PUTTY.ORG nothing to do with PuTTY – and now it's spouting pandemic piffle
- Reference: 1752768552
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/07/17/puttyorg_website_controversy/
- Source link:
An [1]unfolding controversy over the contents of a website that contained links to several different pieces of SSH-related software has escalated. At the time of writing, the owners of the website have replaced this content with anti-vaccination propaganda.
PuTTY is a well-known SSH client by [2]Simon Tatham , "a software engineer and free-software author in Cambridge, UK" as he describes himself. PuTTY has been around for a long time. As far as we can tell, The Register [3]first mentioned it in 2008 , when it was already about a decade old. The oldest release described in the [4]change history on its homepage is version "0.45 (released 1999-01-22)."
[5]
The issue began because the PuTTY homepage is [6]https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/ . The Register 's own Verity Stob [7]described it as a "charming, ancient website" back in 2013.
[8]
[9]
The PuTTY software, and Tatham's homepage, are hosted on [10]Chiark , which is a famous web server in its own right. Let's put it this way: in 2022 we [11]wrote a news story about the process of upgrading Chiark to Debian 11. Chiark has been running the same installation of Debian since 1993, when there were a total of 693 websites. Sure, its hardware has been upgraded quite a few times, but this is a 32-year-old OS installation. The copy of Debian on "Chiark" has a strong claim to be the oldest running web server.
The thing is that these days, many people tend to expect that well-known software would have a short, simple URL. Such as, in this case, PUTTY.ORG . For instance, Lithuanian hosting company Hostinger links to PUTTY.ORG when [12]discussing SSH , it's mentioned in answers on StackExchange, and PUTTY.ORG is the first hit on Bing, only then followed by the author's own site.
[13]
However, PUTTY.ORG is nothing to do with PuTTY or Simon Tatham. In fact, it's owned and run by [14]Bitvise , the vendor of proprietary SSH software for Windows, including a paid server and a free client.
This is not a case of typo squatting. Bitvise owns PUTTY.ORG and has since 2008, when it [15]looked like this – a simple, mostly text page, with pointers to the FOSS PuTTY client, and only after that, to Bitvise's own freeware SSH client and server. Before Bitvise, PUTTY.ORG belonged to an American [16]web consultancy of the same name.
Using a dot-org domain like this isn't actively misleading. The company did link to the real PuTTY site, and it did so before its own products. The number of sites linking to PUTTY.ORG show that this causes genuine confusion, but it is cheap advertising.
[17]
There was nothing deceptive there. Then blogger [18]PupRed contacted them to ask about it. It seems the company objected to this. Initially, it added a line below its FAQ, which read: "On July 13, 2025, Bitvise was contacted by a political interrogator posing as a journalist." It went on to reproduce the exchange, which we won't link to here as it could potentially compromise the individual's safety.
We contacted Bitvise, and the company's [19]co-founder , denis bider (who styles his name without capital letters) told us:
The story of this domain is pretty simple. It was originally registered in 1999 by unrelated third parties, for purposes unrelated to software. A few years later, I was miffed how difficult it is to find and verify the official PuTTY download page, so I purchased this domain from its original owners, and used it to point people to the official PuTTY page. Since I paid money for this, I also used it to mention my own software.
Now communists hate me for this, because people should not do things like that. So now I updated the page to provide a more important, critical public service.
The update to which he refers is live at the time of writing. Now PUTTY.ORG no longer links to Bitvise's own software; instead, it embeds a video by a COVID-denialist and anti-vaccination activist, retired pharmacologist [20]Michael Yeadon .
[21]Youtube Video
To be fair, bider's [22]own homepage refers to his own musings as "wacky, conspiracy-theorist posts," such as this one from March claiming " [23]Viruses are made up ." (By way of context, The Reg FOSS desk has a degree in biology and has studied viral reproduction. He can attest that viruses are entirely real, and vaccines help prevent humans and animals from becoming ill due to viral infections. Mr bider is wrong, and so is Dr Yeadon.)
[24]Open, free, and completely ignored: The strange afterlife of Symbian
[25]Google's Android boss suggests ChromeOS could be on borrowed time
[26]GParted: Still the best free partitioner standing – unless you're on a 32-bit box
[27]The price of software freedom is eternal politics
We also asked Simon Tatham, who said:
Despite the FAQ on putty.org stating that the site isn't associated with the PuTTY developers, there is still considerable confusion, and I'd like to have it more widely known that putty.org isn't the right place to go.
We hope this article helps clarify the issue. He continued:
Whatever the legalities of Bitvise's use of putty.org (and I've heard opinions in both directions), running a site like that seems like shockingly unprofessional behaviour, and I'm surprised it doesn't have more of an impact on Bitvise's general reputation. I wouldn't buy any product from a company who I knew behaved like that!
®
Bootnotes
In an era when people don't check who owns what before they link to it, we felt some explanation was necessary.
PuTTY capitalizes TTY because TTY is the Unix abbreviation for a terminal, [28]derived from Teletype . In the 1960s, when the original Unix was written, a [29]physical teletype was the main kind of hardware used to interact with computers. Nowadays tty is a [30]Linux command , but it's also found in other file names, such as [31]getty .
Historically, [32]putty was the substance glaziers used to secure glass in window frames.
Chiark is a place in the novel [33]The Player of Games by the [34]late great Iain Banks .
In case anyone from Hostinger should read this article and amend their SSH page, [35]this is how it looked at the time of writing.
At the start of 2025, PUTTY.ORG [36]looked like this .
When we started writing this article, there was an additional line accusing PupRed of deception.
At publication time, the page was filled with anti-science rhetoric. The Register has taken the decision not to link to the current live page.
Get our [37]Tech Resources
[1] https://blog.pupred.com/blog/puttyvsbitvise/
[2] https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2008/03/28/memory_sniffer_unveiled/
[4] https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/changes.html
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aHlydVgSB4nstdO9_2lygAAAAMs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2013/01/29/verity_stob_raspberry_pi/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aHlydVgSB4nstdO9_2lygAAAAMs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aHlydVgSB4nstdO9_2lygAAAAMs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/25/ancient_linux_install_upgraded/
[12] https://www.hostinger.com/tutorials/how-to-use-putty-ssh
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aHlydVgSB4nstdO9_2lygAAAAMs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://bitvise.com/
[15] https://web.archive.org/web/20080110140902/http://www.putty.org/
[16] https://web.archive.org/web/20031215164957/http://putty.org:80/
[17] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aHlydVgSB4nstdO9_2lygAAAAMs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[18] https://blog.pupred.com/
[19] https://bitvise.com/about-us
[20] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Yeadon
[21] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urglg3WimHA
[22] https://denisbider.com/
[23] https://web.archive.org/web/20250417152336/https://blog.denisbider.com/2025/03/05-viruses-are-made-up
[24] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/17/symbian_forgotten_foss_phone_os/
[25] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/16/android_replacing_chromeos/
[26] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/14/gparted_live_1708/
[27] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/12/the_price_of_software_freedom/
[28] https://www.linusakesson.net/programming/tty/
[29] https://www.howtogeek.com/727213/what-are-teletypes-and-why-were-they-used-with-computers/
[30] https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/linux-unix/tty-command-in-linux-with-examples/
[31] https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Getty
[32] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/putty
[33] https://theculture.fandom.com/wiki/The_Player_of_Games
[34] https://www.theregister.com/2013/06/09/iain_m_banks_dies_of_cancer/
[35] https://archive.ph/CrJ8i
[36] https://web.archive.org/web/20250103004125/https://www.putty.org/
[37] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Seeing the same
Quite a surprise, this is the first time I have seen www.somedomain & somedamin not simple being a redirect of each other.
Not only is it some conspiracy loon's bollocks, the image has Oracle on it, the horror!
Taking "denis bider (who styles his name without capital letters) ", shouldn't it be "mr bider" and not "Mr Bider", as used later in the article?
He'll be a SovCit, a group that believes the lowercase is the name and Firstname Surname is a legal fiction invented by the government against which they can borrow money.
Also that courts are maritime law if they have a frilled flag, even if they're up for speeding.
And they LOVE the Magna Carta. But often can't tell you which one, or cite things that just aren't in it.
The lowercase version of his name is how he chooses to present himself so we should respect his right to choose that. We dont have to respect his reasons why!
I am afraid that I respect neither him nor his lower case name or indeed his cranky ideas. It is my right to choose what I will or will not respect ;)
> not "Mr Bider", as used later in the article?
I didn't, though. He doesn't get to choose what happens with titles, so I wrote "Mr bider".
Just do the right thing!
PuTTY has far more right to the domain than Mr. NoCase.
Do the right thing already and donate the domain to Simon instead of filling it with conspiracy theories.
Re: Just do the right thing!
> PuTTY has far more right to the domain
That is not how domain registration works.
Until the idiot "journalist" started complaining the site was quite clear that it was not owned by putty's author nor affiliated with him and even went so far as to prominently link to the authoritative source without, I presume, ever being asked. That is far less misleading than the junk on pupred.com and much, much better behaviour than you usually see from internet advertisers.
He's wrong about the viruses and the vaccines but people are allowed to be wrong on the internet.
Re: Just do the right thing!
> the site was quite clear that it was not owned by putty's author nor affiliated with him
You say that.
It may be "quite clear" to you, but not to everyone. As I noted, Bing offers it as the top result and the real site second. And that means that Duckduckgo does as well, for instance.
So do multiple StackOverflow posts, e.g.
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/30387443/working-with-putty
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/11760794/telnet-to-android-emulator-with-putty/30035040
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/16498777/how-can-i-use-two-bitbucket-accounts-with-seperate-ssh-keys-on-one-pc-with-tor
It is _not_ in fact clear, and the erroneous source is widely distributed.
Re: Just do the right thing!
The person who paid for it is the person who has a right to it.
PUTTYisnotPuTTY. org
A temporary home for PuTTY?
Re: PUTTYisnotPuTTY. org
Did you miss the part where putty's current and very much not-temporary home is very likely to be the longest-running website on the internet?
I think Simon Tatham is happy enough with its current location.
Perhaps denis bider & co are feeling desperate for attention now Microsoft bundled open ssh server/client with windows server/client, showing Microsoft encourage and maybe even tests a free alternative to their product.
I used to use it many years ago, but Windows has its own ssh client now that works just fine.
PuTTY "gets" copy/paste
But windows lost its serial terminal. Putty works great for rs232
Hyperterminal was occasionally extremely useful!
These days I use mobaxterm. It’s kinda a superset of putty and extremely good.
Another vote for MobaXterm. As well as SSL, it's good for connecting to WSL without resorting to the god-awful Windows terminal.
This is good work
Thank you for this public service. And not linking to them is the cherry on top - absolutely the right choice.
FWIW I've used Bitvise's SSH Server software for SFTP purposes, and it was decent enough. If it were my choice I'd just fire up a Linux box and provide SFTP with that, but if you're a Windows shop and are afraid of Penguins then Bitvise have you covered.
(And being a Windows shop with little Linux experience seemed to be the common strand each time I've encountered it.)
My only reservation was the logging, which uses XML. Heavily attribute-laden XML. Each connection generated a stream of almost impenetrable XML, which would be logged into files rolled over at 64Mb. My personal opinion is that such a thing should never exist, and some kind of punishment should be meted out to whoever decided that was acceptable logging. But being an anti-vaxxer is probably too severe a punishment, so maybe the universe over-corrected here?
Interesting
Been using it since it started but never knew where the chiark name came from, and I've read all of Banks many times
(That means I'm worryingly an el'reg stereotype)
Re: Interesting
It is part of the full name of the eponymous player of games himself:
Chiark-Gevantsa Jernau Morat Gurgeh dam Hassease, I believe. Those books affected me quite a lot. They rather stick in the memory.
Re: Interesting
IIRC he's only called Morat-Gurgeh after the first use of the full name
" The Reg FOSS desk has a degree in biology and has studied viral reproduction "
I have done neither, but bloody hell, if one needs to wave credentials to state the bloody obvious then we're screwed.
You are right. We *are* bloody screwed.
>We *are* bloody screwed.
Hopefully not as a result of of viral reproduction
Well now we have social media to challenge the obvious (established proven scientific theory). Aren't we lucky?
"Nowadays tty is a Linux command"
tty has been a Unix command since the very beginning, as you can see here: https://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Distributions/Research/Dennis_v1/UNIX_ProgrammersManual_Nov71.pdf
Re: "Nowadays tty is a Linux command"
A fair point.
The form that I learned in the 1980s was:
stty sane
... Which reset the terminal handler when SCO XENIX got its knickers in a twist.
Re: "Nowadays tty is a Linux command"
You had "stty sane" ?
Luxury
We had to do echo ^v^o
And we had to pronounce the ctrl key
Unless I'm seeing a cached version, it seems to have gone back to how it used to be now. [Edit] Okay actually, putty.org contains wacko conspiracy rubbish but www.putty.org contains the old content. The latter is what google links to as the top result for putty.