Goodbye TWiki - Open Letter

Goodbye TWiki

The conditions set by TWiki.net means that I..

• am basically expected to work for TWiki.net for free
• that community decisions I am part of can always be overthrown by the dictator for life who has already shown that he will use this power to promote his business at the expense of other community members

I have been very supportive of Peter since I joined in 2004. And I supported the founding of TWiki.net in 2007.

Since then the conditions on this project has changed completely. TWiki has been a project developed by volunteers working for free. TWiki.net never really grew to contribute anything except a little funding of some development and getting us a new server.

The project developed in the time from 2004 to be Peter Thoeny driven to being a completely open project where people participated on equal terms. For a long time feature proposals have been accepted in a democratic way. Our Subversion has been open to anyone with the heart and mind at the right place.

In 2008 Peter Thoeny demanded to be re-instated as dictator for life. This was not accepted by the community. Instead the community started the formation of an association that elects a small board of directors that then manages the project. It was made clear that it was association or fork.

And in October 2008 TWiki.net put even tighter controls on the community asking all to what I interpret at swearing loyalty to TWiki.net and to Peter.

It was in practical a move to kick out the developers that did not want to work for free for TWiki.net. The way the events took place in the period from September to end October is so nasty and dirty from TWiki.net that I can never ever trust that company and in particular Peter again. We were so close to forming an association in which Peter and TWiki.net could develop their business with the community. And then you decided to kick us in the face.

The fork has happened now. And the result is that probably 99% of the developers left with the fork. That is more than any of us would have ever dreamed of and for sure more than TWiki.net expected.

The result is: TWiki is dead - killed by Peter Thoeny - who never understood the feelings and the needs of the community and who let greed for gold take over.

And the fork on http://nextwiki.org (name subject to change) is born. And already the first week we have had more progress on the fork than we had in a year here. What is more surprising is that a lot of new people join - just to support the spirit of open source. It has again become fun to work on the project. Yes we argue loudly about things but we do it with warm hearts and with love and respect for each other.

Legally the TWiki name belongs to Peter.

But ethically that brand name should have belonged to the community that took the program sources from insignificant toy to professionel business application. I feel that something was stolen from me.

I am sorry Peter. I regarded you as friend. But you have made it impossible for me to support your latest moves.

People that have followed the project lately will know that Kenneth Lavrsen would be the last person to join a fork. The fact that I of all have joined - and taken active part in managing it - shows that things have gone very wrong on TWiki - in a way that cannot be made right again.

Good bye. See you all on http://nextwiki.org. We will receive you with open arms. You are also welcome to join even if you do not leave TWiki. We do not force people to choose side.

To the customers of TWiki. I can guarantee that I will continue with even more energy to ensure you also in future can continue using this fine tool in your business. I can guarantee that we will develop the tool to be even better, we will fix bugs, we will close security holes, maintain plugins, and maintain compatibility with your content. But it will be under a new name.

Kenneth