I am not sure how this works [LWN.net]

I am not sure how this works

Posted Oct 23, 2024 7:00 UTC (Wed) by rgb (guest, #57129)
Parent article: Several Russian developers lose kernel maintainership status

Let's say all the Russian Linux developers collaborate to create their linux-следующий tree and then some new drivers and bug fixes get merged there. Is it illegal for Linus or any other non-sanctioned maintainer to pull those?

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I am not sure how this works

Posted Oct 23, 2024 8:27 UTC (Wed) by farnz (subscriber, #17727) [Link]

For a full answer, you need to speak to your lawyer, not to random Internet commentators like me. As with so much in law, It Depends; non-sanctioned maintainers cannot do anything that provides an incentive for a sanctioned entity to engage in commerce, so it comes down to details. Pulling a fix for Intel's GPUs (given that Intel aren't sanctioned) is probably OK; pulling a fix for hardware made by a sanctioned firm is probably not OK.

Exact details probably need a lawyer's attention to each patch pulled, making it not worthwhile pulling fixes from linux-следующий or similar.