Dries Buytaert, the founder of Drupal, recently made a post commenting on the global WordPress community war, citing Drupal’s similar struggles. He mentioned his acquaintance with Matt Mullenweg, the founder of WordPress, as fellow open-source software CMS creators. On the other hand, he also acknowledged Heather Brunner and Founder Jason Cohen of WP Engine as an outsider who refrains from taking sides in the conflict.
Identifying a common issue faced by Drupal and other open-source projects, Dries highlighted the imbalance between makers and takers of software development efforts. The overemphasis on benefiting solely from software without contributing back can jeopardize the entire project’s sustainability, leading to demotivation among makers who receive no recognition for their work.
Addressing this long-standing challenge, Dries proposed the implementation of a Contribution Credit System within the Drupal development process. This system would track and credit individuals and organizations for their contributions, encompassing not only coding but also documentation, event organization, and financial support.
Furthermore, makers within the Drupal community would receive benefits such as advertising on Drupal.org and priority listing on the Drupal Marketplace, based on their credited contributions. Dries emphasized the importance of establishing the Drupal Association as a neutral non-profit organization to promote equality and stimulate member engagement in Drupal’s development.
In conclusion, Dries encouraged the WordPress community to consider establishing a similar independent organization and implementing a Contribution Credit System to address shared challenges effectively.
TLDR: Dries Buytaert discusses the conflict within the WordPress community and proposes a Contribution Credit System to address the imbalance between software makers and takers in open-source projects, emphasizing the importance of neutral governing bodies like the Drupal Association.
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