From the perspective of this humble web designer, Gutenberg is the final straw. I've been a user and promoter of WordPress for ten years and it has provided me with a low-cost way to create custom websites for my clients. I'm not a programmer--never was and never will be--but I could still learn to create templates that met my clients' needs, and empower them to run their own websites.

I often got folks started on WP.com if they didn't have money for a custom site. However, after the "Beep-Beep-Boop" fiasco I advised against using WP.com. Why? Because the environment became, IMHO, very user-hostile. Features were added, features were taken away, the UI changed willy-nilly, without notice and with no regard for the expectations of the users. The forums were full of people with problems and complaints but those were mostly minimized. I work with primarily non-technical people, many of whom are older--and constant changes are anathema to these folks. "Get over it and learn the new way" is not how I treat my clients!

Even as WP.com got more chaotic, self-hosted WordPress continued to offer an environment of predictability and stability. But recently Automattic's tentacles have driven deeper into the self-hosted space, primarily via Jetpack. Now it is clear that self-hosted WP is not an independent entity, but a fully owned subsidiary of Automattic, and Automattic is in the business of growing its market share regardless of its impact on WP.org. Fine for Automattic, maybe not so fine for the legions of independent WP developers. Who can say? There does not, as many commenters have noted, seem to be a very clear path forward.

Is Gutenberg an opportunity for improving WP? Quite probably. However, what happens to clients who cannot afford to pay for major revisions to their custom theme? What about the cost of re-training? I cannot absorb those costs, and frankly many of my clients can't either. They will be left with an out-of-date and thus insecure installation.

There's always a watershed moment with any technology, and I've reached mine. WordPress gave me a good ten-year run, but I'm done with it. I cannot continue to invest in a platform that has transformed from being stable, user-friendly and accessible to one that is profit- and "market-share"-driven.

If you're still monitoring this discussion, Matt, here's a tidbit for you: I am now recommending Squarespace to all my clients who need a new or refreshed website. SS's support and help resources are FAR superior to WP.com's offering; the UI is stable and intuitive; and e-commerce is baked right in. For my customer base (micro businesses, shoestring nonprofits, and personal blogs), Squarespace is the perfect platform for the price. (Yeah it's rude for promoting the competition but I am totally serious about this, and no, I am not a shill for SS.)