[olejorgenb]

> throwing shitload of money to the big actors of a field

My reply was directed at this part. Based on my memory seeing ironcalc specifically getting funding. Unless they hide it well they are not a big actor. And the project looks interesting and worthy to me. (I see I should have omitted the nextgraph link as I'm not familiar at all with that project)

Few of the projects listed here seems to be big actors: https://nlnet.nl/project/index.html

Some projects funded by NLnet: Organic Maps, KDE Connect, KDE Plasma Wayland, Bottles (Builds on Wine IIRC), Briar, mitmproxy, Nextcloud, Wireguard

Note: NLnet is an independent organization, but it seems to get quite some support from EU. Maybe you would argue NLnet itself is a big actor?

I think funding already established, respected donor organizations is a decent strategy.