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<p><font face="Verdana">Dear List, dear Andreas,</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana">Andreas, before you close this thread, a
final general comment: since 7 years I am teaching my students
at the University in Freiburg that Open Source is more than an
IT project, it is a movement, that will change the world,
including values like transparency, participation, shared
information and first of all freedom and peace. And the QGIS
project and its vital and global community is a lighthouse
project representing all these values. <br>
</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana">Many commited QGIS users share these values
with the rest of the world, and therefore show deep solidarity
with the Ukraine.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana">So, here is another - more passive -
proposal, how we could address the raid on Ukraine adequately:
let´s name the next QGIS release "Ukraine" or "Kiev" to express
the solidarity with the people in Ukraine and their fight for
freedom.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana">What do you think?<br>
</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana">Best regards,</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana">Markus<br>
</font></p>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">Am 25.02.2022 um 11:48 schrieb Andreas
Neumann:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAB2Z92DxCnwkBrB0fEaGwyZXoEqrZEP7dH2HixzJ6_uFi+c4WQ@mail.gmail.com">
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<div>Hi all,</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>May I suggest that we stop this thread here - and try to
fight the Russian aggression in different ways / different
channels? This is not the right channel to make a meaningful
difference in this horrible war.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>As an example, we can try to influence / put some pressure
on our local governments. Both the German and the Swiss
governments are blocking more effective sanctions on Russia.
By not buying Russian energy and raw materials and by freezing
bank accounts of Russian oligarchs who support this war - this
is where we can make a difference. So the pressure needs to be
put on our European governments - and not in the QGIS user
community.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>As an example: in Berne / Switzerland there will be a
demonstration tomorrow at noon to put pressure on our Swiss
government to freeze Russian bank accounts and to prohibit raw
material trading (a lot of Russian raw materials are traded in
Switzerland). I believe this is where we can make a
difference.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Wish you all the best,</div>
<div>Andreas<br>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Fri, 25 Feb 2022 at 10:50,
<a href="mailto:landconsult@freenet.de" moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">landconsult@freenet.de</a>
<<a href="mailto:landconsult@freenet.de"
moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext">landconsult@freenet.de</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px
0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div>
<p><font face="Verdana">Dear Andreas, dear list,</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana">Andreas, you wrote "</font><font
face="Verdana"><i>If we start excluding countries and
organizations on such assumptions</i>" 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. <br>
</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana">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).</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana">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.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana">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.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana">And, Andreas, when you are asking
where to draw a "<i>red line</i>", you are not seriously
comparing the bombing of Kiev with the "oil exploration"
???? This is cynical.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana">We must not be passive and hoping "</font><font
face="Verdana"><i>that this situation can soon be
deescalated</i>" is not enough. The time is now to
make it absolutely clear that military force against
democratic countries will have consequences for the
agressors.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana">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. <br>
Please help us to stop this war and make your
contribution to secure freedom and peace in Europe and
wordlwide!</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana">Best regards,</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana">Markus </font></p>
<br>
<div>Am 24.02.2022 um 13:29 schrieb Andreas Neumann:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
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<div>Dear Markus,</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>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?<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>As the current <a href="http://QGIS.ORG"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">QGIS.ORG</a>
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.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>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.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>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.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Greetings,</div>
<div>Andreas<br>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, 24 Feb 2022 at
10:09, <a href="mailto:landconsult@freenet.de"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">landconsult@freenet.de</a>
<<a href="mailto:landconsult@freenet.de"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">landconsult@freenet.de</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px
0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid
rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div>
<p><font face="Verdana">Dear List,</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana">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.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana">- So, what can each
individual do to defend this freedom? <br>
- What can the QGIS community do?<br>
- How can we be sure, that the know-how we
develop will not be used for Russian military
purposes against the Ukraine?</font></p>
<p
id="gmail-m_-8981385428085980910gmail-m_-1625811684074762361tw-target-text"
style="text-align:left" dir="ltr"><font
face="Verdana">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 <span lang="en">military
force against an independent, free and
democratic European country goes against all
the values we stand for in the open source
community.</span></font></p>
<p style="text-align:left" dir="ltr"><font
face="Verdana"><span lang="en">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. <br>
</span></font></p>
<p style="text-align:left" dir="ltr"><font
face="Verdana"><span lang="en">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. <br>
</span></font></p>
<p style="text-align:left" dir="ltr"><font
face="Verdana"><span lang="en">I think, the
values of freedom we stand for, is the highest
good we must defend!</span></font></p>
<p style="text-align:left" dir="ltr"><font
face="Verdana"><span lang="en">How do you think
about it?</span></font></p>
<p style="text-align:left" dir="ltr"><font
face="Verdana"><span lang="en">Very concerned
greeting.</span></font></p>
<p style="text-align:left" dir="ltr"><font
face="Verdana"><span lang="en">Markus Weidenbach<br>
landConsult.de<br>
Bühl/Germany</span></font></p>
</div>
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<br>
-- <br>
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div><br>
--<br>
Andreas Neumann<br>
</div>
<a href="http://QGIS.ORG" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">QGIS.ORG</a> board member
(treasurer)<br>
</div>
</div>
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</blockquote>
</div>
<br clear="all">
<br>
-- <br>
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature">
<div dir="ltr">
<div><br>
--<br>
Andreas Neumann<br>
</div>
<a href="http://QGIS.ORG" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">QGIS.ORG</a> board member (treasurer)<br>
</div>
</div>
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