Red Hat Is Discontinuing Sales and Services In Russia and Belarus (newsobserver.com) 49
Red Hat, the Raleigh-based open-source software company, said Tuesday it is halting all sales and services to companies in Russia and Belarus -- a response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine that has put Red Hat employees in harm's way. Raleigh News & Observer reports: Paul Cormier, Red Hat's chief executive officer, announced the decision in an email to employees, saying: "As a company, we stand in unity with everyone affected by the violence and condemn the Russian military's invasion of Ukraine." Red Hat's announcement comes a day after its parent company, IBM, which also has a large presence in the Triangle, suspended all business operations in Russia.
"While relevant sanctions must guide many of our actions, we've taken additional measures as a company," Cormier wrote. "Effective immediately, Red Hat is discontinuing sales and services in Russia and Belarus (for both organizations located in or headquartered in Russia or Belarus)." Red Hat said it has approximately two dozen employees in Ukraine, which has become an important tech hub in Eastern Europe in recent years. It is home to tens of thousands of contractors and employees for U.S. firms. In his email, Cormier said that Red Hat has helped dozens of employees and family members in Ukraine relocate to safer locations. Many of them have gone to neighboring Poland, he noted. [...] However, Ukraine has barred men ages 18 to 60 from leaving the country, meaning many of Red Hat's employees can't be relocated from the country. We "continue to help those who remain in the country in any way possible," Cormier wrote.
"While relevant sanctions must guide many of our actions, we've taken additional measures as a company," Cormier wrote. "Effective immediately, Red Hat is discontinuing sales and services in Russia and Belarus (for both organizations located in or headquartered in Russia or Belarus)." Red Hat said it has approximately two dozen employees in Ukraine, which has become an important tech hub in Eastern Europe in recent years. It is home to tens of thousands of contractors and employees for U.S. firms. In his email, Cormier said that Red Hat has helped dozens of employees and family members in Ukraine relocate to safer locations. Many of them have gone to neighboring Poland, he noted. [...] However, Ukraine has barred men ages 18 to 60 from leaving the country, meaning many of Red Hat's employees can't be relocated from the country. We "continue to help those who remain in the country in any way possible," Cormier wrote.
Russia will just host an update repo with no login (Score:2)
Russia will just host an update repo with no logins needed. So then redhat becomes free in russia.
Re: (Score:3)
If all you want is an update server with no logins, Red Hat is free now (Rocky Linux). If you want what people who pay Red Hat want (support), an update server isn't going to cut it.
Re: (Score:1)
Plenty of experienced people can act in the stead of Red Hat or any other linux distro to provide quality paid support. Russia and Belarus both have such people. At my last job we (meaning because I worked there) we advertised support for "all distros" of Linux and fixed issues for clients, amazing what a couple decades of experience tied with systems programming knowledge, search engine and friends also into sysadmin can do. In practice, rather than "all distros" we had clients with Centos, Red Hat, Arc
Re: (Score:2)
Russia and Belarus both have such people.
And some of them will stay for reasons unrelated to their career. But I hear many of them are fleeing now because;
a) They have actual uncensored real time information on what it going on in Ukraine, and/or
b) They don't want to get conscripted to fight, either militarily or cyber, and/or
c) There is no money to pay them in Russia and Belarus, either today or coming very, very soon.
Re: (Score:1)
true about the pay and hard to leave now since would need to withdraw in US dollars or euro to have anything worth spit while fleeing.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
By the numbers (Score:3)
Here's some things scraped from last night's deep dive into the Ukraine conflict:
Christo Grozev of open-source investigative team Bellingcat said that in destroying mobile phone towers in Kharkiv the Russians had rendered their encrypted Era phone system unusable.
Coca-Cola and McDonald’s face pressure to join a growing corporate boycott of Russia, which an estimated 230 Western firms have followed
The European Union has drafted plans to diversify its energy supply and phase out its dependence on Russian oil, gas and coal imports.
The bloc currently imports nearly half of its gas and coal, and about a third of its oil, from Russia.
Ukraine’s ministry of foreign affairs has reported that 12,000 Russian personnel have been killed in its latest assessment of their losses to date. They said that so far Russian forces had also lost 48 aircraft, 80 helicopters, 303 tanks, 1,036 armed vehicles, 120 artillery pieces and 27 anti-aircraft warfare systems.
(Note: Estimates of the Russian forces vary, but 160,000 seems to be reasonable. Russia started with 1200 tanks, against Ukraine's 900, and also Ukraine's tanks were scattered throughout the country.)
A defense official at the Ukrainian embassy in Washington, D.C., told Military Times that they have already received more than 3,000 applications for U.S. citizens wanting to fight. That figure, he said, includes many military veterans. He could not say how many.
While the forums do have people claiming to be combat veterans, many seem to be young people who have never seen combat or even picked up a gun, heading to Ukraine in search of adventure in the name of a good cause.
President Zelensky this morning said foreign fighters have begun to arrive in Ukraine to help battle the Russians. “Ukraine is already greeting foreign volunteers. (The) first 16,000 are already on their way to protect freedom and life for us, and for all,” he said.
Steve Hanke at John Hopkins University has calculated Russian inflation is at 69.4%, while Estonian MEP Riho Teras believes the war effort is costing £15 billion every day. And Rabobank analysts predict there could soon be a ‘complete collapse in the Rouble.
Note: Russian total GDP is about $1,600 billion. The war is in its 12th day, so Russia has spent over 10% of an annual GDP invading Ukraine.
Wheat is now at an all time high [yahoo.com].
Re: (Score:2)
Have you seen what nickel is doing...?
Re: (Score:2)
Presumably the locals will be unhappy. Every little bit helps.
Re: (Score:2)
Wheat is now at an all time high [yahoo.com].
I guess they'll have to eat corn. Cornbread is not so bad.
Re: (Score:2)
The US reports that Russia has lost 8%-10% of their invasion force. They've literally been decimated.
foolish (Score:1)
Punishing citizens for the actions of their crazy governments which they can't control? The elections are rigged, opposition is jailed, Putin and that Belarus oaf have parliments in their pockets rubber stamping everythiing.
This is not the open source way, it's foolish and short-sighted. Most the developers who made 97% of things that Red hat is borrowing don't want entire nations singled out for punishment.
Name one instance where sanctions changed a government's mind. Never happened, only make citizens
Re: (Score:1)
Foolish you say.... The alternative is?
Russia is an enemy society with an enemy culture (Score:4, Insightful)
The trifling few who object to Putin may be disregarded and are kept around for display. Russia has been a menace to civilization since the 1917 Revolution and opposed secular democracy even under the Tsars.
Russians are the problem with Russia. Russia is not something other or different than its vatnik hordes who are so corrupt even their military is run like a prison (dedovschina is no recipe for effective warfare.
Muscovy delenda est.
Re: (Score:3)
Yet Putin is not really wrong that Ukraine is culturally and psychologically Russian. That they are one people.
Putinganda right there. A minority of Ukrainians fit that description, mostly ethic Russians. Ethnic Ukrainians hate Russia and Russians with a passion; it's no small part of the reason they've preserved their own language. The old were born in or soon after the Holodomor; one of many awful consequences of being dominated by Russians. The young grew up with aspirations of Europe because Russia is exactly the nasty backward shithole kleptocracy they know it is.
Still, if Putin himself believes that it shows how comfortable he is attacking his "own people".
When has that ever been a problem for Russia
Repeated invasions do not make "one people" (Score:3)
There are some people in Ukraine who speak Russian. After Russia invaded Ukraine and banned the Ukraine language in schools. Forcing people to speak your language doesn't make them part of your family. It makes them your hostages. Which is why the Ukrainians have fought back repeatedly, eventually kicking the Russians out each time.
Past invasions do not justify repeated invasions.
Do you think Spain would be justified in invading and occupying Florida because some people in Florida speak Spanish? Maybe all t
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
https://www.firstpost.com/worl... [firstpost.com]
"As such, this Ukrainian war is especially about attempted regime change in Russia, a return to the heady days of Boris Yeltsin the West had helped to remain in power. The resort to street protests, like the Ukraineâ(TM)s 2014 Orange Revolution that brought Zelenskyy to power or hijacking them, as in Tahrir Square in Cairo, is the contemporary playbook for undermining governments to achieve regime change, and Ukraine might prove fatal for Putin."
Russia and USA need to b
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Putin sucked my cock and will suck yours too. It was wonderful. You can also lose your oral viginity, come aboard!
Re: (Score:2)
Russians are the problem with Russia.
That needs some justification, I think. The Russian army is not the same as the citizens of Russia. The government of Russia, run by pirates, is not the same as the citizens of Russia. Russians are used to tyrannical leaders and brutal armed forces. That does not necessarily mean they agree with that. They don't appear to have much choice.
It is very dangerous to condemn an entire nation for the actions of its corrupt government. I admit that my knowledge of the people of Russia is limited, but I would prefe
Re: (Score:2)
but I would prefer to think the Russian people are just folks trying to get on with their lives, rather than fiends and degenerates.
I'm sure the vast majority are just this "ordinary folk". But while they certenly aren't fiends and degenerates, there is a deeply rooted and very widespread sentiment which is easily underestimated, and which is fostered, unsed and abused by the Putin regime in every possible way: a strong sense of collective humiliation.
Now, don't get me wrong, I merely note that it exists, I don't excuse or justify it. The best solution for everyone would be if the Russians overcame their pathetic whiny sulk and starte
Re: (Score:2)
The best solution for everyone would be if the Russians overcame their pathetic whiny sulk and started working on their many problems instead.
I agree. I am not sure how the Russian economy works, but it looks like the so-called oligarchs are sucking the life out of it. The oligarchs are not just rich people -- nothing wrong with that -- they appear to be pirates plundering their own country's wealth. The poor state of the Russian economy no doubt upsets the people of Russia, so they have plenty to whine about.
One of the big problems appears to be Putin trying to prop up his regime by blaming NATO, or the EU, or (non-existent) neo-Nazis in Ukraine
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Guatemala was CIA overthrow. You're funny. Banana republics generally don't change because of sanctions.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
You attributed to sanctions what historians attribute to other things. You had nothing.
Re: (Score:2)
Name one instance where sanctions changed a government's mind.
Peru, 1991-1995.
Never happened,
Use a search engine fool.
Re: (Score:1)
Reform era wasn't a result of sanctions, dipshit. Man are you ignorant of what I assume is your own history.
Re: (Score:2)
You still lack any ability to use a search engine, I see.
When will you learn that sanctions actually have had an effect?
Oh, I know the answer to that, right after you learn to use a search engine.
Reform era wasn't a result of sanctions, dipshit.
Wrong, but it's ok, I expect someone like you who doesn't know how to use a search engine to always be wrong.
Re: (Score:1)
I did use a search engine, I found what many historians said. Not a one mentioned sanctions. Maybe you need to insert a "sanctions" blurb into some wikis?
Re: (Score:2)
I found what many historians said. Not a one mentioned sanctions.
ok, you should find one that mentions sanctions then.
Re: (Score:2)
Punishing citizens for the actions of their crazy governments which they can't control?
Russian citizens could end this. Putin can't arrest everyone. The problem is a lot of Russians support Putin and believe his claims of 'de-nazifying' Ukraine.
The Nazi boogyman narrative works even better in Russia than it does in the West.
Re: (Score:1)
end it how exactly? storm Putin's bunker past the soldiers?
Won't be by election or referendum or impeachment or courts, Putin has those in his pocket, for example 447 / 450 lawmakers for example, only 3 oppose what he's doing.
I'm just hoping one of Putin's fellow business thugs thinks he's being bad for business and arranges early retirement
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
crazy governments which they can't control?
I don't buy this excuse. Of course, if 1000 people go out to protest, they get arrested. I don't however doubt the average Russian's bravery - on the contrary. That's why I'm sure they'd go out to protest if they really believed they need to - and if 1,000,000 or 10,000,000 people do, governments fall - even Putin's.
What I think is happening is that many, perhaps even a majority of Russians (and I mean regular people, not politicians) are still seeing themselves as an imperial power, and they still conside
Re: (Score:2)
You're funny, protests wouldn't change anything. You must be one of those people who think social opinion matters to billionaire crime boss. It doesn't.
You didn't read what he wrote. He's not talking about "protests" at all. He's talking about revolution. Nicolae Ceauescu was put up in front of a firing squad on Christmas Day, 1989, and shot dead.
Putin may be a billionaire crime boss, but bullets don't care.
Having said that, executing Putin by revolutionary firing squad wouldn't change a thing. Russia has had their current style of government essentially unbroken since 1547 when Ivan IV (called 'the Great') established the Tsardom of Russia. That regi
Re: (Score:2)
Punishing citizens for the actions of their crazy governments which they can't control?
So what do you propose then?
War is very expensive and Putin needs to pay for it somehow. A mass exodus of business will do a lot of damage to the Russian economy and reduce Putin's ability to wage war.
This is not the open source way, it's foolish and short-sighted.
Yes it is. Russians can still get the code. they just can't get paid support.
Most the developers who made 97% of things that Red hat is borrowing don't want en
RHEL is used in Russia? (Score:2)
Aren't most of them running openSUSE and CentOS/Rocky in their enterprise? Is this really anything more than a symbolic gesture from an American tech company?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Is it possible that industry in different country comes to different conclusions? Especially when there is a language barrier between communities and one community might have different preferences than another? If most of the Russian language Linux forums and chat centers around openSUSE ... then that's what people learn and carry into their profession. Kind of like how English web search for Linux problems brings up mainly information about Ubuntu. (not that Ubuntu is popular in enterprise, that choice has
IBM (Score:2)
That's a long way to not say "IBM". Maybe they don't like the MAGA connotation.
I guess it's time to watch "Ukraine on Fire" on YouTube tonight finally.
Cut off your nose to spite your face (Score:2)