I tweeted my thoughts but will repost here…

Maintaining free WordPress plugins is work. But let’s be clear. They acquired this plugin precisely to acquire its existing user base in order to monetize them.

This isn’t a ”Poor free plugin developer needs to make money” story. This isn’t a “plugin developers need to make money too” story.

The free plugin they acquired had a far larger user base than the paid plugin they already offered. They saw an opportunity to piggyback on those users.

They bought this plugin to do this.

I’m a proponent of monetization. I sell a fully paid WordPress product. But I don’t support the practice of acquiring a popular free plugin to try and take advantage of its users in shady ways.

That is what happened.

They deserve the scorn.