Should open source sniff the geopolitical wind and ban itself in China and Russia?

Can it even do that? And does FOSS deserve an exemption to sanctions?

By Simon Sharwood, The Register (January 1, 2023)

In 2022, information technology collided with geopolitics like never before. After Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, many nations decided that Vladimir Putin's regime and populace should be denied access to technology and even to services from the companies that make and wield it.

The USA, meanwhile, extended its restrictions on technology exports to China, citing its belligerence and repression of human rights.

The bans appear to have been somewhat effective: China and Russia both started efforts to replicate technology they could no longer easily, or legally, obtain.

Yet plenty of sophisticated top-tier tech still crossed their borders because open source code still flows around the world unimpeded.

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