Re: Should we take steps to reduce russian access to Free Software?

[Arthur Torrey]

In this regard the FSF is not being a political organization as far as I can 
tell (I have no control over / don't speak for the FSF in any way other than 
being a supporting member) I haven't seen them make any statements regarding 
the Russia/Ukraine conflict (which has been going on for at least the past 8 
years w/ little or no media attention until the last few months BTW) and don't 
really expect them to...  If they did I'd, expect some sort of generalities 
about supporting the Ukrainians, but am not sure if they could do anything more 
than that...

My comment is simply that by *MY* understanding of the GPL (and similar 
licenses) is that there is nothing in the terms that would ALLOW any efforts to 
limit the Russian access to Free Software.  Copyleft is a two edged sword in 
this regard, it makes it easier for people we like to get software, but also 
means we can't take it away from those that we don't like...

Even the few North Koreans that are allowed computers can use highly modified 
versions of GNU/Linux that have been set up to limit the ability to access the 
outside world...  (I'm told the source is available but not many want it...)

ART
------------------
Arthur Torrey - <arthur_torrey@comcast.net>
-------------------

> On 02/24/2022 12:57 PM gregor <podrzaj.gregor@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>  
> hi all. here is what i feel.
> 
> war is something, where banks win and people loose. i hoped FSF was not 
> a politically oriented organization.
> 
> makes me sad, seeing how FSF rushes to be "politically correct" in the 
> world run by propaganda machines.
> 
> agitprop is what i see, which is to say it obviouslly works.
> 
> to make it clear, i am not the side of some country nor some army nor  
> some soldiers (poor souls, not to mention civilians), but on the side of 
> peace. once someone during a war takes side, he/she becomes a soldier.
> 
> sad is what i am.
> 
> yt
> 
> g
> 
> ps
> 
> live by the sword die by the sword is what bible says
> 
> On 24. 02. 22 18:43, Arthur Torrey wrote:
> > Much as we might want to shut off the Russians, I don't think this is 
> > something that the GPL type licenses allow...  This has come up time and 
> > time again in regards to limiting access to all sorts of other 
> > undesirables, and the bottom line is that as long as they are complying w/ 
> > the licenses (i.e. copylefting changes, etc.) they can't be cut off...
> >
> > An ironic / amusing question I remember being raised a while back: Is the 
> > question about if Free Software is used in a 'smart' weapon, (smart bomb 
> > guidance system, drone, etc.); and an intact device falls into the hands of 
> > the enemy, does that count as 'distribution' and entitle the enemy to 
> > demand the corresponding source code?
> >
> > ART
> >
> > ================
> > Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2022 08:04:30 +0000
> > From: Jacob Hrbek <kreyren@rixotstudio.cz>
> > To: Leah Rowe via libreplanet-discuss
> >     <libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org>
> > Subject: Should we take steps to reduce russian access to Free
> >     Software?
> > Message-ID: <25b59d57-597d-4ef4-9e93-2c067a1d81fc@rixotstudio.cz>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"; Format="flowed"
> >
> > Today russian forces invaded ukraine and started an unprovoked war with
> > free software being used across russia and in the government thus
> > playing a major role in russia's war capabilities.
> >
> > Should we and can we take steps to prevent/reduce russia's access to our
> > software?
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------
> > Arthur Torrey - <arthur_torrey@comcast.net>
> > -------------------
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > libreplanet-discuss mailing list
> > libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
> > https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss