I have been a fan evangelist of the WordPress blogging software for years. I also love the Akismet spam plugin and have recently played around with WordPress.com. So I thought it was a perfect fit to ask Matt Mullenweg if he’d be interested in participating in my 5 Question Interview series. Matt co-created the WordPress blog software project with Mike Little. WordPress has become one of the most used blog software packages in the blogosphere. At the young age of 23, Matt helps run Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, Akisment, bbPress, and Ping-o-Matic.
Matt is very transparent and, from what I’ve seen in all the videos of his presentations as well as our email communications, a very nice guy. He runs his own blog at photomatt.net. Enjoy:
1. You created one of the most popular blog software applications in the world. What was the motivation?
Like many open source projects, I really just wanted something that I would personally enjoy using.
2. What possessed you to give it away for free? Do you regret that choice?
Not for a second. I’ve benefited so much from open source software and the generosity of others in my life, releasing my own work under the GPL feels very natural, and is the rule rather than the exception.
3. Why PHP? How has PHP scaled for you in regards to wordpress.com? Have you found anything particularly challenging?
PHP is great. There are small inconsistencies in the syntax and arguments sometimes, but given all the advantages I really can’t imagine doing a web app like WordPress or Akismet in anything else. It’s been very easy and cheap to scale, as has MySQL.
4. Recently a blogger posted a very negative comment about you, which he has since taken down. You posted the comment verbatim on your blog without any response or commentary. What was your rationale for this? Where does your obvious sense of openness and transparency come from?
In hindsight it probably would have been better to just ignore the blog post, I was just shocked by how out of touch with reality some of the assertions were.
Openness and transparency follows pretty naturally from open source, but most of all I just find it easier than not being open.
5. You are super young. What’s next for Matt Mullenweg?
My general approach to life is just to experiment, fail fast, and run with what sticks. As Automattic grows I think there will be alot more room for experimental projects outside of WordPress.com and Akismet, so
I’m looking forward to breaking new ground.