The WP Minute+

In this episode of WP Minute+, I sat down with John O'Nolan, founder and CEO of Ghost, to discuss the open-source publishing platform and how it compares to WordPress in light of recent controversies. John's unique perspective as a former WordPress core team member and now leader of a competing platform provided fascinating insights into the challenges and opportunities in the open-source CMS space.

Our conversation covered a wide range of topics, from Ghost's opinionated approach to feature development to the structure of its non-profit foundation. I was particularly struck by John's commitment to keeping Ghost focused and relatively small, with a goal of never growing beyond 50 employees. This intentional constraint, he argues, fosters creativity and helps maintain the team's agility and sense of purpose.

Throughout our discussion, I was impressed by John's thoughtful approach to balancing commercial success with open-source ideals. His insights on the need for clear incentives in community contributions and the potential for paid open-source development challenged some long-held assumptions in the WordPress world. As someone who has used both platforms, I found myself reconsidering some of my own views on the future of content management systems and open-source sustainability.