Dear Andreas, dear list,
Andreas, you wrote "/If we start excluding countries and organizations
on such assumptions/" I wished you could understand that Putin´s
aggression is not stopping in Ukraina (starting in Afghanistan,
Chechnya, Georgia, Syria, Ukraina, ...whats next). The only non-atomic
power that can stop this is the Russian people.
And yes, I know, Russia is not a democracy, and maybe some Russians are
"suffering from Putin´s politics" (if it were the "majority" like you
say, I had no need to write this letter and Putin never dared to invade
the Ukraine).
I can also imagine, that many of the Russian QGIS users really
appreciate the freedom they feel when they co-operate with the QGIS
community. But I am sure the invasion of their army into Ukraine is not
a reason for them to start thinking about the legality to kill civilians
in independant neighbouring countries.
It´s not a reason unless we (the free, democratic and peaceful QGIS
community) give them such a reason, which is the boycott of Russian
members as long as their troops are in the Ukraine.
And, Andreas, when you are asking where to draw a "/red line/", you are
not seriously comparing the bombing of Kiev with the "oil exploration"
???? This is cynical.
We must not be passive and hoping "/that this situation can soon be
deescalated/" is not enough. The time is now to make it absolutely clear
that military force against democratic countries will have consequences
for the agressors.
And finally to all Russian QGIS users: I like your country and your
culture and really appreciate all Russian colleagues I met in the scope
of my professional work, this includes all the great QGIS Plugins and
Tools that came from you.
Please help us to stop this war and make your contribution to secure
freedom and peace in Europe and wordlwide!
Best regards,
Markus
Am 24.02.2022 um 13:29 schrieb Andreas Neumann:
Dear Markus,
This is a really difficult topic that you raise here. While I agree
that the aggression from the Putin regime should be condemned, I am
against excluding Russian QGIS contributors and sustaining members. If
we start excluding countries and organizations on such assumptions -
where do we draw the line? The majority of today's world population
unfortunately has to live in problematic conditions, when it concerns
democracy and dictators. Also - where should be draw the line on what
is ethical use of QGIS and what not? Is oil exploration utilizing QGIS
software allowed, as an example?
As the current QGIS.ORG <http://QGIS.ORG> treasurer I can say that we
had a sustaining member from Russia last year - there is no indication
that this company is collaborating with the Putin government - though
it is of course a bit hard to judge - of course - for outsiders.
The vast majority of the Russian population is probably suffering from
Putin's politics - my guess is that the majority of the Russian
population would like to live in peace and prosperity and not be
involved in such war and aggression. But do they have a real choice?
Fair elections? I doubt it ... In that sense I am against excluding
Russian QGIS users and contributors based on these events.
We also have QGIS contributors from Ukraine who are now affected by
this aggression - let's be supportive when there could be Ukrainian
refugees in the coming months - and let's hope that this situation can
soon be deescalated.
Greetings,
Andreas
On Thu, 24 Feb 2022 at 10:09, landcons...@freenet.de
<landcons...@freenet.de> wrote:
Dear List,
like all free people in the world I totally condemn the Russian
invasion in Ukraine this morning. This is an attack on the free
world and especially on Europe and on all values of freedom which
we all represent in a global, peaceful open source community.
- So, what can each individual do to defend this freedom?
- What can the QGIS community do?
- How can we be sure, that the know-how we develop will not be
used for Russian military purposes against the Ukraine?
The invasion was confirmed by the Duma, the Russian parliament
which is the representative body of the Russian people.
Consequently the Russian population bears responsibility for the
invasion and we should led them know, that military force against
an independent, free and democratic European country goes against
all the values we stand for in the open source community.
The least we can do is starting to think about a boycott of
Russian products and Russian co-operations to express our opinion
to all Russian companies and partners we know. Finally its up to
the ordinary Russian man to change this unbearable situation which
is becoming a permanent threat to free Europe.
With this respect the QGIS developer community should also think
about excluding Russian partners and sponsors from all QGIS
activities as long as Russian troops are in the Ukraine.
I think, the values of freedom we stand for, is the highest good
we must defend!
How do you think about it?
Very concerned greeting.
Markus Weidenbach
landConsult.de
Bühl/Germany
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Andreas Neumann
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