I’d really like to see the criteria for delisting people, though. As Russia is not the only one waging wars, there are worse countries out there. I guess it all boils down to Linus being from Finland.
Yeah the kernel might end up being forked if this shit keeps going. Sanctions affecting open source software like this was not something I expected…
Nah. If anything, USian and non-Russian companies will add one or two more devs to their efforts to take up the slack. Linux is the bedrock of their revenue streams.
There may be worse countries, but rest of the word is not in a proxy war with them.
An update:
If your company is on the U.S. OFAC SDN lists, subject to an OFAC sanctions program, or owned/controlled by a company on the list, our ability to collaborate with you will be subject to restrictions, and you cannot be in the MAINTAINERS file.
That sounds like an advice, not something official? Also why is an open source project affected by US sanctions? It’s not an US open source project, or is it?
Linux Foundation (of which Linus is an employee) is an US entity. RISC-V International foresaw this and chose to incorporate in Switzerland.
But does it mean they own Linux? They list (support I guess) a lot of projects, including RISC-V. BTW smart move from RISC-V
The Linux kernel (the code) is open-source. Linux Foundation (the people who write said code) is headquartered in the US. The US can decide what Linux Foundation can and cannot do, who works there, etc. They can’t control who uses the code.
The US and EU governments have the criteria for sanctions available.
- https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/sanctions-against-russia/sanctions-against-russia-explained/
- https://ofac.treasury.gov/sanctions-programs-and-country-information/sanctions-related-to-significant-malicious-cyber-enabled-activities
- https://ofac.treasury.gov/sanctions-programs-and-country-information/russian-harmful-foreign-activities-sanctions
- https://www.bmwk.de/Redaktion/EN/FAQ/sanctions-against-russia/faq-russland-sanktionen.html
- https://www.trade.gov/russia-sanctions-and-export-controls
