Several Russian developers lose kernel maintainership status

Perhaps one of the more surprising changes in the 6.12-rc4 developmentkernel was the removalof several entries from the kernel's MAINTAINERS file. The patchperforming the removal was sent (by Greg Kroah-Hartman) only to thepatches@lists.linux.dev mailing list; the change was included in a char-misc driverspull request with no particular mention.

The explanation for the removal is simply "various compliancerequirements". Given that the developers involved all appear to be ofRussian origin, it is not too hard to imagine what sort of compliance isinvolved here. There has, however, been no public posting of the policythat required the removal of these entries.

Update: Linus Torvalds has since publiclysupported this action and said that it will not be reverted.