Post #1602372

2026-03-05 19:44 UTC

@zerodogg this line feels a bit cherry-picked at the expense of the larger point. The more relevant line, I think, is "Simply refusing to engage with widely used tools does not make them disappear; it only reduces our ability to shape how they are used within our project." And I think this is a good summary of the issue. Debian may well end up voting for total abstinence from AI tools within the project, but that isn't e.g. going to stop upstream package sources from using them. If the Linux kernel is already incorporating AI-assisted code, what is the meaningful alternative? For a project that is basically just a middleman for distributing software, I don't think it's possible to avoid software "tainted" with AI in a meaningful way. That would effectively require large-scale human-only rewrites, for which Debian does not have the resources.

Replies (2)

@foolishowl@social.coop 2026-03-05 19:54

@ehashman @zerodogg Refusing to use them within the project would at least help. Friction would help.

Open ##1602373
@zerodogg@hachyderm.io 2026-03-05 20:36

@ehashman I agree that it probably won't be possible to avoid software tainted by LLMs. But Debian can't only be about technical issues. Even this exact post provides plenty of examples that Debian *isn't* just about technical issues. Debian is also about community, and about ethics and freedom. At this point, much of LLM-critique is about ethics. It's about how workers that are being abused to train the models. It's about them systematically undermining free software licenses by feeding them into the LLM grinder as fodder for generating code. As he mentions, it's also about the environment. I hold Debian to a higher standard than others. Perhaps that's unfair. But it's also why I choose Debian. Sure, the distro is excellent on technical merits, but the difference from many others is the community and their thoughtful approaches to ethics and real-world issues. Debian can't dictate what others do. But Debian can lead by example, and make principled stances. I've sort of come to expect that from them. That said, I'm not one to dictate what Debian does. I don't get a vote when it comes to that. But it makes me sad, and I feel a bit hopeless, when even Debian doesn't take a principled stance.

Open ##1602381