People Wanted

There’s an apocryphal story about Ernest Shackleton putting an ad in the newspaper that read:

Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.

If you’ve read the book Endurance by Alfred Lansing, you know how that went. Pretty legendary. One of my most treasured possessions is actually a copy of Ernest Shackleton’s Heart of the Antarctic book signed by every member of the shore party and Shackleton.

You may have heard the news that we’re going to migrate Tumblr onto WordPress. Automattic has put up a similar page calling for talented engineers of any gender who want to join the voyage.

9 thoughts on “People Wanted

  1. I’m down to help. This sounds like a great project to put on resume largest migration in history! I’ve don’t a few thousand but not millions so I’m really interested oh my!

  2. Now I understand that your acquisition of Tumblr was an ingenious move that will significantly boost WordPress’s market share, potentially taking it from 43% to over 60% (?!) if those 500 million blogs are migrated

    But beyond just the numbers, it’s clear this is about more than just expanding market share. Integrating Tumblr brings a vibrant, creative community into the WordPress ecosystem, especially appealing to younger users. Plus, Tumblr’s unique social and content features could really complement WordPress, making this acquisition a strategic win for both Automattic and WordPress on multiple levels.

    Well done, Sir!

  3. “Some people think it’s impossible. But we say, ‘challenge accepted.'”

    Love this. I read of Shackleton’s escapades bit by bit while caring for my third child during the first weeks of newborn life. We spent more than a few nights together as stories of brave adventurers reminded me that tough challenges are often the best ones to tackle. Go get ’em.

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