Do they? They could have just isolated those commits as sanctioned and added a warning. Linux hates Russians as a Finn, so didn’t need much convincing to remove them.
I would be singing a different tune if our allies invading other countries at the moment were also sanctioned, but that’s not the case.
As it stands, let the individuals escape the nation state punishment. They didn’t start this war, and likely don’t support it.
Rationally speaking, the whole purpose of sanctions is to sanction the whole population of the country in order to get the government of the country to change it’s policies. And when it comes to sanctions, companies and entities doing business with the sanctioned countries are themselves sanctioned. So Linus had no choice but to remove the Russian contributors.
We’re talking about a real situation, not about what would be better.
Sanctions have effect precisely because they are a broad tool.
Of course that’s how sanctions work… against nations. Linux isn’t a country, it’s not an American asset. They could have resisted. Linus chose not to.
Wisely.
Short-sightedly.
