Last week in the world of kernel Linux, there was a dramatic issue where Russian kernel developers were stripped of their maintainer privileges by Greg Kroah-Hartman (gregkh), the number two of the kernel community. This was due to various compliance requirements, and the developers could regain their privileges by submitting the required documentation.
However, with unclear reasons for the removal of these developers, there was outcry as to why their privileges were revoked. Linus Torvalds, the OG himself, responded assertively stating that the decision had been made, and rallying together in protest (referring to as Russian troll factories) would not solve any problems.
As time passed, individuals well-versed in the matter delved into detailed explanations of the reasons behind these actions. Developers such as James Bottomley and Ted Ts’o explained that the issue stemmed from economic sanctions against Russia by various governments like the US, Europe, and Japan, causing the Linux kernel development project, which heavily relies on servers in the US, to adhere to the laws of these countries.
The reasoning behind the exclusion of these Russian developers was due to their employers being on a ban list by the US Treasury, leaving the core development team powerless unless the employer information was corrected. The developers’ employers not being on the list would require confirmation documentation to be sent back to Greg for the reinstatement of privileges.
Bottomley also apologized to the affected Russian developers, acknowledging that the situation was mishandled. Furthermore, he offered to add their names to the Linux developer credits if desired.
TLDR: Russian kernel developers faced maintainer privilege revocation for compliance reasons, stemming from economic sanctions against Russia by various governments. The issue was clarified, and apologies were extended to the affected developers, with the offering of adding their names to the Linux development credits.
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