I do read! And I hope you consider WordPress for something in the future and don't let a PE firm's bad behavior forcing us into a public fight cloud your user experience.
You were not forced into anything. You chose to take these actions.
Furthermore, you stealthily edited your trademark policy to make it appear as if the name "WP Engine" was violating it, when in fact you specifically called out (with no caveats) that the "WP" initials were okay to use for a decade. This demonstrates bad faith on your part.
If your company is harmed from these actions, then the blame will be squarely on your shoulders, and I hope your board of directors does the right thing and fires you.
Edit: To be crystal clear, and to address the rest of your comment directly, the only way I would consider Wordpress for anything of my own or recommend it to my clients at any point in the future is if you issued an unconditional apology and resigned from your position.
I never said that was THE problem, I was simply using it to show that Automattic is acting in bad faith.
Besides, that’s BS and if you don’t already know it you need to speak with a competent attorney. Trademarks must be defended in a timely manner to be maintained, and they’ve been using those terms for years. That ship has sailed.
Stop digging yourself a deeper hole and start thinking about what you can do to repair the goodwill you’re burning.
Not that many, frankly a drop in the bucket compared to the total number of WordPress[0] users, but I hope that others will take the same position. I have spoken to others who generally feel the same way that I do.
[0] This is nominative trademark fair use. Please don’t sue me, Matt!
Furthermore, you stealthily edited your trademark policy to make it appear as if the name "WP Engine" was violating it, when in fact you specifically called out (with no caveats) that the "WP" initials were okay to use for a decade. This demonstrates bad faith on your part.
If your company is harmed from these actions, then the blame will be squarely on your shoulders, and I hope your board of directors does the right thing and fires you.
Edit: To be crystal clear, and to address the rest of your comment directly, the only way I would consider Wordpress for anything of my own or recommend it to my clients at any point in the future is if you issued an unconditional apology and resigned from your position.