We Love WordPress So We Use It, but We Also Hide It
Several months, after a lengthy mailing list discussion about Chameleon, a so-called CMS that ironically was built on WordPress. I say ironically because nowhere on their website or spec sheet does Flip mention this fact. The software was being sold by FlipCorp for a lofty $6,800 USD, I wrote an entry about it spouting about GPL licensing especially as it pertains to plugins.
Now as I’ve said multiple places, I have no complaints about forked open source project. I don’t even have a problem with forked WordPress-based projects. However, give some credit where credit is due, especially since most of the workforce that built a rock-solid product is volunteer labor. Flip is simply stealing it without attribution, thanks or acknowledgement. Of course, none of the above is required by GPL which perhaps highlights a weakness in the license.
I bring this up again today because Martin Diessner is wearing out his Ctrl-C/Ctrl-V keystrokes by finally catching up with the news that (whisper) people are talking about him and is pasting identical responses all over the net.
My gripe remains. I don’t give a rats ass if you use WordPress, Martin. Lots of people use WordPress. Hell, I even use it as a CMS on some sites, a chore it was never tasked to do but does nicely. But cite your sources on your site. Don’t hide behind the fact that you use WordPress. Use it as a badge of honor. Are you afraid that clients won’t cough up $6,800 USD for your CMS that you give no public demonstration or proof of concept for if they know it is WordPress?
And I ask again, as I did on Technosailor this afternoon. Cite your plugins. Name and URL, please. Have the authors signed off on you using their work for a commercial venture that they undoubtedly make no money from you on?
Just curious. Inquiring minds want to know.
Well said Aaron…..
Aaron,
As I said before on other blogs/forums:
1) I am not a developer hence not in all these forums – none of you guys that have been in you lengthy discussion had the guts to pick up the phone and call or email. Nope – all of you keep on posting comments about a fact that is not a fact: Flip is not selling WP – we sell our plug-ins and consultancy for implementation. We are not a software company, but an interactive agency. Do your research, or simply contact the person/company that you spend 6 months discussiong things.
2) FlipCorp is called Flip Media. Just for the records.
3) Copy+C/V was not invented by me but you obviously figured that out, too. What do you think would you do if people accross multiple forums leave messages that are highly speculative and put you company, that is at the forefront of driving an entire market and doing a lot of CSR work, at risk? You post the same response channeling all communications back to your own corporate blog and site. Simple public relations basics.
4) Flip does give credits to all plugins and authors within the Chameleon deployed for our clients (which is hosted on Flip servers). You and others might be right that our documentation is not 100% up to speed – but you guys keep on bitching for 6 months about it instead of leaving one simple comment on our site or blog or email or just picking up the phone. What a poor community that does not know how to communicate properly? We are shifting some of our internal resources to go through all documentation, sites, blogs etc. and updating wherever it is required, and publishing source codes as well. Flip has never been in the dark hiding, we are about open publicity. As I said yesterday please contact me – but no one of your so called community has, everyone just keeps on bitching on their own blogs. Very constructive I must say and not helping the industry as such. Once we have re-worked our documentation and published all plugins and sources you will see that we add actually value – but you and anyone else could have saved yourself and us a lot of time by simply contacting us – and we would have updated our site/blog at that time instead of now.
I hope this is my last visit here and comment – if anyone else needs anything pls contact us through our site or via email and as I said before, we do respond to any suggestions openly and do get back to everyone.
Martin
Martin: Well, you know, It’s not like all this Ctrl-C/Ctrl-Ving took place overnight. The original wp-hackers mailing list thread and my own entry at Technosailor were written 5 weeks ago and forgotten about until you just discove4red someone was talking about you. If your name was so important to you, I recommend subscribing to a Technorati search that will alert you much quicker than 5 weeks too late. You’ll also see I’m not the only one talking.
Now feel free not to respond, Mr. Diessner. I’ll wait on your promise to have your people let me see Chameleon. Until then, I still question the ethics (mind you not the legality) of what you’re doing. I’ll just have to see the code and find out what you’re doing with WordPress.
Hi everyone,
in regards to this discussion, I’d like to invite you to join us at our company’s blog – http://www.flipblogspot.com – where we have created an open and centralized forum to discuss this. I think you’ll find that this issue has been resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.
I’d also like to invite you to our company’s site – http://www.flipcorp.com – where you can learn about our agency, our leadership role in an emerging online market, and our commitment to our community.
-YTT