Well now I have to keep it open for a bit longer 😂

A lot of people really don't understand why ClassicPress happened (and continues) and it wasn't really Gutenberg, that was the last straw. The real reason was the lack of community-driven governance, aka dictatorship. Automattic's commercial interests drive decisions now, Google sponsored contributors pushing nonsense (WEBP) into core, etc. Now SQLite in the core? Whose going to embed WordPress in their smart toaster? 😂 If WordPress followed its own philosophy we wouldn't have most of these features in the core, it would remain light and plugins would continue to offer functionality.

But Automattic got investors, needed to start competing with website builders like Wix and SquareSpace, and also with plugins such as Beaver Builder and Elementor. Why build it themselves if they can leverage WordPress community to build it for them, it's cheaper.

What I really don't understand is how closed-minded some WordPress users are when it comes to forking WordPress. Open source thrives on forks, look at Linux OS's. WordPress is a fork! Forks fill specific needs their upstream parents can't or won't.

It's not WordPress vs ClassicPress, the question is "what's the right CMS for the user's needs?" ClassicPress will never surpass WordPress, it doesn't need to. It fills specific needs of its users whose needs were neglected or not fulfilled by WordPress (or other CMS).

I use WordPress most of the time, but the times I need something lighter and leaner, I use ClassicPress. It's a great option for headless and static generator sites. I know ClassicPress is used to power intranets, ecommerce sites, blogs, business websites, etc.

The real tragedy is that WordPress no longer follows its own philosophy, yet it's still listed on the website:

"The core of WordPress will always provide a solid array of basic features. It’s designed to be lean and fast and will always stay that way. We are constantly asked “when will X feature be built” or “why isn’t X plugin integrated into the core”. The rule of thumb is that the core should provide features that 80% or more of end users will actually appreciate and use. If the next version of WordPress comes with a feature that the majority of users immediately want to turn off, or think they’ll never use, then we’ve blown it. If we stick to the 80% principle then this should never happen."

ClassicPress is staying true to the WordPress philosophy.

We've made mistakes, but we're learning and improving. Community has funded ClassicPress, so they want it and we continue building it for them.

If you believe in open source and WordPress philosophy without cherrypicking, ClassicPress is always in need of core contributors 😉 Plus, our new ClassicPress-powered plugin/theme directory is going live soon.

Remember, you can use both, you can support both, and the world won't end 😀

Happy Holidays!