Because with what you are asking WPEngine, that will be the result. Other hosts will follow to not be taken hostage by your opinions. So if WPEngine creates another repository for their customers and the very popular plugins they acquired, how do you plan on reconciling their solution with WordPress'? What happens once there's several Extend stores? What happens to authors who need to push plugins to all stores? What happens if I'm hosted on wp.com (and I am paying whatever tier allows me to install plugins) who doesn't use WPEngine's plugins repository and I want an updated ACF?
Comments
Because with what you are asking WPEngine, that will be the result. Other hosts will follow to not be taken hostage by your opinions. So if WPEngine creates another repository for their customers and the very popular plugins they acquired, how do you plan on reconciling their solution with WordPress'? What happens once there's several Extend stores? What happens to authors who need to push plugins to all stores? What happens if I'm hosted on wp.com (and I am paying whatever tier allows me to install plugins) who doesn't use WPEngine's plugins repository and I want an updated ACF?