This is incredibly dumb. Hopefully some GitHub exec intervenes.
Edit: Happy to take the karma hit. Stupid is stupid, regardless of jurisdiction and consequences.
Edit: Happy to take the karma hit. Stupid is stupid, regardless of jurisdiction and consequences.
Microsoft has obviously turned a corner recently into dramatic support for open source collaboration. They're pushing VSCode. They bought github. They support linux. None of us will be surprised to hear that they're seeking to buy StackExchange or Discord soon.
I'm saying: if these are their true colors, then they mount a full-throated resistance to this nonsense. They have the legal team, the technical talent, and the political connections to do so.
Start by refusing to take down Github Pages of nationals of sanctioned countries and refusing to disappear repositories maintained by the same, absent a specific court order. Then, challenge it in court.
Will the US Government have the gall to go to Seattle and cuff somebody over this? If they do, it will be a major international incident and rallying cry, and that person (and Microsoft) will look internationally heroic.
We'd finally get the actual sanctions clarified.
Plenty more explanation here:
its technically quite feasible..there's no reason the US government gets to decide who writes open source software. and there's no reason github has to play a role here if they choose or are forced to act this way.
The stakes are not high here.