Well, WordPress.org has its PageRank back (now that the junk articles are gone), and is once again the first search result for its own name. Matt, still on vacation, tracked down an Internet connection in Italy and posted a preliminary response to the “villagers with torches and pitchforks”. Waxy.org has also posted a follow-up, including a statement from Hot Nacho (who produced the articles).
Update: And here’s the official response.
I have to side with Matt on this one. Though there were plenty of things he could have and should have done differently, he is a tech guy who now needs to realize he is running a business with a dedicated and easily aggitated community. Those who are the greatest evangelists of your products can also lead to its quickest demise.
I also have a sincere problem with the difference in numbers between what Matt claims (1000+ articles) and HotNacho which claims 168,000. Its not like splitting the difference brings the two much closer.
I have actually managed to turn this little “scandal” into a three part series on my blog. Part I is up, with Parts II and III later today.