Since publishing this article, I've come under fire for using the popularity of WP Tavern to force VersionPress to use the GPL. First of all, this is not true. I didn't force anything. The licensing decision was in their hands all along. I explained to Borek Bernard that they would be shooting themselves in the foot in the WordPress community if they chose not to use the GPL or a compatible license. I also told him influential members of the WordPress community would likely ignore the project and not publicly talk about it.

I suggested in order to make it easy on everyone, to license it under the GPL or a compatible license but at no point did I use language that was threatening or would force their hand. The email was more a less an explanation of what I've observed in the WP community over the past 7 years. Had VersionPress decided to not use GPL or a compatible license, I likely would have deleted the post and that's the last time I'd publicly promote the project. Myself and several others would have been pretty disappointed since it's a great project but that was THEIR CHOICE to make.

I wrote about, witnessed, and participated in many GPL debates, including the infamous Thesis debacle where the threats of lawsuits sprang up. The bottom line is, if you are entering the WordPress product market and don't use the GPL or a compatible license, then good luck to you because you'll need it. Matt Mullenweg is a very strong advocate of open source and in particular the GPL and the freedoms it provides.

His influence spreads far and wide. A great example of this is when ThemeForest authors were banned from speaking, organizing, sponsoring or volunteering in WordCamps which ultimately lead Envato to allow authors the choice to GPL license their themes. What happened to Jake Caputo could happen to anyone else or a business for that matter. It's interesting to note that was accomplished without any legal threats.

Basically, you significantly increase your chances of success in the WordPress community by aligning with the GPL or a compatible license. Some would argue that you have no choice but I beg to differ. I can't force any software developer to decide one way or another but there are a lot of external pressures that point towards going a particular direction. I explained those pressures and influences in the WP community to VersionPress and they ultimately decided it would be in their best interest to be GPL licensed and would give them their best shot at being funded and supported by an influential part of the community.