OF OPEN SOURCE AND ATOM BOMBS
Yesterday I happened to read the following article describing how a
recent patch from a frequent contributor to the Linux kernel was
rejected due to their association with a Russian company that's
sanctioned by some Western countries. It also points out how GitHub
recently blocked the developer of the ipmitool project and archived
the repo because they were also associated with a Russian tech
company.
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-STMAC-Russian-Sanctions
The issue with the Linux kernel patch seems to be that the Russian
company behind it has been working on developing domestic
production of of microprocessors, which could potentially be used
in Russian military equipment. But the patch itself apparantly
applies to a driver for another company's Ethernet controller, used
by various computer hardware manufacturers, so it's of benefit to
the Linux project as a whole.
Whether Microsoft/GitHub are at the root of the Linx kernel patch
block as well is unclear. Personally I never liked how GitHub has
become so universal anyway. In theory open-source projects have no
borders, and Linux of course has a long history of significant
contributions from companies in many countries, but in practice
this shows how the internet can divide by borders just as easily as
it can unite between them.
However I made an interesting observation later that day while
watching the second episode from the three part 1990s documentary
series "The Red Bomb", a facinating description of how the Soviet
Union copied American work on nuclear weapons after the end of
WWII. The story starts in the 30s when scientists on all sides were
investigating nuclear phyisics in a purely theoretical sense, with
little expectation of any direct practical application in any
field. A Professor Joseph Rotblat, who later worked on the
Manhattan Project, comments on the open attitude of that time, just
a few years before nuclear research became top secret on all sides:
"There was a sort of feeling of community among scientists, like a
family from all over the world. All the science was open in those
days, so everybody knew what other people are doing. So in this
sense scientists formed, at that stage, this family. Almost
citizens of the world, if you like. Know no boundaries."
Nuclear physics was naturally always more of a niche than software
development is today. But I think it's an interesting parallel with
how the open source software community views itself, and excluding
contributors on the basis of politics starts to eat away at that.
That's a shame.
https://docuwiki.net/index.php?title=The_Red_Bomb
- The Free Thinker.
