The hive is really buzzing today about a Wordpress situation that was exposed on Waxy.org. Matt Mullenweg responded with a thoughtful and contrite blog post about the reasoning behind the situation, his regrets, the status of Wordpress, and his feelings abut the Wordpress community.

Coincidentally, this morning at breakfast I was reading Smart Mobs and keyed on a passage in chapter two, “Technologies of Cooperation,” about collective action dilemmas and the tension between self-interest and public good. The example that Marc Smith offered was the case in which people who don’t contribute are able to continue to watch public broadcasting because of the actions of those who do contribute. According to Smith, “Collective action dilemmas are the perpetual balancing of self-interest and public goods.”

There seems to be some disagreement among members of various factions in the discussion as it relates to Wordpress and Matt Mullegweg’s motivation. Was allowing a link farm on the Wordpress site for the good of Matt? Or was it done for the good of the community? If I’m reading Matt’s response correctly it was an ill-considered decision done for the good of the project around which the community has formed.

Aside from questions about forthrightness, honesty, reputation and other ethical matters, there is also the question about users who expect to get something for nothing. As a Wordpress user - a very happy Wordpress user - I appreciate the development community and the support that they provide to those of us who are beginning to recognize the worth and power of good tools for web publication. As with public broadcasting, public education, and other public services that I take advantage of - and appreciate - I can’t see how I can justify using Wordpress software without returning some of that support back to the community in the form of a donation. I will continue to support and use Wordpress.

Post Script: I’ve updated this post to take advantage of Bunny’s Technorati Tags, a plugin I just installed that will make things a bit tidier. While I’m at it I’ll just toss another comment out. Deception, which is what appears to have been happening, is an ethical issue that is destructive of relationships. It’s bad for personal friendships and it’s bad for business. Disclosure is a good first step to building and maintaining trust. As the web becomes more dynamic, reputation will be increasingly recognized as a valuable asset, as it has always been in more personal environments. Maybe there is a lesson here for everyone.