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Putting aside the issue of "is it still open source?", deleting files is problematic from another perspective as well: private citizens launching a cyberwar att

Putting aside the issue of "is it still open source?", deleting files is problematic from another perspective as well: private citizens launching a cyberwar attack against a foreign power. It seems to me that the only legal way to do this is with the approval of your government. I have seen at least a few argue that devs should be/are allowed to act in accordance with their own values. I agree, with same caveat I would apply in any circumstance: so long as those actions are in accordance with the law. To do otherwise in a geopolitical conflict like this is foolhardy in the extreme. The Western world is struggling very hard right now to find the right balance of actions that supports the Ukraine while punishing Russia, at the same time balancing that against the risks if escalating the conflict far beyond it's current confines. I would be very confident in a guess that even large corporations making perfectly legal business decisions to shut operations in Russia are doing so with some coordination & communication with their governments. It is certainly not at all up to private citizens to take extralegal actions that may escalate this conflict in any way.

vogre 5y ago
> justification to launch their own cyberwarfare initiatives in retaliation Or Russia can decide that this attack is threatening its' existence and launch nukes. People who do these things are completely irresponsible.
- ineedasername 5y ago
  And the open source aspects of this are barely a footnote. The issue isn't weaponization of open source, it's weaponization of software, i.e., cyberwarfare. Debating whether or not software that engages in this still meets one specific definition of "open source" is a question that closely resembles the "Maserati Problem" in its immediate relevance when compared to the other implications of these actions. It seems very weird to observe a malware attack in this situation proceed to make the malware's status as open source software a primary issue in discussing the attack. If someone feels the need to include it in the conversation then the appropriate ordering of the message should be more like: "unilateral escalation of the conflict by private individuals is a bad idea. Really you shouldn't be making decisions about how to handle a conflict that directly or indirectly involves half the world and multiple nuclear powers. Stick to activities that are legal when showing or giving support to the Ukrainians. And oh, yeah, I guess your code may not technically be open source anymore if you do this sort of thing."

vogre 5y ago

> justification to launch their own cyberwarfare initiatives in retaliation Or Russia can decide that this attack is threatening its' existence and launch nukes. People who do these things are completely irresponsible.

ineedasername 5y ago
And the open source aspects of this are barely a footnote. The issue isn't weaponization of open source, it's weaponization of software, i.e., cyberwarfare. Debating whether or not software that engages in this still meets one specific definition of "open source" is a question that closely resembles the "Maserati Problem" in its immediate relevance when compared to the other implications of these actions. It seems very weird to observe a malware attack in this situation proceed to make the malware's status as open source software a primary issue in discussing the attack. If someone feels the need to include it in the conversation then the appropriate ordering of the message should be more like: "unilateral escalation of the conflict by private individuals is a bad idea. Really you shouldn't be making decisions about how to handle a conflict that directly or indirectly involves half the world and multiple nuclear powers. Stick to activities that are legal when showing or giving support to the Ukrainians. And oh, yeah, I guess your code may not technically be open source anymore if you do this sort of thing."