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.