5mo ago

A more complete explanation for the removal of those Russian Linux kernel maintainers

lore.kernel.org /netdev/e7d548a7fc835f9f3c9cb2e5ed97dfdfa164813f.camel@HansenPartnership.com/t/

tension on kernel mailing lists continues to grow as a Linux Foundation board member finally replies with a "summary of the legal advice the kernel is operating under" re: enforcing US sanctions

lore.kernel.org /netdev/e7d548a7fc835f9f3c9cb2e5ed97dfdfa164813f.camel@HansenPartnership.com/t/

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25 comments

Personally I’m glad the sanctions have some bite. You can’t expect to just keep living your life as you wish when your country is obliterating its neighbors and disrupting stability worldwide.
- Hey guys we're going to blow up the maternity hospital and shell the nuclear plant: I sleep
  You can't work on your software project anymore: REAL SHIT
  
  The author seems to complain a lot and not blame much on their shitty country.
- Same should go for Israel too... But you know, they buy lots of weapons from their sponsors.
  
  You know there are massive differences between the war that Russia started and the war that Hamas started.
- And how exactly is banning these contributors supposed to stop the invasion? These people have no control or culpability.
  
  When Russian citizens understand there are direct consequences to them, Russian citizens stop supporting Putin’s actions.
  
  It's supposed to put the LF in line with sanctions rather than at risk. They have no control over the invasion (aside from pushing a malicious patch that shuts down all Linux systems or something)
- Bruh I live in the USA. The state has been murdering people and disrupting stability since its inception. I've never been fired from any job because of it.

What I don't understand about this whole situation: why does it matter where commits originate from if you're dealing with an open source project? Does the Linux kernel not peer review code? Can't security researchers from around the world comb over the source code for vulnerabilities/malware? Or is this all just political theatrics?
- They’re not allowed to be collaborating with people who work for certain Russian companies. It’s not a question of security, it’s a question of US law requiring US entities to punish through non-cooperation certain companies that are assisting in the war effort or whatever.
  It might or might not be fair, but it isn’t up to the kernel developers, it’s a legal requirement for them.
- Not about code security (even thought that is certainly important by itself). Sanctions are about political and economical isolation, is not that you don't trust their companies, is that you want to unplug them as a punishment.
- If 10 people are sitting at a table…

25 comments