Linus Torvalds: “I realize that some people really dislike AI, but this is an area where I'm willing to absolutely put my foot down as the top-level maintainer.
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Linus Torvalds: “I realize that some people really dislike AI, 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-AI projects, and if somebody has issues with that, they can do the open-source thing and fork it.
Or just walk away.”
@nixCraft Is Generative AI a tool? Yes
Is it useful? Maybe for some things like finding bugs.
Is it like any other tool? Clearly not. It is built on top of massive theft and extreme resource waste. It's increasing the pricing of consumer electronics to absurd levels. And it's driving the economy and climate to collapse.
I am not surprised Linus doesn't care about the ethics. He picked GPL license for the kernel almost by chance, not because he thought about the ethics behind it. -
Linus Torvalds: “I realize that some people really dislike AI, 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-AI projects, and if somebody has issues with that, they can do the open-source thing and fork it.
Or just walk away.”
@nixCraft Asshole.
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Linus Torvalds: “I realize that some people really dislike AI, 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-AI projects, and if somebody has issues with that, they can do the open-source thing and fork it.
Or just walk away.”
@nixCraft Big disappointment to put it mildly...
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Linus Torvalds: “I realize that some people really dislike AI, 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-AI projects, and if somebody has issues with that, they can do the open-source thing and fork it.
Or just walk away.”
@nixCraft Well, he is right. It is just a tool.
A contentious, environment-wracking, intellectual-property-ignoring, potentially global-economic-market-racking tool; but still just a tool.
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Linus Torvalds: “I realize that some people really dislike AI, 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-AI projects, and if somebody has issues with that, they can do the open-source thing and fork it.
Or just walk away.”
@nixCraft he is insulated from the torrents of slop PRs because programmers lower down the pecking order are the ones who have to deal with the onslaught.
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Linus Torvalds: “I realize that some people really dislike AI, 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-AI projects, and if somebody has issues with that, they can do the open-source thing and fork it.
Or just walk away.”
Linux foundation members are listed companies like Microsoft, Google, IBM, and others. So I am not surprised that he is backing up his employer who pays his salary.
Other day Star Wars creators George Lucas recently endorsed AI in filmmaking, SAYING it is the "future" of cinema and comparing the rejection of AI to preferring a horse and buggy over a car. He argued that AI makes the creative process easier and that embracing progress is inevitable.
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Linux foundation members are listed companies like Microsoft, Google, IBM, and others. So I am not surprised that he is backing up his employer who pays his salary.
Other day Star Wars creators George Lucas recently endorsed AI in filmmaking, SAYING it is the "future" of cinema and comparing the rejection of AI to preferring a horse and buggy over a car. He argued that AI makes the creative process easier and that embracing progress is inevitable.
@nixCraft They hold a different definition of progress.
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Linux foundation members are listed companies like Microsoft, Google, IBM, and others. So I am not surprised that he is backing up his employer who pays his salary.
Other day Star Wars creators George Lucas recently endorsed AI in filmmaking, SAYING it is the "future" of cinema and comparing the rejection of AI to preferring a horse and buggy over a car. He argued that AI makes the creative process easier and that embracing progress is inevitable.
@nixCraft Me no like, but I can't quit KDE. I love them.
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Linus Torvalds: “I realize that some people really dislike AI, 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-AI projects, and if somebody has issues with that, they can do the open-source thing and fork it.
Or just walk away.”
@nixCraft
In the C.Eng (chartered engineer) exams some decades ago, there was a mandatory module, "The Engineer in Society". This is where candidate professional engineers are required to reflect deeply on social, ethical, and environmental impacts.Today it's paramount to champion this facet, else it's technology vs ecological regeneration (since we're long past the luxury of mere sustainability).
Example course material: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/registry/courses/undergraduate/2025/engineering/eg501w
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@nixCraft Me no like, but I can't quit KDE. I love them.
@thejessiekirk did KDE made any statements on the AI? Just asking because it is very hard to keep tabs on everything
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Linux foundation members are listed companies like Microsoft, Google, IBM, and others. So I am not surprised that he is backing up his employer who pays his salary.
Other day Star Wars creators George Lucas recently endorsed AI in filmmaking, SAYING it is the "future" of cinema and comparing the rejection of AI to preferring a horse and buggy over a car. He argued that AI makes the creative process easier and that embracing progress is inevitable.
@nixCraft curious timing, almost as if they were encouraged to say such things to distract from the fact that the bubble is more obvious and closer to popping than ever. Maybe just a coincidence.
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@thejessiekirk did KDE made any statements on the AI? Just asking because it is very hard to keep tabs on everything
@nixCraft I'm not sure beyond a vague memory that they aren't using it, I'm afraid. Hopefully someone else can provide a link?
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Linux foundation members are listed companies like Microsoft, Google, IBM, and others. So I am not surprised that he is backing up his employer who pays his salary.
Other day Star Wars creators George Lucas recently endorsed AI in filmmaking, SAYING it is the "future" of cinema and comparing the rejection of AI to preferring a horse and buggy over a car. He argued that AI makes the creative process easier and that embracing progress is inevitable.
@nixCraft
When someone says that something is inevitable, ask -- who pays their bills?
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Linus Torvalds: “I realize that some people really dislike AI, 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-AI projects, and if somebody has issues with that, they can do the open-source thing and fork it.
Or just walk away.”
@nixCraft Linus has always been a bit cucked to corporate interests, it showed when he made the kernel GPL2 only too. Is extra funny because AI is every issue he had with C++ turned up to 11!
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@nixCraft Linus has always been a bit cucked to corporate interests, it showed when he made the kernel GPL2 only too. Is extra funny because AI is every issue he had with C++ turned up to 11!
@gimmechocolate @nixCraft and the mailing list was supposed to be a barrier to low effort patches.
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Linus Torvalds: “I realize that some people really dislike AI, 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-AI projects, and if somebody has issues with that, they can do the open-source thing and fork it.
Or just walk away.”
@nixCraft BSD is starting to look better.
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Linus Torvalds: “I realize that some people really dislike AI, 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-AI projects, and if somebody has issues with that, they can do the open-source thing and fork it.
Or just walk away.”
@nixCraft@mastodon.social Torvalds is an asshole like Poettering
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Linux foundation members are listed companies like Microsoft, Google, IBM, and others. So I am not surprised that he is backing up his employer who pays his salary.
Other day Star Wars creators George Lucas recently endorsed AI in filmmaking, SAYING it is the "future" of cinema and comparing the rejection of AI to preferring a horse and buggy over a car. He argued that AI makes the creative process easier and that embracing progress is inevitable.
@nixCraft sure for people like Lucas having to deal with Actors to get their "vision" realized is annoying. They don't understand that it's the people not their "genius" that makes something of value.
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Linus Torvalds: “I realize that some people really dislike AI, 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-AI projects, and if somebody has issues with that, they can do the open-source thing and fork it.
Or just walk away.”
@nixCraft How is that little red FreeBSD daemon looking right now?
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@nixCraft I'm not sure beyond a vague memory that they aren't using it, I'm afraid. Hopefully someone else can provide a link?
@thejessiekirk @nixCraft They have the normal discussion, but AFAIK no final verdict on it.
The GNU project has a stop using LLMs policy right now, which is only temporarily in place, because @rms wants to ask lawyers.
One of the issues of high-quality and therefore useful LLMs is, that they memorize code instead of creating it. That's why they are good. The training material however needs to be compatible with the desired license. The GNU project is likely more compatible than the average user.
Another issue is SaaS. Some models are open-weight and can be run by anyone who buys enough RAM and AI accelerators. That is ok for the GNU project, but others aren't, which isn't ok.
There are usages which don't conflict with the goals of a free software project, e.g. use LLMs to teach you about APIs. And there are usages which do conflict, especially creating lots of code where the copyright situation is difficult. Finding bugs is also a usage that can be annoying, but using those findings and fixing the bugs the old-fashioned way doesn't cause problems.
Furthermore: there are different legal systems. LLM output could be fair use in the USA, but a copyright violation in the EU, where clearly distinctive new usage is not covered by existing licenses, even broad ones, and there's no fair use doctrine. This is all not settled.
