Russia says it might build its own Linux community after removal of several kernel maintainers
therecord.media
“It is important to create conditions for cooperation, which can help develop a unique product,” Russia's digital ministry said in response to 11 developers being delisted from maintaining the Linux kernel.
  • Dr. Moose@lemmy.worldEnglish
    122·
    11 hours ago

    They’re just jumping the newscycle for the propaganda machine. Russian government doesn’t care about tech or linux unless it can help them deliver more bombs to Ukrainian babies and you don’t need to fork the kernel for that.

    • Echo Dot@feddit.ukEnglish
      2·
      7 hours ago

      Pretty much no military in the world cares about Linux because you want an OS system that millions of people are familiar with, require no additional onboarding process, and has decades worth of documentation and trouble fixers.

      Microsoft have always produced stripped down locked down versions of Windows for them so there’s really no reason for them to care about any of Microsoft’s BS in the communal space.

  • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.worldEnglish
    236·
    13 hours ago

    A special forking operation will be underway. The new kernel will be complete in just a few days, like the inva- er… denazification of Kyi- er… Kiev.

  • Alex@lemmy.mlEnglish
    17·
    12 hours ago

    It depends what they want to do. They can fork and take on the burden of maintaining the whole tree in which case good luck with that, linux is too much of a fire hose to enable a 3rd party to assemble something similar making different choices about what they merge. Otherwise they can maintain a re-based fork that tracks the Torvalds tree and then congratulations you’ve just invented a feature tree that can do contribution with extra steps.

  • just_another_person@lemmy.worldEnglish
    436·
    13 hours ago

    It will work just like every other Russian knock-off thing that gets made. Very shittily, and then end up in the bin.

    Aren’t they still also trying to make their own Steam? 🤣

    • ChicoSuave@lemmy.worldEnglish
      12·
      11 hours ago

      It will end up like every other Russian knock-off: made by the Chinese when Russia eventually gives up

      • just_another_person@lemmy.worldEnglish
        91·
        10 hours ago

        Nah, it goes WAY back to pre-WW2. Russia basically made copying everyone else’s technology a major economic driver for them for decades, and it was all based around trying to sucker poorer countries into buying their awful products.

        Cameras, radios, cars, weapons. Hell they even stole NASA Space Shuttle designs and tech to build their own, which just ended up in a junkyard.

        • catloaf@lemm.eeEnglish
          41·
          10 hours ago

          And the Buran system was more impressive than the shuttle, capable of completely automated flight!

            • catloaf@lemm.eeEnglish
              1·
              5 hours ago

              I’m reading that it orbited at an altitude of up to 263 km, well above the Karman line. Is that not space?

            • just_another_person@lemmy.worldEnglish
              41·
              9 hours ago

              I don’t think it was ever confirmed. They only flew the thing once, which was confirmed. Anything else claiming superior tech I’d call USSR propaganda.

            • catloaf@lemm.eeEnglish
              11·
              9 hours ago

              I’m not sure whether the orbital flight counts as test or operational, but that one. The prior test flights only had automated landings.

      • Echo Dot@feddit.ukEnglish
        1·
        7 hours ago

        Of course everything’s made by China anyway including all the high-end stuff. The exception being computer chips.

  • palordrolap@fedia.io
    34·
    12 hours ago

    North Korea did this already. I expect that Russia’s effort will be as good if not better. Bonus comedy points if they use NK’s effort as a starting point.

    But I wouldn’t try to use it if my Internet location was outside Russia. Or maybe even if it wasn’t.

    Also: something something falling out something something Windows.

    • Echo Dot@feddit.ukEnglish
      1·
      7 hours ago

      Somebody once was showing me a modified version of Windows XP and I’m sure it was a North Korean version. But I can’t find it now.

    • ma1w4re@lemm.eeEnglish
      9·
      10 hours ago

      I’m not gonna use this shit regardless. Even if it remains the only option for an OS in Russia, I’m gonna fucking smuggle a proper Linux distro in.

      • palordrolap@fedia.io
        2·
        8 hours ago

        In before you’re going to need a telemetry spoofer in order not to attract attention. On the other hand, it takes an extraordinary amount of government paranoia before they start going after random citizens.

  • RxBrad@infosec.pubEnglish
    201·
    7 hours ago

    The fact that the Russian government came out this fast and said they need a version with their own commits is, perhaps, telling.

    • Railcar8095@lemm.eeEnglish
      2·
      4 hours ago

      I mean, they can just pull the current kernel, add a few patches and say it’s their kernel.

      Let’s be honest, cold war brought the space race, if this war brings the “year of Linux” race I’m not going to complain

      • ma1w4re@lemm.eeEnglish
        2·
        2 hours ago

        That’s IF the would be even able to pull the kernel. I know how government grants work here. 70% chance that the money gets stolen and work is outsourced to some bloke who doesn’t know what git is.

  • andrew_bidlaw@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    6·
    10 hours ago

    Astra (used in MIC) is outdated shit, RED OS (more commercial) is cooler and wine’d in a lot of our windows-oriented apps, but both would have a hard time without international community if threatened.

    That’s just some figureheads shitting with their mouths. There are millions of machines still running Windows with no way to change without a pushback from users and admins, and also some Linux machines that would only suffer if we branch out.