Free software during wartime

Posted Mar 24, 2023 10:03 UTC (Fri) by gdt (subscriber, #6284)
Parent article: Free software during wartime

As far as government mandates, I think it's useful to distinguish the cases of sanctions applying to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which the article combines somewhat:

the denial of goods which may be useful in warmaking (ie, an extension of the 'dual use' goods of the Wassenaar Arrangement);
the sanction of Russia from international economic activity, as punishment for their violation of the norms of international behaviour, and to inhibit funds available to progress further violations.
the sanction of Russia from international cultural activity, as punishment for their violation of the norms of international behaviour, and as discouragement from further violations.

Cooperation in many international technical projects has been sanctioned by the US, EU and many other jurisdictions as an economic and a cultural sanction. Naturally the development of Linux -- as a premier international technical project -- has been caught up in elements of those sanctions. Governments have not, and are unlikely to, sanction the use or development of Linux for its potential as a dual-use technology for warmaking.

Of course, individuals and organisations may be able to apply their own sanctions for any of the three purposes, as many international scientific projects have already done.