Linux creator Linus Torvalds puts foot down on anti-AI comments https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/07/linux-creator-linus-torvalds-puts-foot-down-on-anti-ai-comments/
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@gamingonlinux The fact that Linus considers usefulness of AI assistant as demonstrated and out of the question is the divergence point he has with actual critics from the industry.
I think he's in this "I haven't coded in years" zone and sees it as a way to stay in the loop. Is it really? I'm not sure.
Edit: Small typo.
@Enthalpiste @gamingonlinux Tim Sweeney does this too, he hasn’t coded in years after delegating all his coding responsibilities, now talks endlessly about how “useful” AI is
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@gamingonlinux Ai is a tool. It all depends on how it’s used.
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@ozzelot @gamingonlinux I think this is actually a new level of shitty from Linus. He was kind of trying to come across as a centrist before but now he's making it very clear he is a booster.
@gryphonmyers @gamingonlinux i've long perceived centrism as just helping the greater evil in perhaps a slower way (not just in ai)
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Linux creator Linus Torvalds puts foot down on anti-AI comments https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/07/linux-creator-linus-torvalds-puts-foot-down-on-anti-ai-comments/
Fine. I'll come out and just say it.
Linus Torvalds was once a fantastic programmer, but he has always been a fucking asshole.
The only difference now is that he is a fucking STUPID asshole.
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@chronohart Linux has fallen to slop ages ago. There's really not a lot you can do. Most BSDs (and the only usable one for desktop is FreeBSD as far as I know anyways) I'm pretty sure have an open LLM policy.
As someone who struggled with this too, don't worry too much about things you can't control. Scrap the things you can scrap, and the things you can't scrap, be vocal about them and try to not give them any money. That's about all we can do.
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Linux creator Linus Torvalds puts foot down on anti-AI comments https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/07/linux-creator-linus-torvalds-puts-foot-down-on-anti-ai-comments/
@gamingonlinux If AIs are ready, maybe he should specify which, because Gemini and ChatGPT are still hallucinating badly also with some basic searches that they hinders you more than the help.
It's one of those times when I think FreeBSD has better judgment in some choices, despite the OS lags behind in some areas for lack of devs.
They are looking how use AI, yes, but they are taking more time about evaluating where they works for and what avoid about, and are a lot more conservative. -
Linux creator Linus Torvalds puts foot down on anti-AI comments https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/07/linux-creator-linus-torvalds-puts-foot-down-on-anti-ai-comments/
@gamingonlinux @marcoarment Linus once again on the wrong side of history, sky blue, water wet, news at 11.
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Linux creator Linus Torvalds puts foot down on anti-AI comments https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/07/linux-creator-linus-torvalds-puts-foot-down-on-anti-ai-comments/
The kernel project has been and will continue to be about the technology.
Sure, the social angle of working on open source is important and often a very motivating part of the project, but in the end that's a side benefit, not the point of the project.
and this right here is why ‘open source’ has always been the bullshit version of ‘free software’.
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@elvisish who?
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Linux creator Linus Torvalds puts foot down on anti-AI comments https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/07/linux-creator-linus-torvalds-puts-foot-down-on-anti-ai-comments/
@gamingonlinux Fuck you, Linus.
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Linux creator Linus Torvalds puts foot down on anti-AI comments https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/07/linux-creator-linus-torvalds-puts-foot-down-on-anti-ai-comments/
@gamingonlinux
> And no, AI isn't perfect. But Christ, anybody who points to the problems at AI had better be looking in the mirror and pointing at themselves at the same time./me guzzling LNG like nobody's business, farting toxic fumes, and generating 60 dB of infrasounds: huh?
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Linux creator Linus Torvalds puts foot down on anti-AI comments https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/07/linux-creator-linus-torvalds-puts-foot-down-on-anti-ai-comments/
"I realize that some people really dislike Russia, but this is an area where I'm willing to absolutely put my foot down as the top-level maintainer.
"Linux is not one of those anti-Russian projects, and if somebody has issues with that, they can do the open-source thing and fork it.{...}
"Russia has maintainers, just like other countries do. And they're clearly useful."
Ooh, wait, those aren't the same. It's as if Torvalds hasn't noticed "AI" is a weaponized disaster.
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@gamingonlinux My biggest concern with his statement is not even on his pro-AI stance, but that he stated Linux is not some kind of a "Social Warrior" project. I think using reactionary takes to explain his stance is a tipping point. Open source has always been about making sure everyone has access to code and software, and if he thinks otherwise for linux or that it's too political, then he shall not stay maintainer.
@mehdi_benadel @gamingonlinux I'd disagree with you on the opensource part. I feel like opensource is much more about making better software than about some ideals. I think free software is much more about these ideas than opensource is and I would even say that's the main difference between those two.
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Fine. I'll come out and just say it.
Linus Torvalds was once a fantastic programmer, but he has always been a fucking asshole.
The only difference now is that he is a fucking STUPID asshole.
@TeflonTrout @gamingonlinux Help me understand this, if you can point AI at the Linux kernel and it can find zero days that humans can't, we are supposed to not do that?
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The kernel project has been and will continue to be about the technology.
Sure, the social angle of working on open source is important and often a very motivating part of the project, but in the end that's a side benefit, not the point of the project.
and this right here is why ‘open source’ has always been the bullshit version of ‘free software’.
@gekitsu @gamingonlinux wow I wonder where technologies come from
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@gekitsu @gamingonlinux wow I wonder where technologies come from
@gekitsu @gamingonlinux probably atomized individuals struck by bolts of techne from the platonic realm I guess
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@TeflonTrout @gamingonlinux Help me understand this, if you can point AI at the Linux kernel and it can find zero days that humans can't, we are supposed to not do that?
@Nowicki @gamingonlinux YES.
Next question.
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@Nowicki @gamingonlinux YES.
Next question.
@TeflonTrout @gamingonlinux That's wild to me. As a normal layman (not a linux kernel maintainer), I guess I don't understand what is going on here.
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@gekitsu @gamingonlinux probably atomized individuals struck by bolts of techne from the platonic realm I guess
@migratory must be something involving the fucking magnets dimension of general mystery.
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@TeflonTrout @gamingonlinux That's wild to me. As a normal layman (not a linux kernel maintainer), I guess I don't understand what is going on here.
ethically, it's like saying "if we don't feed the orphan paste to the starving, then we ground up all those orphans for nothing."
Practically, the exploits being found aren't anything special. The tools that find them are hopeless at patching them. And, the entire time you use them, they are corroding your ability to do so yourself.
And they aren't getting better, because they can't. The people who use machine learning tools for what they are actuallly good at, such as poring over petabytes (sp?) of images looking for something the user has programmed them to find, knew this over a decade ago.
these things are being lied about wholesale, and a lot of people are buying it.
Lastly, using them demonstrably turns you into a fucking credulous moron, even if you started out the opposite.
