A lot of chatter here and on twitter claims that WPEngine is contributing back to WordPress by having ACF, Local, and deCODE, and for me that’s not contributing back to the commons. Here’s my argument of why not:
ACF is a freemium model, it gets people in the door, and hopes to convert them. You do that in wp.org and now you have a great distribution system. Apple will lock you to their payment system because you piggyback on the distribution system it set up.
Now, if we’re to really stick to the freemium model, we now need to include WooCommerce, Jetpack, WPScan, and all other Automattic freemium products, and at this point, Automattic is contributing far greater back that WPEngine.
Local is a funnel: Local as a software, is limited only to WPEngine hosts, if it was truly contributing, you should be able to link any host. It was initially paid but making it free and letting people convert has better ROI.
If you still consider this contribution, then it can be matched by wp.com Studio, which is the same model, or free wordpress.com blogs, which honestly served the ecosystem much better by giving everyone free website that they can later take to a different host if needed.
deCODE is a marketing event: the sole and main goal of that event is to convert developers into clients, and its been their most successful marketing outlet.
For me, events should be solely for the community, not a funnel to drive sales pipelines and collect emails. wp_action, local meetups, and other community driven events are what matters.