[Qgis-user] Help Ukraine, Boycott Russia

[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 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, landconsult at freenet.de <landconsult at 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
QGIS.ORG board member (treasurer)
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