This went from "hey you guys shouldn't use WP Engine because it's not Real WordPress" to "WP Engine is violating trademarks and isn't welcome in the WordPress community anymore" really f'in quick!
Just as an FYI: this is a really really bad look from the outside. Your CEO's comments and the new trademark policy sound borderline deranged, and this step of banning them dangerously destabilizes the ecosystem.
WP Engine may be just as bad as you say, but if so they just successfully baited you into making yourselves look like the bad guys.
Yes - I don’t use WP and have no experience with either of those companies but everything I’ve heard about this has been people looking into alternatives because this raises the question of whether it’s motivated by a desire to boost revenue and merely the first step in the process.
OK. But do you really think this public bullying abuse of power from your increasingly unstable-sounding CEO is going to play out well? Good luck I guess.