> From: Krinkle <krin...@fastmail.com> > Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2024 3:44 AM > > On Thu, 24 Oct 2024, at 01:25, fennic log wrote: > > It was recently brought to my attention that the USA has passed an > > Executive Order which prohibits Russian citizens from contributing to > > software used in the USA. […] > > > > From what I have been reading + excerpts from linux group, PHP has to take > > action to comply with this order. > > The order prohibits "United States persons" from investing in or selling > services to any person located in or business owned within Russia. > > It makes no mention of what Russian citizens may do with their time, what > (unpaid) contributions United States people can accept, or anything about > what software/services are used inside the USA. Even if it did, there would > still be a question of juristiction. > > The Linux Foundation is incorporated in Oregon, USA. If they perceive > themselves as owning the Linux project, or as providing it to businesses, or > as paying for engineers working on Linux, then I can see why they might need > to act on this order. It seems like they would need to close ties with (paid) > contributors and vendors from Russia, as they would otherwise be paying > (investing in) people or businesses in Russia for IT services, which the > order prohibits. > > Which of these aspects apply to PHP?
Yesterday I came across this video from Brian Lunduke [1][2] that suggests it may have to do with legal precedent around GPL licensed software. It sounds like a complex legal matter that would probably best be assessed by a lawyer familiar with US trade laws. Linus apparently was also advised by legal people to take this step. [3] This might also be relevant for the PHP Foundation and Perforce. Maybe they can help assess the situation. -- Kind regards, Vincent de Lau [1]: https://lunduke.locals.com/post/6263331/sanctions-hit-linux-kernel-russian-programmers-banned [2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5Ec5jrpLVk [3]: https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linus-Torvalds-Russian-Devs
