Dead end branch of development – Newspaper Kommersant No. 48 (7493) dated 03/22/2023

Against the backdrop of the introduction of technological sanctions against the Russian Federation and the departure of leading foreign developers, including Microsoft, Russian authorities and companies have relied on the open source Linux OS as the most “neutral” base. But, as it turned out, even Linux is not open to everyone in the same way. For example, recently the Linux Kernel Organization, which develops the Linux kernel, refused to accept changes to the code from the Russian processor developer Baikal Electronics.

The company received its own development branch back in 2020. But a member of the Linux Kernel Organization from Poland, in response to a request from a Baikal employee to implement changes, replied that the organization was “uncomfortable to accept code from company employees,” and also advised Russian structures not to take part in the development of the Linux kernel at all “until further notice.” Later, information appeared on the Habr portal that the community could refuse to edit “any developer for any reason.”

The Linux kernel was created by Finnish engineer Linus Torvalds in 1991. He made the code free for distribution and organized the Linux Kernel Organization, where developers can create their own kernel development branches – the main element of the OS. The Linux kernel is used in Android and a number of Russian operating systems, such as Astra and ALT.

The situation caused a great resonance in the community of Russian developers. They even started discussing preparing an appeal to Mr. Torvalds or the maintainer of the Linux kernel branch, Greg Kroah-Hartman. Acceptance of edits at the Linux Kernel Organization has always taken time and negotiation, but there have never been complete rejections, say my interlocutors in the industry. This is most likely about “the political beliefs of specific members of the organization,” they say.

Theoretically, if the Linux Kernel Organization community closes access for Russian developers to edits, they can switch to the kernel development branch from the Linux kernel security technology center, which is also supervised by the Institute of System Programming named after. V. P. Ivannikov RAS (ISP RAS). After updating the kernel, the institute gives it to Russian developers, who make changes and send them to the Linux Kernel Organization through the ISP RAS (unless, of course, the ISP RAS itself becomes persona non grata, because it is a Russian organization).

This will not be a big problem for Russian developers, although it will delay the process of making updates to the Linux kernel and, possibly, require expenses for ISP RAS services. But the reputational losses for the global community of Linux developers look worse – the situation will not go unnoticed, as it contradicts the fundamental principle of openness of the system.