WordPress was started by two users of b2/cafelog named Matt Mullenweg, and Mike Little when the developers of b2/cafelog decided to discontinue it. Matt and Mike decided to build a new platform on top of b2/cafelog. The first version of WordPress was released on May 27, 2003. One year later version 1.2 was released. That came with plugin architecture. This addition enabled users and developers to increase the functionality of WordPress by writing their own plugins and sharing with the community. In 2005 WordPress 1.5 was released and that included pages, and themes. In 2006 Automattic (a company founded by Matt Mullenweg) filed the trademark registration for WordPress and the WordPress logo. In 2010 Automattic transferred the trademark to the WordPress Foundation assuring that WordPress could continue to grow independent of any company or group of developers.
WordPress.org is the "open-source" branch of WordPress. It's WordPress.org that is the community of contributers that make WordPress work. WordPress.org supports the idea of "democratizing publishing". WordPress is licensed under th General Public License. Their are four core freedoms enjoyed under this license according to WordPress.com. They are the freedom to use the program for any purpose. The freedom to study and change the program however you see fit. The freedom to redistribute the software. And the freedom to redistribute your modified versions to others. This is also where you would go to download the software.
According to their website WordPress.com is "a hosted version of the open source software, WordPress." WordPress.com offers hosting, domain names, website builder etc. WordPress.com is what the .com says it is. It's the commercial arm of WordPress. Their packages start as low as $4.00 per month all the way to the enterprise package that starts at $25,000 per year.
From a platform built as a blogging engine to one of the most robust CMS systems around WordPress has taken over the web world. They boast that 43% of the web is built on WordPress and I don't doubt it one bit. As I go around inspecting sites to see what makes them tick, it's sometimes difficult to find one that isn't WordPress. And why not? WordPress is easy to use, it's free, and it's immensely expandable with free plugins. I built my website on WordPress over a decade ago, and didn't even know what WordPress was! But it sure was easy, and I haven't changed it since. Perhaps after this class I'll have to revisit my site and see what I can do with it.