So the new 2.3 version of WordPress is named “Dexter”, after the late great jazz saxophonist Dexter Gordon?

Funny. Since my senses (mainly sight) have been assaulted for the past few weeks with ads announcing the upcoming second season of Showtime’s serial killer series “Dexter”, that’s the first thing that came to my mind. I’d accuse the WP folks of selling out via subtle product placement, but given the non-profitness of the development project, I’d say that’s highly unlikely.

However, the comparison to the serial-killer anti-hero theme isn’t wholly unwarranted. For everyone rushing out to download and install 2.3 before taking another breath, I’d like to remind them about what happened with version 2.1.1, when someone hacked into WP’s servers and planted malicious site-hijacking code into the install file. Is it really worth risking the potential damage? Do yourself a favor and wait about a week, when any funny business is likely to be uncovered. No one’s got a gun to your head.

That’s my plan. The only reason I’m even considering the upgrade is to try out the new integrated tagging option, even though I’m cool to the idea of tags anyway (my feeling is that categories should take care of the semantic mapping of blog content; tagging feels like overkill). Plus I believe there’s a built-in auto-backup option. But my WP upgrades never go smoothly, despite the promises, so I’m wary from the start. I do have a new host this time around, so we’ll see.