Derek Collison
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derekcollison.bsky.social
Derek Collison
@derekcollison.bsky.social
Technologist. Futurist.
CEO & Founder Synadia.com.
Creator of NATS.io and other stuff.
Kat, I was just stating facts, was not attacking anyone. But it was clear, and you are free to ask Todd, that they decided not to fight for the NATS trademark, they left that to Synadia.
April 26, 2025 at 6:17 PM
No not at all, and although we disagreed about things, I respected Dan. However, since the CNCF brought up the trademark, I felt it was important to point out that they did not want to fight for it. I think that is a fact worth stating.
April 26, 2025 at 6:00 PM
It does Liz, and we had planned that path, which unfortunately has been lost on the community.

What I did want to open a dialogue about is the projects that do not fit well into the guidelines for successful projects.

I thought it was a good conversation to have.
April 26, 2025 at 5:40 PM
I never was looking for that traction. I enjoy when folks contribute, but my position is that certain projects do not fit that mold and if they are driven by a single company for the most part that is ok.
April 26, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Not trying to be, but I do get frustrated with statements that are factually incorrect.
April 26, 2025 at 5:36 PM
We will look to clarify, but that has always been our position and intent.
April 25, 2025 at 10:53 PM
No need, but appreciate it.
April 25, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Synadia's plans, while not finalized, would be to have a BSL version of the server alongside the AP2 version. E.g we will do bug fixes and such to the 2.11 version which is the latest.
April 25, 2025 at 10:14 PM
We did provide clarity and attempted to point out the factually incorrect statements made by the CNCF. There will always be AP2 client and a version of the server, Synadia may have a BSL version of the server. That is allowed today and had nothing to do with our outreach to CNCF.
April 25, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Yea that was a new one for me.
April 25, 2025 at 10:11 PM
@benwilson.net the AMA will be public. We thought being available and transparently answering any questions the ecosystem may have was the correct next step after our response.
April 25, 2025 at 9:52 PM
The CNCF does guarantee the trademarks and branding and the AP2 license under its charter. But if all of the maintainers (Synadia), decide not to contribute that feels like a bad outcome for the ecosystem and one that I do not want.
April 25, 2025 at 9:50 PM
We were always committed to AP2 version of the server, so nothing would have changed there. The outreach was about if NATS is better off outside the CNCF.
April 25, 2025 at 9:48 PM
What you are missing is that the original intent of our outreach to the CNCF had nothing to do with Synadia considering a BSL version of the server. We can do that today. It was more on NATS and other projects like it not being a good fit for the CNCF. You might want to get your facts straight.
April 25, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Well that may be, but while the CNCF was posting a blog that contains quite a few blatantly false statements, and was meant to cause Synadia harm, we were continuing to post PRs and did a formal release of the server yesterday. We simply have different views of what is best for the OSS ecosystem.
April 25, 2025 at 9:19 PM
That of course is an option, and one that CNCF wants as well to protect any precedent. We have put quite alot into the NATS brand which we do not want to abandon, but instead continue to support. We just feel strongly projects like NATS are not a good fit the CNCF.
April 25, 2025 at 8:58 PM
I welcome you and @h.olysh.it to join the AMA next week.
April 25, 2025 at 8:55 PM
I know you were at the Switch as well to launch the CNCF and the rules at the beginning were quite different then now.
April 25, 2025 at 8:37 PM
And I feel strongly that a project's maintainers are the life blood of a project, not necessarily being part of a foundation.
April 25, 2025 at 8:35 PM
I respect your opinions of course Joe. But its pretty obvious to alot of folks that certain projects fit well into CNCF, like K8S, but other projects driven by a single company, like NATS, are not. We wanted to explore options with the CNCF of exiting but with a commitment to OSS and the ecosystem.
April 25, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Here is our official response. We are going to host a public AMA early next week as well for anyone interested.

www.synadia.com/blog/synadia...
Looking Ahead with Clarity and Purpose for NATS.io
Synadia has always championed open source, and this foundational principle remains unwavering.
www.synadia.com
April 25, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Forest Gump 😂
December 19, 2024 at 10:12 PM