---
title: WordPress Almost Didn’t Happen
description: 'This post reflects on the impact of choices in technology, considering how Matt’s decision to start WordPress shaped the internet’s landscape.'
doc_version: current
last_updated: '2026-01-14T12:07:10.000Z'
date: '2025-10-07T16:19:03.000Z'
author: Rich Tabor
summary: 'This post reflects on the impact of choices in technology, considering how Matt’s decision to start WordPress shaped the internet’s landscape.'
tags:
  - Advice
  - WordPress
published: true
type: blog
url: /choosing-open
canonical: https://richtabor.com/choosing-open
id: 7060
---

What if Matt had joined Google instead of starting [WordPress](https://wordpress.org)?

The internet might have felt a little less like ours.

In his [recent post](https://ma.tt/2025/10/linkrot/), Matt mentioned _“How the internet might have turned out differently if I had taken that job, as my mom wanted me to (because they offered free food).”_

Funny line. But also wild to think about. It’s incredible how much of the web traces back to one person deciding to build something open.

I think about that sometimes. The tiny choices that ripple out for decades. Who’s choosing open now? And what will that mean twenty years from here?

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