two court exhibits.[3](#3920fe85-d20f-44a4-bf14-28bba61eaaea) At the time, I was a developer advocate at GoDaddy. I managed its Five for the Future contributors until July 2026. In late 2024, before [Joost de Valk’s December post](https://joost.blog/wordpress-leadership/) and [Karim Marucchi’s December post](https://marucchi.com/wordpress-leadership-continued/), I suggested Joost reconnect with Karim. Then they talked. That December, I also helped unify the anonymous contributors’ letter The Repository published, and I invited several people who later led within FAIR.[4](#169af4bf-eb10-490a-9251-9988c4cbba4d) I wasn’t named in the January 2025 post, which surprised me. Still, the post doesn’t say how it chose the five. Looking back, I knew the process was muddy. Still, I didn’t expect it to turn personal and public at once. That’s my account, not a finding. ### 🗂️ Every relationship I disclose here Open the full list- **Pantheon:** my employer, a WordPress and Drupal host and a WP Engine competitor. - **GoDaddy:** developer advocate in 2024; I managed its Five for the Future contributors until July 2026. - **The WPOCC:** a founding board member. Sé Reed leads it, and she’s a friend and fellow contributor. - **FAIR Package Manager:** former member of its Technical Steering Committee. I invited several people who later led within FAIR. - **Training Team:** former faculty member and rep. - **My own words:** court exhibits (Dkt. 18-28, 107-4, 18-5, 69-16), a 2025 Slack request and a comment on enforcement guidelines, and a 2026 LinkedIn question. - **Named by others:** wp-content.co listed me among supporters in a January 2024 thread. - **The 2025 fork talk:** I suggested Joost reconnect with Karim, and I helped unify a December 2024 anonymous letter. ## ⚖️ What an open source license decides A license is a grant. It hands the same permissions to anyone who gets the code, and nobody fills out an application. [The Free Software Definition](https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html) names four freedoms, and [What are the four freedoms of open source](https://courtneyr.dev/2026/11/03/four-freedoms-of-open-source/) covers them in full.[5](#febc983e-34db-487a-8d1b-5a273ba779cb) - **Use:** run the program for any purpose. - **Study:** read the source and learn how it works. - **Change:** modify it to do what you need. - **Share:** pass on copies, changed or not. Copyleft licenses, like the GNU General Public License (GPL), and permissive licenses, like MIT, grant these freedoms on different terms. [How open source licenses work](https://courtneyr.dev/2026/11/06/how-open-source-licenses-work/) explains them. Here’s what each project’s own license file says. [verified](https://courtneyr.dev/merge-conflicts-methods/#h-which-six-evidence-labels-do-the-merge-conflicts-methods-use) ProjectLicense, as its own file or page states itBackdropGPL version 2 or laterClassicPressGPL version 2 “or (at your option) any later version”DrupalGPL version 2 or laterGhostMITJoomlaGPL version 2 or laterMariaDBGPL version 2; libraries under the new BSD licenseMySQLGPL version 2 plus a commercial license, with an open source exception for client librariesNode.jsMITOpenJS Foundation projectsApache 2.0, Blue Oak 1.0.0, MIT, or BSD with 2 or 3 clauses; anything else needs Board permissionPHPBSD style with 3 clauses, “The PHP Group and Contributors”RubyGemsMIT, or RubyGems’ own conditionsTYPO3GPL version 2 or laterW3C (CSS)W3C Software and Document License, 2023 versionWHATWG (HTML)Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; code under BSD with 3 clausesWordPressGPL version 2 or any later version, “Copyright 2011-2026 by the contributors”xz-utils0BSD for the library and tools; GPL version 2 or later for some scripts; GNU Lesser General Public License 2.1 or later for one bundled partWhat each project’s license file says, fetched 2026-11-13. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG) form one standards unit with two rows. So notice what no row mentions: a vote, a domain, an account or an appeal. Those belong to open governance instead.[6](#64304623-81ea-434a-8eb9-9201b3303c99) ## 🧭 What the license leaves to open governance A 2011 report drew the line plainly: “while licenses apply to the source code, governance applies to the project or platform.”[7](#1c390a7a-464b-45df-8244-0a5185006cc6) It calls governance the set of “control points” in a project. And while the Open Source Initiative (OSI) approves licenses, no body certifies governance. The next four sections take one area each, other projects first. These records come from consequential decisions, so they center on the role that made them. Team work tells a different story, though. Plugin and theme review, release squads, minimum PHP changes and security releases follow written processes in the research sample.[8](#6be94244-599d-40ff-bc29-1ec584e9bf4c) Here are the six WordPress records. 1. 2014: a Training Team call on workshop slides 2. 2022: WebP images by default, reverted before Beta 1 3. 2024: an @WordPress post about the Bay Lights 4. 2024: WP Engine’s access to WordPress.org 5. 2025: a post that said it was deactivating five accounts 6. 2026: a committer told he holds no WordPress.org positions [![Comic page: a pantry gets its website code in a box, then asks who decides its name, access, roles and appeals.](https://courtneyr.dev/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/oss-2-1-chapter-1-one-box-of-code.png) \[PNG, 3.61 MB\]](https://courtneyr.dev/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/oss-2-1-chapter-1-one-box-of-code.png)Chapter 1 of the pantry story. The pantry and its people are fictional. Illustration made with ChatGPT at my direction from the series cast.Text description of the chapter 1 comic page### What this illustration shows - **Subject:** A three panel comic page titled “Chapter 1: One box of code.” It follows a fictional community food pantry on the day its website goes live. - **Panel 1:** Dusk outside a brick storefront with a lit sign that reads “Community Food Pantry.” Meanwhile, a narration box reads “Monday. The pantry’s new website goes live.” - **Panel 2:** Inside, the pantry coordinator, in glasses and a purple cardigan, holds a clipboard. She opens a cardboard box labeled “Code,” with a dashed line drawn around it. A laptop beside her shows the pantry’s site, headed “Community Food Pantry,” with a “Pickup times” section. Next, her balloon says, “We can use it, study it, change it and share it!” Then the caption reads “The license hands over the code.” - **Panel 3:** The developer, who uses a manual wheelchair, looks up at a lit pegboard over a workbench. Four labels hang on it, each over one object. “Name” hangs over a rolled banner, and “Access” over a ring of keys. “Roles” hangs over a clipboard checklist, and “Appeals” over a slotted box. Next, their balloon asks, “So who decides all of this?” Then the caption reads “The license doesn’t say.” - **Relationships:** In short, the box holds only the code. The four objects on the pegboard sit outside it, and nobody has picked them up yet. - **Reading order:** The title, then the panels top to bottom. Then the ribbon: “The license decides the code. Governance decides the rest.” Finally, the footer reads “An illustrative story.” ## 🏷️ The name: the first job of project governance A license lets anyone copy the code. But a trademark decides who can call that copy by the project’s name, or speak as the project. So the first open governance question is who holds the name. Each project’s answer comes from the series’ legal and intellectual property (IP) matrix.[9](#ce3658a4-bdf3-4386-8dd8-2ef185d894f6) Picture a hypothetical food pantry whose website runs on open source code. Its fall drive banner reads “our website runs on,” then a blank. The license can’t fill that blank, but the mark holder’s policy can. Several of these policies allow a plain factual mention. [verified](https://courtneyr.dev/merge-conflicts-methods/#h-which-six-evidence-labels-do-the-merge-conflicts-methods-use) - **Backdrop:** the Software Freedom Conservancy, which allows “based on” uses. - **Drupal:** an individual, who grants licenses at “sole discretion.” Plain references get an automatic license. - **Ghost:** the Ghost Foundation. - **Joomla:** Open Source Matters. - **MariaDB:** MariaDB plc owns it, while the MariaDB Foundation holds a license. - **MySQL:** Oracle, which can revoke its logo license “in its sole discretion.” - **OpenJS Foundation:** its policy keeps its marks out of product names. - **TYPO3:** the TYPO3 Association, registered in 7 jurisdictions. - **WordPress:** the WordPress Foundation. Automattic holds “the exclusive license” for commercial use. [unknown](https://courtneyr.dev/merge-conflicts-methods/#h-which-six-evidence-labels-do-the-merge-conflicts-methods-use) - **ClassicPress, PHP and xz-utils:** no mark holder found. [![Comic page: the pantry wants a project's name on its food drive banner, and counsel says the trademark policy decides.](https://courtneyr.dev/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/oss-2-1-chapter-2-whats-in-a-name.png) \[PNG, 3.47 MB\]](https://courtneyr.dev/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/oss-2-1-chapter-2-whats-in-a-name.png)Chapter 2 of the pantry story. The pantry and its people are fictional. Illustration made with ChatGPT at my direction from the series cast.Text description of the chapter 2 comic page### What this illustration shows - **Subject:** A three panel comic page titled “Chapter 2: What’s in a name?” The pantry is finishing a banner for its fall food drive. - **Panel 1:** A lamp lights a long banner on the pantry wall, above crates of apples, greens, squash and oranges. The banner reads “Our website runs on,” then an empty frame taped at the corners. Meanwhile, a narration box reads “Wednesday. The fall food drive banner is almost done.” - **Panel 2:** The coordinator holds a capped marker, one hand on her hip, and smiles up at the empty frame. Next, her balloon asks, “Can we print the project’s name here?” Then the caption reads “The code is free to use. The name is another question.” - **Panel 3:** Counsel, a woman with short silver hair and a violet suit, reads a thick document with colored tabs. One tab reads “Name.” A rubber stamp stands on the table beside her, unused. Next, her balloon says, “The name has its own rules. Let’s read the trademark policy.” Then the caption reads “Whoever holds the trademark sets the terms.” - **Relationships:** In short, the frame on the banner stays empty. Nobody fills it until they’ve read the policy. - **Reading order:** The title, then the panels top to bottom. Then the ribbon: “Free code. The name has a holder.” Finally, the footer reads “An illustrative story.” ### 📣 2024: an @WordPress post about the Bay Lights [verified](https://courtneyr.dev/merge-conflicts-methods/#h-which-six-evidence-labels-do-the-merge-conflicts-methods-use) - **The stated reason:** the rules covered “members of the marketing team who post to social on behalf of WP through Sprout Social.” That’s Matt Mullenweg’s reading, and his account.[10](#ed4329eb-d897-445b-91b9-1310a849e324) - **What happened:** on 2024-01-13, the @WordPress account on X posted about the Bay Lights.[11](#7e236d3d-a3f4-45fe-b991-04f01c164aec) Meanwhile, the Marketing Team’s fundraising policy dated from 2018, with an update on 2024-02-13.[12](#1382074d-2eb2-45e2-a186-6f15bf11c462) - **What the license said:** nothing, because the GPL covers code, not who posts as @WordPress. - **What decided it:** who the written policy covered, as the project lead read it. - **What cuts the other way:** he later called the tweet a mistake. “I should acknowledge that I consider the tweet a mistake and wouldn’t do it again knowing what I know now,” he wrote.[13](#220670e6-b735-4ff5-9964-08539fb57f38) The policy update also went through a public proposal.[14](#5b50231b-5c62-404c-a326-21aac1f75009) > **Disclosure:** wp-content.co named me among people who offered Matt support in that thread.[15](#f6c0e22c-60cf-4c8a-835d-53b8e1831b9e) The first objection came from a rep connected to The WPOCC, where I’m a founding board member. ## 🔑 Access: governance outside the license The GPL lets anyone run WordPress on any server. However, it doesn’t promise anyone the project’s plugin directory, update service or forums. Those live on WordPress.org, and no license clause says who controls a domain. That’s open governance territory. Here’s who holds each project’s main domain, by the project’s own pages. Where a page names only who runs the site, the list shows that.[16](#caca9000-a619-4758-abe0-fbfb33b5ff2a) Back at the pantry, each weekly update comes from a domain, update service and directory it doesn’t control. [verified](https://courtneyr.dev/merge-conflicts-methods/#h-which-six-evidence-labels-do-the-merge-conflicts-methods-use) - **ClassicPress:** The ClassicPress Initiative, a US nonprofit. - **Drupal:** Dries Buytaert “owns and retains full rights to the domain names,” the Drupal Association’s copyright page says. The Association runs Drupal.org with his permission. - **Ghost:** Ghost Foundation Ltd. - **Joomla:** Open Source Matters, Inc. - **MariaDB:** the MariaDB Foundation. - **MySQL:** Oracle, whose terms of use cover mysql.com. - **Node.js:** the OpenJS Foundation. - **PHP:** The PHP Group holds the site’s copyright. - **RubyGems:** Ruby Central, Inc. - **TYPO3:** the TYPO3 Association. [unknown](https://courtneyr.dev/merge-conflicts-methods/#h-which-six-evidence-labels-do-the-merge-conflicts-methods-use) - **Backdrop and WHATWG:** no domain holder named on the pages I checked. [account](https://courtneyr.dev/merge-conflicts-methods/#h-which-six-evidence-labels-do-the-merge-conflicts-methods-use) - **xz-utils:** Lasse Collin, its maintainer. “Only I have had access to the main tukaani.org website,” he wrote.[17](#fc5e2a0f-dbb5-47ee-b450-24ec46055bbf) - **WordPress:** Matt Mullenweg. “I own the domain name www.WordPress.org individually,” he declared under oath.[18](#5cd60ebc-63a9-463e-aed1-0a6f38f4aa95) [![Comic page: the pantry's site updates, and a key board with empty hooks asks who holds its domain, updates and plugins.](https://courtneyr.dev/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/oss-2-1-chapter-3-who-holds-the-keys.png) \[PNG, 3.14 MB\]](https://courtneyr.dev/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/oss-2-1-chapter-3-who-holds-the-keys.png)Chapter 3 of the pantry story. The pantry and its people are fictional. Illustration made with ChatGPT at my direction from the series cast.Text description of the chapter 3 comic page### What this illustration shows - **Subject:** A three panel comic page titled “Chapter 3: Who holds the keys?” The pantry’s site updates overnight. - **Panel 1:** At night, the developer sits in their manual wheelchair at a laptop under a desk lamp. The screen shows “Community Food Pantry,” a “Pickup times” section and a progress bar labeled “Update.” Meanwhile, a narration box reads “Thursday night. The site updates, like every week.” Next, their balloon asks, “Where do these updates come from?” - **Panel 2:** A wooden key board hangs on the wall with three hooks. Each hook has a paper tag but no key: “Domain,” “Updates” and “Plugins.” A sticky note beside the board asks, “Who holds these keys?” Meanwhile, a narration box reads “The pantry runs the code. Someone else runs these services.” - **Panel 3:** The support engineer stands in a headset, holding a checklist in his right hand. His left hand holds the leash of his service dog, a yellow Labrador in a working vest. They face the same key board. Next, his balloon says, “Each one has a keyholder. Let’s find out who.” Then the caption reads “No license clause says who controls a domain.” - **Relationships:** In short, the three tags name services the pantry uses every week. No keys hang on the hooks, so none of those keys belong to the pantry. - **Reading order:** The title, then the panels top to bottom. Then the ribbon: “Access is a governance question.” Finally, the footer reads “An illustrative story.” [![Open governance chart: who holds each project's trademark and main site, by foundation, company, one person or none found.](https://courtneyr.dev/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/oss-2-1-who-holds-the-keys-chart.png) \[PNG, 204.90 KB\]](https://courtneyr.dev/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/oss-2-1-who-holds-the-keys-chart.png)Two key boards: who holds each project’s name, and who holds its main domain. The stamp marks two holders whose line rests on their own statement. Diagram drawn with Claude at my direction.Text description and data for the key board chart### What this chart shows - **What it shows:** Two key boards side by side. Each hook is a kind of holder, and each small key on its ring stands for one project. Dashed keys mean no holder was found or named on the pages checked. The “2 on account” stamp marks two holders whose line rests on their own statement, one of them sworn. - **The name, 12 projects:** a foundation or nonprofit, 6 (Backdrop, Ghost, Joomla, OpenJS Foundation, TYPO3, WordPress). A company, 2 (MariaDB, MySQL). One person, 1 (Drupal). None found, 3 (ClassicPress, PHP, xz-utils). - **The main domain, 14 projects:** a foundation or nonprofit, 7 (ClassicPress, Ghost, Joomla, MariaDB, Node.js, RubyGems, TYPO3). A company, 1 (MySQL). One person, 3: Drupal, xz-utils on its maintainer’s own statement, and WordPress on a sworn statement. A group with no legal entity, 1 (PHP). None named, 2 (Backdrop, WHATWG). ### 🚫 2024: WP Engine, the block and the injunction [verified](https://courtneyr.dev/merge-conflicts-methods/#h-which-six-evidence-labels-do-the-merge-conflicts-methods-use) - **The stated reason:** “WP Engine needs a trademark license, they don’t have one,” Matt Mullenweg wrote on 2024-09-25. The post also cited “pending their legal claims and litigation against WordPress.org.”[19](#642b341d-f648-406a-a439-20a7a2425448) - **What happened:** the same post said, “WP Engine no longer has free access to WordPress.org’s resources.”[20](#a4e5a8f9-11e0-4474-a89e-eaaee763debe) - **What decided it:** one post first, then the court. - **Ruling, 2024-12-10:** the court granted WP Engine a preliminary injunction, finding it likely to succeed on intentional interference. It didn’t reach extortion (Dkt. 64).[21](#9b4c66c7-f187-4adf-8c41-aaf3b0431899) - **Ruling, 2025-09-12:** a ruling at the pleading stage dismissed attempted extortion without leave to amend. It dismissed the antitrust counts with leave to refile (Dkt. 169).[22](#dffa750c-a33b-41af-b772-c9e074f594ac) - **Ruling, 2026-09-24:** the court then let the refiled antitrust counts proceed. It dismissed the computer extortion claim without leave to amend. It also dismissed the trademark counterclaims Automattic and Mullenweg brought in their own right. Most other counterclaims proceed (Dkt. 410).[23](#73db6494-2ee6-47cd-b093-aabd4a0c4628) A scheduling order sets a 10-day jury trial for 2027-10-19, and a filing on 2026-11-10 still works from it.[24](#83e3f830-7a41-4b08-aa4d-12fa522f3290) - **What the license said:** the GPL let WP Engine run WordPress the whole time. Access was the lever, and the license doesn’t cover it. - **What cuts the other way:** both pleading rulings went Automattic’s way on extortion claims. > **Disclosure:** I work at Pantheon, a WordPress and Drupal host and a WP Engine competitor. GoDaddy, where I managed Five for the Future contributors until July 2026, appears in trademark policy captures in the case.[25](#fde83761-7a6a-4250-8c53-ebcbc1338472) ### 🔒 2025: a post that said it was deactivating five accounts [verified](https://courtneyr.dev/merge-conflicts-methods/#h-which-six-evidence-labels-do-the-merge-conflicts-methods-use) - **The stated reason:** “To make this easy and hopefully give this project the push it needs to get off the ground.”[26](#49ad1168-c84a-4107-95dc-7720a228631a) Matt Mullenweg wrote that in “Joost/Karim Fork,” naming five accounts he was deactivating: Joost de Valk, Karim Marucchi, Sé Reed, Heather Burns and Morten Rand-Hendriksen. - **What happened:** how many deactivations took effect is unknown. TechCrunch reported de Valk’s account still active, and The Repository said only Reed’s and Burns’ were deactivated at first.[27](#329e1fc2-4666-497b-b34a-2b29b34aa60c) Both are source-derived. - **What the five said:** de Valk and Marucchi wrote, “*We* did not talk about a fork.” Burns wrote, “I am not planning a fork of WordPress.”[28](#935501cb-5eb0-43ce-baaa-d669199ea44b) Both are accounts. - **What the license said:** nothing about accounts. - **What cuts the other way:** on 2025-04-22, a WordPress.org post said “we’re dropping all the human blocks.”[29](#19291f72-adf7-4b14-9d0f-3a8175c0bcdb) A 2025-05-01 review prioritized blocks made “without communication or notification,” named no one and described no formal appeal.[30](#9735ef00-749d-483f-83aa-1436cb164cc9) By 2025-05-21, a later post said most blocked members were back, and it proposed “clear and consistent paths for appeal.”[31](#0ac10177-d696-4c06-a839-d1ae4ebde49f) In April 2026, Matt wrote in #core-committers: “I really wish we had followed \[de Valk’s\] lead when he tried to help us. I didn’t do enough to support him.”[32](#44e4e6e4-4389-44b3-b3eb-526bd7728be9) > **Disclosure:** my own part is in the first section. Sé Reed, a friend, leads The WPOCC, where I’m a founding board member. De Valk and Marucchi later presented FAIR, where I served on its steering committee. I commented on the May post, pointing to existing enforcement guidelines. ## 👥 Teams and roles: project governance for people Every project here lets existing members choose who advances. Still, the open governance difference is whether a written rule guides it. At the pantry’s volunteer meeting, a newcomer asks who gets a vote. The answer lives in a charter, if someone wrote one. How each project adds people to trusted roles:[33](#4ed6d076-410f-4f96-b875-2dddb8adb674) [analysis](https://courtneyr.dev/merge-conflicts-methods/#h-which-six-evidence-labels-do-the-merge-conflicts-methods-use) - **Backdrop:** a unanimous vote of its Project Management Committee. [verified](https://courtneyr.dev/merge-conflicts-methods/#h-which-six-evidence-labels-do-the-merge-conflicts-methods-use) - **Drupal:** committers usually need “at least a year” of broad work on core issues. - **MySQL:** Oracle nominates the first committers. Later, existing committers nominate and approve new ones. - **Node.js:** a nomination passes when no one objects. - **PHP:** voting rights (“vote karma”) with no written grant process. - **W3C:** the W3C Team appoints chairs. - **WHATWG:** the Steering Group appoints editors. - **WordPress:** the committer page lists onboarding tasks, but no selection criteria and no removal procedure. [![Comic page: a newcomer asks who gets a vote, a board member reads the bylaws, and a maintainer holds up a charter.](https://courtneyr.dev/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/oss-2-1-chapter-4-who-gets-a-vote.png) \[PNG, 3.65 MB\]](https://courtneyr.dev/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/oss-2-1-chapter-4-who-gets-a-vote.png)Chapter 4 of the pantry story. The pantry and its people are fictional. Illustration made with ChatGPT at my direction from the series cast.Text description of the chapter 4 comic page### What this illustration shows - **Subject:** A three panel comic page titled “Chapter 4: Who gets a vote?” The pantry holds its monthly volunteer meeting. - **Panel 1:** The newcomer stands in the meeting room doorway with a backpack, a plaid shirt and a yellow polo. He holds a card that reads “Good first issue,” and his left hand is a prosthetic. Meanwhile, a narration box reads “Saturday. The monthly volunteer meeting.” Next, his balloon asks, “I’m new. Who gets a vote here?” - **Panel 2:** The board member reads from an open binder while seated on a four wheel mobility scooter. More binders fill its front basket. On the table sit a ballot box labeled “Vote,” with a slip in its slot, and a clipboard labeled “Roles.” Next, their balloon says, “Our bylaws say members vote. It’s on page 3.” Then the caption reads “Some groups write the rule down.” - **Panel 3:** A maintainer from another project, in a patched blue hoodie, holds two papers. One is a tabbed document labeled “Charter,” and the other is a blank sheet. Empty chairs line the meeting table behind him. Next, his balloon says, “My project has a charter. Some have a blank page.” Then the caption reads “Others leave it to whoever is already in the room.” - **Relationships:** In short, the bylaws and the charter answer the newcomer’s question in writing. The blank sheet stands for groups that never wrote an answer down. - **Reading order:** The title, then the panels top to bottom. Then the ribbon: “Ask who decides, and where it’s written.” Finally, the footer reads “An illustrative story.” ### 🎞️ 2014: slides at a Training Team meeting [verified](https://courtneyr.dev/merge-conflicts-methods/#h-which-six-evidence-labels-do-the-merge-conflicts-methods-use) - **The backstory:** the Training Team made workshop materials, including slide decks for WordCamp and meetup organizers.[34](#d10b30a7-798a-4d2e-a920-5e5b9915c5e9) In June 2014, the team’s public chat weighed slides against live demos. In August, a message warned, “Be careful with slides.” In September, the team asked Jen Mylo for a meeting about them.[35](#03aac1dc-3753-4155-8dba-c1c68a19d7b8) - **The stated reason:** the recap says slides give an overview that “does not replace the hands on portion.” They’d be HTML pages, so they could be “both viewed and printed on any system.”[36](#c8d48dfd-aa30-4b75-b268-09f89d3c2171) - **What happened:** on 2014-10-28, the team’s lead at the time posted “Recap of October 28, 2014 Meeting with Jen Mylo.” Under decisions from “JM,” it reads: “We CAN have slides for each intro section.”[37](#a8029a7c-ec1d-4012-8655-947ea4238668) - **A year later:** in December 2015, a project leader met the team’s two reps in a private room. By my account, our slide decks “had to go too.”[38](#67cd967d-e84e-4313-9ee0-cc836163501b) The team’s recap that week says it “will not address slides again as a group until all lesson plans are written.”[39](#d36bcc67-94de-46d4-b9a8-7eb60f44365f) - **What the license said:** nothing. The GPL is silent on slides, which seems fair. - **What decided it:** one person’s call, recorded in a recap, with no written rule behind it.[40](#5023b8d9-3a09-4001-8600-2d1b52521b5d) Jen Mylo was listed among Automattic’s Dot Org Team from 2010, which is source-derived. Still, no record connects Matt Mullenweg to these calls. - **What cuts the other way:** slides were already in use before then, in June 2014. Also, later limits came from the team’s own votes, and I posted the 2015 plan myself.[41](#5ad8aae2-8ad0-4901-b1c1-e00e6e3d387a) > **Disclosure:** I’m a former Training Team faculty member and rep. By my own account, I wasn’t in that 2014 room. ### ♿ 2026: a committer told he holds no WordPress.org positions [verified](https://courtneyr.dev/merge-conflicts-methods/#h-which-six-evidence-labels-do-the-merge-conflicts-methods-use) - **The stated reasons:** the revert commit called the merged change “premature,” citing “significant numbers of unusual notice cases.”[42](#21091696-3258-4002-af6d-1864e1f9125e) For the roles, the ticket gives no reason. In the public #core Slack channel, the reason given was a loss of interest in his contributions.[43](#f4550050-5fad-4968-8de8-d486f7465b89) That’s an account. - **What happened:** Andrea Fercia opened [Trac ticket 50486](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/50486) six years ago, on admin notice accessibility. On 2026-10-14 at 00:21 GMT, Matt Mullenweg wrote: “Please revert all of this. @afercia you no longer hold any WordPress.org positions or titles or authority, and are invited to contribute your talents to another project.” Later that day, Joe Dolson committed the revert at 19:34 GMT.[44](#80e05005-e738-4d09-885d-f85ad84ef875) - **What the license said:** the reverted code is GPL, then and now. Yet the license says nothing about titles. - **What decided it:** a comment from the project lead, who was then also Automattic’s CEO.[45](#b014743a-cfc5-48ba-92a5-c52a8c9901cf) - **What cuts the other way:** before the revert, two committers had reported false counts, such as “(2 notices)” on a Dashboard showing none. At 21:31 GMT, Matt wrote: “Please whoever turned off @afercia’s account undo that. That wasn’t what I asked for and isn’t needed.”[46](#f2a11d3d-1f2d-428e-b719-ba65af63b132) In 2024, he had agreed with one of Andrea Fercia’s bug reports.[47](#50b2adb4-bf5a-4e8a-a513-6f9577072e61) > **Disclosure:** The Repository reported my LinkedIn question about the process.[48](#2ffd85ef-a0d4-4424-8148-817b5546b110) Its article also quotes Sé Reed, who leads The WPOCC. The Repository discloses that Automattic’s Pressable sponsors it. ## 🧾 Appeals: who can say no, and who reviews it Appeals test open governance, because they matter most when something goes wrong. A written appeal gives you a next step after a no. When the pantry takes a drawing off its community wall, the artist’s next question is who reviews that call. [verified](https://courtneyr.dev/merge-conflicts-methods/#h-which-six-evidence-labels-do-the-merge-conflicts-methods-use) - **OpenJS Foundation:** people involved can appeal within 30 days, but only if the documented process wasn’t followed or the decision didn’t meet the policy. If the Code of Conduct team handled the report, a different group hears it.[49](#487b8c6b-08b6-4f91-b5b6-a0f6f24a5e71) - **TYPO3:** members can also call a vote by petition.[50](#77dc8c43-2980-4a55-b38c-b2d549e7b329) - **WHATWG:** removal is “final and non-appealable.”[51](#79796eb3-ffcd-4c5c-bf92-020db91d5058) - **WordPress:** the Code of Conduct lists four steps: Correction, Warning, Temporary Ban and Permanent Ban. It describes no appeal.[52](#9d22e91e-de6d-48b5-87e6-3443cd11b24f) At events, though, either party can appeal an incident decision to a community team rep.[53](#1db48f43-b46c-4653-aaa8-8395d69bb530) Five named lead developers hold final technical authority.[54](#d503d2b8-f30c-4bf6-ba13-fff0b921a9c5) A written appeal isn’t proof that it works. The dossier doesn’t measure outcomes, so neither does this post. Still, nobody walks through a door that was never built. [![Comic page: a young artist's drawing is removed from a community wall, and the appeals window has nobody behind it.](https://courtneyr.dev/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/oss-2-1-chapter-5-who-reviews-this.png) \[PNG, 2.95 MB\]](https://courtneyr.dev/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/oss-2-1-chapter-5-who-reviews-this.png)Chapter 5 of the pantry story. The pantry and its people are fictional. Illustration made with ChatGPT at my direction from the series cast.Text description of the chapter 5 comic page### What this illustration shows - **Subject:** A three panel comic page titled “Chapter 5: Who reviews this?” It’s set in morning light. - **Panel 1:** The young contributor wears an orange hoodie and a cochlear implant processor, with a sketchbook under one arm. They look at a corkboard of simple drawings. The drawings show a rainbow, a sun, a tree, flowers, a house, a cat, mountains and hearts. In the middle, a pinned paper slip reads “Removed.” Meanwhile, a narration box reads “Sunday morning. A drawing is gone from the community wall.” Next, their balloon asks, “Wait. Where’s my drawing?” - **Panel 2:** A service window with a wooden sign that reads “Appeals.” Behind it sits an empty chair. On the counter are a brass bell and a clear, slotted box of papers. Meanwhile, a narration box reads “There’s an appeals window. Nobody sits behind it.” - **Panel 3:** The young contributor and the funder stand on either side of the same window. The funder wears a blue scarf and an orange cardigan, holds a folder and leans on a cane. The young contributor asks, “Who reviews this?” The funder answers, “Let’s find out if anyone can.” Then the caption reads “A written appeal gives you a next step after a no.” - **Relationships:** In short, the window exists and has a sign, but the chair behind it stays empty. - **Reading order:** The title, then the panels top to bottom. Then the ribbon: “A no should come with a next step.” Finally, the footer reads “An illustrative story.” ### 🖼️ 2022: WebP by default, reverted the day before Beta 1 was due [verified](https://courtneyr.dev/merge-conflicts-methods/#h-which-six-evidence-labels-do-the-merge-conflicts-methods-use) - **The stated reasons:** Andrew Ozz, a lead developer, objected to making twice as many image files. He then asked for no more commits unless they fixed the extra load on uploads.[55](#a1225ba7-069f-4dc7-9a46-42efd7dce858) Matt Mullenweg wrote that he was “interested in supporting new formats and improving performance.” But he added, “not with the change to convert everything to webp when JPEGs are uploaded.” He called it “excellent territory for a canonical plugin.”[56](#094bbe7d-7275-4c1b-9857-fa13701462dd) - **What happened:** r53751 (2022-07-21) made each upload’s smaller sizes in two formats. On 2022-09-06, r54085 and r54086 reverted that, then switched those sizes to WebP only. Later, r54226 (2022-09-19) reverted the feature, citing “Matt’s recent post.”[57](#c561a001-637f-46f1-8e29-db35951d1a12) - **The timing:** the 6.1 schedule lists Matt as Release Lead, with Beta 1 due 2022-09-20.[58](#cec602cc-8593-4edc-8816-60e5c2312b4c) He posted on 2022-09-11, WordCamp US Contributor Day.[59](#a2795f08-c9a3-4263-b1a2-8733bcfc8486) By my account, he wasn’t there, and he hadn’t joined 6.1’s release meetings or its release leads channel. - **What the license said:** nothing. The GPL has no opinion on image formats, a restraint I admire. - **What decided it:** a post by the release lead, cited later in the revert itself. - **What cuts the other way:** Ozz objected to the two file version, while the same account backed WebP only.[60](#8e97a724-7ee3-4c90-897f-634320afe56f) After the revert, a contributor wrote that they could now “explore how and when to move WebP forward.”[61](#e7f26bf7-02a0-425e-81fa-045282afd110) ### 🪞 Who enforces the rules on the project lead? [verified](https://courtneyr.dev/merge-conflicts-methods/#h-which-six-evidence-labels-do-the-merge-conflicts-methods-use) The Code of Conduct “applies within all community spaces.” Community leaders enforce it, and its list of them includes project leads.[62](#d94ede23-ae28-4595-939a-83fa475169d2) It names no one who enforces it on a project lead. [analysis](https://courtneyr.dev/merge-conflicts-methods/#h-which-six-evidence-labels-do-the-merge-conflicts-methods-use) On paper, that’s rules for thee, not for me. The code reaches contributors, and no written step reaches the person at the top. The records above follow that line: - **Bay Lights:** the rules covered team members who post through Sprout Social, by the project lead’s own reading.[63](#dc88a2c2-4454-4c3b-ba57-dad899ab5a9a) - **2025:** a post named five accounts to deactivate. Its stated reason was a push for a fork, not a conduct finding.[64](#1c4950e4-e167-4b29-84b1-5c8e5f5a95f6) - **2026:** a ticket comment ended a contributor’s titles. The ticket gives no reason.[65](#8b6c348d-bbf2-46ba-9984-20d60e59fa70) **What cuts the other way:** twice in these records, he set things right himself. He called the 2024 tweet “a mistake,” and in 2026 he asked whoever locked Andrea Fercia’s account to undo it.[66](#471d1cf6-9119-4fd9-a112-e4241685c60c)[67](#63491f7b-d53e-4685-9ed5-36a7de859abc) Both fixes came from him, not from a written step anyone else could start. ## ❓ Questions to ask about any project’s open governance Still, none of these answers lives in a license. Each is an open governance question, so ask them before you join, and again before you lead. 1. **The name:** Who holds the trademark, and on what terms can you use the name? 2. **Access:** Who holds the domain, the update server and the package registry? 3. **Teams and roles:** Who can vote on a release, a budget or a leader, and who can lead a team? 4. **Appeals:** Who can suspend an account or remove a package, and who reviews that call? When the answer is a page, read it. When it’s a person, write that down too. [![Comic page: the pantry team at the workbench, with four questions for any project on name, access, roles and appeals.](https://courtneyr.dev/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/oss-2-1-before-you-join-ask-any-project.png) \[PNG, 3.07 MB\]](https://courtneyr.dev/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/oss-2-1-before-you-join-ask-any-project.png)The last page of the pantry story. The pantry and its people are fictional. Illustration made with ChatGPT at my direction from the series cast.Text description of the closing comic page### What this illustration shows - **Subject:** A one scene comic page titled “Before you join: Ask any project.” It returns to the workbench from chapter 1. - **The pegboard:** A wall lamp lights four labels, each over one object. “Name” hangs over a rolled banner, and “Access” over a ring of keys. “Roles” hangs over a clipboard checklist, and “Appeals” over a slotted box of papers. Under each object, a pinned card asks one question. - **The four cards, left to right:** Name, “Who holds the trademark?” Access, “Who holds the domain and the update server?” Roles, “Who can vote, and who can lead?” Appeals, “Who can say no, and who reviews it?” - **The people:** The coordinator stands at the left with her clipboard. The developer sits in their manual wheelchair at the right. Both smile up at the cards. - **Relationships:** In short, the cards turn chapter 1’s four objects into questions, in the same order as this section’s list. - **Reading order:** The title, then the labels and cards left to right. Then the ribbon: “Ask before you join. Ask again before you lead.” Finally, the footer reads “An illustrative story.” ## 💬 Quick answers about open governance **What does an open source license decide?**What anyone can do with the code: use it, study it, change it and share it. It doesn’t decide who runs the project, who keeps an account or who can say no. **What does open governance cover that a license doesn’t?**Who holds the project’s name, who holds its main domain, who gets a trusted role and who reviews a no. **Does WordPress have a written appeal?**Its Code of Conduct lists four steps, from Correction to Permanent Ban, and describes no appeal. At events, either party can appeal an incident decision to a community team rep. Next up, 2.2 asks how open source projects make decisions: votes, consensus, or a final say? Footnotes (67)1. Merge Conflicts research dossier. “What open means” synthesis, summary finding (analysis). Courtney Robertson. 2026. Methods: . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#39cf9387-1b64-4b89-8019-6ecbcd9dedb9-link) 2. Merge Conflicts research dossier. Claim C-XI-020, public chat, 2014 \[CR\]. Courtney Robertson. 2026. #wordpress-getinvolved IRC log, 2014-10-21, 18:03 UTC onward. [https://irclogs.wordpress.org/chanlog.php?channel=wordpress-getinvolved&day=2014-10-21&sort=asc](https://irclogs.wordpress.org/chanlog.php?channel=wordpress-getinvolved&day=2014-10-21&sort=asc). Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#48111f48-9051-4566-bc23-07349c6711f5-link) 3. United States District Court, Northern District of California. “WPEngine, Inc. v. Automattic Inc., No. 4:24-cv-06917-AMO.” Exhibits at Dkt. 18-28, 107-4, 18-5 and 69-16. CourtListener RECAP. [https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.18.28.pdf \[PDF\]](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.18.28.pdf); [https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.107.4.pdf \[PDF\]](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.107.4.pdf); [https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.18.5.pdf \[PDF\]](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.18.5.pdf); [https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.69.16.pdf \[PDF\]](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.69.16.pdf). Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#3920fe85-d20f-44a4-bf14-28bba61eaaea-link) 4. The Repository. “Dear WordPress community: We stand with you.” December 2024, as summarized by Post Status. . My role in it is my account \[CR\]. Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#169af4bf-eb10-490a-9251-9988c4cbba4d-link) 5. Free Software Foundation. “What is Free Software?” GNU Project. Updated 2026-06-09. . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#febc983e-34db-487a-8d1b-5a273ba779cb-link) 6. Each project’s own license file or page, fetched 2026-11-13. WordPress: “license.txt.” wordpress-develop on GitHub. [https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/trunk/src/license.txt \[TXT\]](https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/trunk/src/license.txt). Dossier claims: V-SA-01, V-SA-02, C-PHP-027, C-PHP-029, C-JS-037, C-JS-032, C-JS-078, C-STD-028, C-STD-057, C-STD-035, S-STD-037, C-MDB-022, C-MDB-102, C-MDB-103, C-DRU-011, C-TJ-018, C-TJ-118, C-BG-023, C-BG-036, C-SUP-021, C-SUP-046, C-SUP-078. Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#64304623-81ea-434a-8eb9-9201b3303c99-link) 7. VisionMobile (Liz Laffan). “A new way of measuring Openness, from Android to WebKit: The Open Governance Index.” SlashData. 2011-07-29. . The OSI point: dossier source S-ORC-010. Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#1c390a7a-464b-45df-8244-0a5185006cc6-link) 8. Merge Conflicts. “How does Merge Conflicts label evidence, stay fair and fix mistakes?” courtneyr.dev. . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#6be94244-599d-40ff-bc29-1ec584e9bf4c-link) 9. Merge Conflicts research dossier. Legal and IP matrix, sections 1 and 4. Claims C-BG-007, C-SUP-047, C-DRU-001, C-BG-037, C-TJ-118, C-MDB-010, C-MDB-105, C-JS-035, C-PHP-031, C-TJ-017, C-WPA-005, C-WPA-017. Drupal trademark policy, sections I.A and II, ; WordPress Foundation trademark policy, ; OpenJS Foundation trademark policy (2021-01-12), . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#ce3658a4-bdf3-4386-8dd8-2ef185d894f6-link) 10. Merge Conflicts research dossier. Claim C-YA-003 (account). Matt Mullenweg, message in #marketing, Making WordPress Slack, 2024-01-14 12:25:14 UTC. . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#ed4329eb-d897-445b-91b9-1310a849e324-link) 11. WordPress (@WordPress). Post about the Bay Lights. X. 2024-01-13 20:22:20 UTC. . Read 2026-11-12. [↩︎](#7e236d3d-a3f4-45fe-b991-04f01c164aec-link) 12. WordPress Marketing Team. Fundraising policy, source S-XA-004. make.wordpress.org. First published 2018-11-29, updated 2024-02-13. . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#1382074d-2eb2-45e2-a186-6f15bf11c462-link) 13. Matt Mullenweg. Message in #marketing, Making WordPress Slack. 2024-01-16 01:31:42 UTC. Claim C-FVD-005. . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#220670e6-b735-4ff5-9964-08539fb57f38-link) 14. Merge Conflicts research dossier. Claims C-XA-005, C-XA-006. WordPress Marketing Team, GitHub issue #347, opened 2024-01-16. . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#5b50231b-5c62-404c-a326-21aac1f75009-link) 15. wp-content.co. Report on the January 2024 thread, source S-XA-003. . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#f6c0e22c-60cf-4c8a-835d-53b8e1831b9e-link) 16. Each project’s own pages, read 2026-11-13: ClassicPress privacy policy, ; Drupal.org Terms of Service, ; Ghost terms of service, ; Joomla privacy policy, ; MariaDB Foundation privacy policy, ; MySQL legal policies, ; nodejs.org README, ; PHP copyright, ; RubyGems.org policies, ; TYPO3 Association legal notice, ; Drupal Association copyright page, “Domain ownership,” modified 2017-10-13, , claim C-DRU-004; Lasse Collin, “XZ Utils backdoor,” updated 2025-01-17, , claim C-SUP-006; Backdrop about page, ; WHATWG FAQ, . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#caca9000-a619-4758-abe0-fbfb33b5ff2a-link) 17. Each project’s own pages, read 2026-11-13: ClassicPress privacy policy, ; Drupal.org Terms of Service, ; Ghost terms of service, ; Joomla privacy policy, ; MariaDB Foundation privacy policy, ; MySQL legal policies, ; nodejs.org README, ; PHP copyright, ; RubyGems.org policies, ; TYPO3 Association legal notice, ; Drupal Association copyright page, “Domain ownership,” modified 2017-10-13, , claim C-DRU-004; Lasse Collin, “XZ Utils backdoor,” updated 2025-01-17, , claim C-SUP-006; Backdrop about page, ; WHATWG FAQ, . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#fc5e2a0f-dbb5-47ee-b450-24ec46055bbf-link) 18. Matthew Charles Mullenweg. Declaration, paragraph 2. WPEngine, Inc. v. Automattic Inc., No. 3:24-cv-06917-AMO, Dkt. 39. Filed 2024-10-30. [https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.39.0\_1.pdf \[PDF\]](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.39.0_1.pdf). Claim C-WPA-001. Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#5cd60ebc-63a9-463e-aed1-0a6f38f4aa95-link) 19. Matt Mullenweg. “WP Engine is banned from WordPress.org.” WordPress.org News. 2024-09-25. . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#642b341d-f648-406a-a439-20a7a2425448-link) 20. Matt Mullenweg. “WP Engine is banned from WordPress.org.” WordPress.org News. 2024-09-25. . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#a4e5a8f9-11e0-4474-a89e-eaaee763debe-link) 21. United States District Court, Northern District of California. Orders in WPEngine, Inc. v. Automattic Inc., No. 4:24-cv-06917-AMO: Dkt. 64, 2024-12-10, [https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.64.0.pdf \[PDF\]](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.64.0.pdf); Dkt. 169, 2025-09-12, [https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.169.0.pdf \[PDF\]](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.169.0.pdf); Dkt. 410, 2026-09-24, [https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.410.0.pdf \[PDF\]](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.410.0.pdf). Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#9b4c66c7-f187-4adf-8c41-aaf3b0431899-link) 22. United States District Court, Northern District of California. Orders in WPEngine, Inc. v. Automattic Inc., No. 4:24-cv-06917-AMO: Dkt. 64, 2024-12-10, [https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.64.0.pdf \[PDF\]](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.64.0.pdf); Dkt. 169, 2025-09-12, [https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.169.0.pdf \[PDF\]](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.169.0.pdf); Dkt. 410, 2026-09-24, [https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.410.0.pdf \[PDF\]](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.410.0.pdf). Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#dffa750c-a33b-41af-b772-c9e074f594ac-link) 23. United States District Court, Northern District of California. Orders in WPEngine, Inc. v. Automattic Inc., No. 4:24-cv-06917-AMO: Dkt. 64, 2024-12-10, [https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.64.0.pdf \[PDF\]](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.64.0.pdf); Dkt. 169, 2025-09-12, [https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.169.0.pdf \[PDF\]](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.169.0.pdf); Dkt. 410, 2026-09-24, [https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.410.0.pdf \[PDF\]](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.410.0.pdf). Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#73db6494-2ee6-47cd-b093-aabd4a0c4628-link) 24. United States District Court, Northern District of California. WPEngine, Inc. v. Automattic Inc., No. 4:24-cv-06917-AMO. Scheduling order, Dkt. 373, 2026-09-11, [https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.373.0.pdf \[PDF\]](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.373.0.pdf); unopposed administrative motion for clarification of that order, Dkt. 461, 2026-11-10, [https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.461.0.pdf \[PDF\]](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.437474/gov.uscourts.cand.437474.461.0.pdf). Claims C-FL-010, C-FL-011. Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#83e3f830-7a41-4b08-aa4d-12fa522f3290-link) 25. Merge Conflicts research dossier. Claims C-FVD-021, C-FVD-022 (trademark policy captures). Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#fde83761-7a6a-4250-8c53-ebcbc1338472-link) 26. Matt Mullenweg. “Joost/Karim Fork.” WordPress.org News. 2025-01-11. . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#49ad1168-c84a-4107-95dc-7720a228631a-link) 27. TechCrunch. “Matt Mullenweg to deactivate WordPress contributor accounts over alleged fork plans.” 2025-01-11. . The Repository (Rae Morey). “Fork or Fiction? WordPress Co-Founder Bans Governance Advocates in Latest Dispute.” 2025-01-13, update note dated “15 January 2024” \[sic\]. . Note re-read 2026-11-13. Claims C-FVD-035, C-FB-043 (source-derived). Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#329e1fc2-4666-497b-b34a-2b29b34aa60c-link) 28. Joost de Valk and Karim Marucchi, 2025-01-11; Heather Burns, 2025-01-12. Claims C-FW-013, C-FB-040, C-FB-038 (account). De Valk on Bluesky: . Marucchi on X: . Burns on her blog: . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#935501cb-5eb0-43ce-baaa-d669199ea44b-link) 29. WordPress.org News. “WordPress Jubilee.” 2025-04-22. . Source S-WPA-052. Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#19291f72-adf7-4b14-9d0f-3a8175c0bcdb-link) 30. Destiny Kanno. “Review of Blocked Community Members.” Make WordPress Project. 2025-05-01. . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#9735ef00-749d-483f-83aa-1436cb164cc9-link) 31. Mary Hubbard. “Restoring Trust while Preserving Safety.” Make WordPress Project. 2025-05-21. . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#0ac10177-d696-4c06-a839-d1ae4ebde49f-link) 32. Matt Mullenweg. Message in #core-committers, Making WordPress Slack. 2026-04-14. Claim C-FS-020 (verified). . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#44e4e6e4-4389-44b3-b3eb-526bd7728be9-link) 33. Merge Conflicts research dossier. “Mentorship and newcomers” synthesis, “Advancement: who decides” (analysis). Claims C-BG-006, S-DRU-021, S-MDB-101, C-JS-075, C-PHP-021, C-STD-005, S-STD-030, C-WPB-002, C-WPB-004. Drupal core governance, ; MySQL Community Governance Model, section 3.2, . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#4ed6d076-410f-4f96-b875-2dddb8adb674-link) 34. Courtney Robertson. “Merge Conflicts: what happens when open source governance procedures aren’t written down?” courtneyr.dev. 2026-11-02. . Account. Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#d10b30a7-798a-4d2e-a920-5e5b9915c5e9-link) 35. Merge Conflicts research dossier. Claims C-XI-013, C-XI-017, C-XI-018. #wordpress-getinvolved IRC logs, 2014-06-12, 2014-08-26 and 2014-09-02. [https://irclogs.wordpress.org/chanlog.php?channel=wordpress-getinvolved&day=2014-06-12&sort=asc](https://irclogs.wordpress.org/chanlog.php?channel=wordpress-getinvolved&day=2014-06-12&sort=asc), [https://irclogs.wordpress.org/chanlog.php?channel=wordpress-getinvolved&day=2014-08-26&sort=asc](https://irclogs.wordpress.org/chanlog.php?channel=wordpress-getinvolved&day=2014-08-26&sort=asc), [https://irclogs.wordpress.org/chanlog.php?channel=wordpress-getinvolved&day=2014-09-02&sort=asc](https://irclogs.wordpress.org/chanlog.php?channel=wordpress-getinvolved&day=2014-09-02&sort=asc). Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#03aac1dc-3753-4155-8dba-c1c68a19d7b8-link) 36. WordPress Training Team. “Recap of October 28, 2014 Meeting with Jen Mylo.” Make WordPress Training. 2014-10-28. . Claim C-XI-013. Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#c8d48dfd-aa30-4b75-b268-09f89d3c2171-link) 37. WordPress Training Team. “Recap of October 28, 2014 Meeting with Jen Mylo.” Make WordPress Training. 2014-10-28. . Claim C-XI-013. Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#a8029a7c-ec1d-4012-8655-947ea4238668-link) 38. Courtney Robertson. “Merge Conflicts: what happens when open source governance procedures aren’t written down?” courtneyr.dev. 2026-11-02. . Account. Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#67cd967d-e84e-4313-9ee0-cc836163501b-link) 39. WordPress Training Team. “Recap of December 8, 2015 Meeting.” Make WordPress Training. 2015-12-09. . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#d36bcc67-94de-46d4-b9a8-7eb60f44365f-link) 40. Merge Conflicts research dossier. Claims C-XI-002, C-XI-011, C-XI-023; C-HB-052 (source-derived); C-XK-033, C-YB-027. Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#5023b8d9-3a09-4001-8600-2d1b52521b5d-link) 41. Merge Conflicts research dossier. Claims C-XI-013, C-XI-029, C-XI-033, C-XI-030. Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#5ad8aae2-8ad0-4901-b1c1-e00e6e3d387a-link) 42. WordPress Trac. “#50486 (Improve the admin notices accessibility).” core.trac.wordpress.org. Comments 82, 84, 97 and 100; changeset 64347, 2026-10-14. . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#21091696-3258-4002-af6d-1864e1f9125e-link) 43. Merge Conflicts research dossier. Claim C-HS-002, #core Slack (account). Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#f4550050-5fad-4968-8de8-d486f7465b89-link) 44. WordPress Trac. “#50486 (Improve the admin notices accessibility).” core.trac.wordpress.org. Comments 82, 84, 97 and 100; changeset 64347, 2026-10-14. . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#80e05005-e738-4d09-885d-f85ad84ef875-link) 45. Dom Nicastro. “Automattic Confirms Mullenweg Is Back as CEO, 2 Days After It Had an Interim CEO.” CMSWire. 2026-09-12. . Also TechCrunch. “Automattic’s board forces CEO Matt Mullenweg into leave of absence.” 2026-09-09. . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#b014743a-cfc5-48ba-92a5-c52a8c9901cf-link) 46. WordPress Trac. “#50486 (Improve the admin notices accessibility).” core.trac.wordpress.org. Comments 82, 84, 97 and 100; changeset 64347, 2026-10-14. . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#f2a11d3d-1f2d-428e-b719-ba65af63b132-link) 47. Merge Conflicts research dossier. Claim CAND-HT-020. Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#50b2adb4-bf5a-4e8a-a513-6f9577072e61-link) 48. The Repository (Rae Morey). “Matt Mullenweg Orders Accessibility Revert, Tells Core Committer to ‘Contribute Your Talents to Another Project’.” 2026-10-15. Sponsored by Pressable, owned by Automattic. . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#2ffd85ef-a0d4-4424-8148-817b5546b110-link) 49. OpenJS Foundation Cross Project Council. “COC\_POLICY.md.” GitHub. [https://github.com/openjs-foundation/cross-project-council/blob/main/conduct/COC\_POLICY.md](https://github.com/openjs-foundation/cross-project-council/blob/main/conduct/COC_POLICY.md). Claim C-JS-061. Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#487b8c6b-08b6-4f91-b5b6-a0f6f24a5e71-link) 50. Merge Conflicts research dossier. Claim C-TJ-022. Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#77dc8c43-2980-4a55-b38c-b2d549e7b329-link) 51. Merge Conflicts research dossier. Legal and IP matrix, section 5. Claim C-STD-031. Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#79796eb3-ffcd-4c5c-bf92-020db91d5058-link) 52. WordPress Community. “Community Code of Conduct.” Make WordPress Handbook. Modified 2024-11-19. . Claim C-WPB-012. Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#9d22e91e-de6d-48b5-87e6-3443cd11b24f-link) 53. WordPress Community Team. “Incident report response procedure.” Make WordPress Community Handbook. . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#1db48f43-b46c-4653-aaa8-8395d69bb530-link) 54. Merge Conflicts research dossier. Claim C-WPB-001. Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#d503d2b8-f30c-4bf6-ba13-fff0b921a9c5-link) 55. WordPress Trac. “#55443: Create WebP sub-sizes and use for output.” Comments 112, 115 and 131 by Andrew Ozz, 2022-08-17, 2022-08-18 and 2022-08-24. . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#a1225ba7-069f-4dc7-9a46-42efd7dce858-link) 56. Matt Mullenweg. “WebP in Core for 6.1.” Make WordPress Core. 2022-09-11. . Comment by Adam Silverstein, 2022-09-21. Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#094bbe7d-7275-4c1b-9857-fa13701462dd-link) 57. WordPress Trac. Changesets 53751, 54085, 54086 and 54226, 2022-07-21 to 2022-09-19. , , , . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#c561a001-637f-46f1-8e29-db35951d1a12-link) 58. WordPress Core Team. “WordPress 6.1 Development Cycle.” Make WordPress Core. . Lists Matt Mullenweg as Release Lead and Beta 1 moved from 2022-09-20 to 2022-09-21. Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#cec602cc-8593-4edc-8816-60e5c2312b4c-link) 59. WordCamp US 2022. “Contributor Day.” . Held 2022-09-11, San Diego. Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#a2795f08-c9a3-4263-b1a2-8733bcfc8486-link) 60. WordPress Trac. “#55443: Create WebP sub-sizes and use for output.” Comments 112, 115 and 131 by Andrew Ozz, 2022-08-17, 2022-08-18 and 2022-08-24. . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#8e97a724-7ee3-4c90-897f-634320afe56f-link) 61. Matt Mullenweg. “WebP in Core for 6.1.” Make WordPress Core. 2022-09-11. . Comment by Adam Silverstein, 2022-09-21. Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#e7f26bf7-02a0-425e-81fa-045282afd110-link) 62. WordPress Community. “Community Code of Conduct.” Make WordPress Handbook. Modified 2024-11-19. . Claim C-WPB-012. Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#d94ede23-ae28-4595-939a-83fa475169d2-link) 63. Merge Conflicts research dossier. Claim C-YA-003 (account). Matt Mullenweg, message in #marketing, Making WordPress Slack, 2024-01-14 12:25:14 UTC. . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#dc88a2c2-4454-4c3b-ba57-dad899ab5a9a-link) 64. Matt Mullenweg. “Joost/Karim Fork.” WordPress.org News. 2025-01-11. . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#1c4950e4-e167-4b29-84b1-5c8e5f5a95f6-link) 65. WordPress Trac. “#50486 (Improve the admin notices accessibility).” core.trac.wordpress.org. Comments 82, 84, 97 and 100; changeset 64347, 2026-10-14. . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#8b6c348d-bbf2-46ba-9984-20d60e59fa70-link) 66. Matt Mullenweg. Message in #marketing, Making WordPress Slack. 2024-01-16 01:31:42 UTC. Claim C-FVD-005. . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#471d1cf6-9119-4fd9-a112-e4241685c60c-link) 67. WordPress Trac. “#50486 (Improve the admin notices accessibility).” core.trac.wordpress.org. Comments 82, 84, 97 and 100; changeset 64347, 2026-10-14. . Accessed 2026-11-13. [↩︎](#63491f7b-d53e-4685-9ed5-36a7de859abc-link) Also on:- [ website](https://fed.brid.gy) [](https://courtneyr.dev/2026/11/13/open-governance-license/)Courtney RobertsonWhat does an open source license decide, and what doesn’t it?