WordPress creator Matt Mullenweg has taken exception to the editor used in Wix’s mobile app, alleging that the do-it-yourself web building service has copied his platform’s editor and failed to give proper attribution and adhere to the general public license (GPL) — basically open source your work.
“If I were being honest, I’d say that Wix copied WordPress without attribution, credit, or following the license. The custom icons, the class names, even the bugs. You can see the forked repositories on GitHub complete with original commits from Alex and Maxime, two developers on Automattic’s mobile team,” he wrote in a blog post. “Wix has always borrowed liberally from WordPress — including their company name, which used to be Wixpress Ltd. — but this blatant rip-off and code theft is beyond anything I’ve seen before from a competitor.”
At the center of this controversy is the Wix app which was released earlier this month and allows Wix’s customers to manage their websites while on the go in real-time. It comes with features such as the ability to have live chat, manage your ecommerce store, blog on the go, manage hotel bookings, and receive updates around your business operations. The company is in a similar space as WordPress, enabling users to quickly get a website up and running while keeping the content fresh without needing to hire a developer.
Most people may not see what the issue is, but once you dig deeper into the code, this is what has Mullenweg bothered. It’s not that he minds that you borrow work for yourself, but you have to abide not only by the letter and the spirit of the GPL — essentially pay it forward. It’s through this principle that WordPress’ creator says the platform has been able to flourish, powering 25 percent of the web including VentureBeat for more than a decade.
He puts it this way: “If you want to close the door on innovation, Wix, that’s your decision to make — just write your own code. If you’re going to join the open source community, play by the open source rules.”
Mullenweg said that Wix can make things whole by open sourcing its app under the GPL and having the source code on GitHub so everyone can take advantage of the contributions.
We’ve reached out to Wix for comment and will update if we hear back.