Facing calls for him to step down, he said he would not resign.
“[The role is] a lot more like being a mayor than a CEO.”
His remarks come amid growing criticism of his handling of the WP Engine dispute.
It contends that Mullenweg is doing more to hurt FOSS development.
The fallout has led to a class-actionlawsuitagainst Automattic over accusations of unfair business practices around WordPress governance.
Even with all this pressure, Mullenweg has made it clear he’s not stepping down.
Industry experts are split on this.
Some say WP Engine benefits from WordPress without giving back, which could hurt the platform’s future.
Others think Mullenweg is pushing too hard for payments that the GPL doesn’t require.
From a legal standpoint, WP Engine isn’t doing anything wrong, but the debate goes beyond legality.
It’s about whether companies profiting from open-source software owe it to the community to contribute.
