Post #3999516

2026-07-22 00:02 UTC

Humanity must have done something to an ancient god somewhere because we seem doomed to repeat both the #Unix Wars and also the Proprietary Software Jihad of the 1990s. This time, it's former Trump official Dean Ball claiming that open source AI would lead to "full AI communism," and would stop progress. Total nonsense in both regards. Software made from humanity's library should be open source. #Linux crushed proprietary Unixes & Windows because anyone can modify it. https://gizmodo.com/the-great-freakout-over-open-source-ai-has-begun-2000787836

Replies (6)

@mattsheffield@mastodon.social 2026-07-22 00:05

There's no question that open models (both in code and weights) is a superior way to do things. #opensource is the superior development model to build progress. Ball, who has no technology background, has no idea what he's talking about.

Open ##3999570
@buckfiftyseven@mastodon.social 2026-07-22 00:09

@mattsheffield@mastodon.social I think AI has its place, but having *only* corporate llms does seem a double dystopia. Local open source compute is supposed to be our out.

Open ##3999645
@kcarruthers@infosec.exchange 2026-07-22 00:49

@mattsheffield@mastodon.social lol so true

Open ##4000284
@paul_ipv6@infosec.exchange 2026-07-22 00:52

@mattsheffield@mastodon.social OMFG. must we go again through the security through obscurity claims of proprietary software on why "they are so much more secure than open source"? haven't we debunked this, over and over and over again?

Open ##4000311
@geofftc@mas.to 2026-07-22 02:08

@mattsheffield@mastodon.social Looking forward to zombie corp SCO AI filing some suits.

Open ##4001461
@Kitone@mastodon.social 2026-07-22 15:11

@mattsheffield@mastodon.social Analogies can soar to the amazing heights of absolute ignorance when you’re not bogged down by the burden of knowledge.

Open ##4015061