Linus Torvalds used AI to fix a Linux bug, and now LLM critics on Linux face an uncomfortable choice

lists.debian.org/debian-project/…/msg00041.html

www.xda-developers.com/linus-used-ai-bug-llm-critics-face-choice/

AI code bans may be impossible to enforce in the first place

I hate this attitude that if a rule or standard can’t be enforced perfectly, we shouldn’t strive for it. We can’t (reasonably) run an OS free of proprietary software, does that mean the free software movement should just give up?

This isn’t a case where something can’t be enforced perfectly, it is a case of something that can’t be enforced at all going into the future. Every tool that can reliably detect LLM code is at the same time the tool used for adversarial training, making the generated code look more and more human. We are already at the point where for plain english the false positives and false negatives go through the roof, making these tools very unreliable and when applied automatically a liability. Code is a lot more formalized, with a lot less personal variance (spelling, vocabulary and grammar are basically fixed - only the used logic and how it is implemented is variable), making detection harder by default than in natural languages.

If LLM code can’t be detected anymore by automated means - and that state of things is approaching fast - then any policy about allowing or restricting LLM code is not worth the paper you would use to print it out. But that’s not so much of a problem. The more important policy to set, that can also be enforced, is that everyone submitting code has to take personal responsibility regarding the quality of the submission. Delivering bad code - when not happening while training to become a better coder and looking for feedback - has to lead to consequences based on the seriousness of the case and if it’s a repeat offender. Anyone using an LLM to spit out bullshit LQ code will run into that kind of rule very fast.

I disagree completely, for example Linus here has demonstrated he’s a slopper so we could easily remove him from any position to contribute to other projects. Bam. Enforced.

Do you really think that Torvalds would submit code that is not up to spec? He’s the most anal person regarding quality of code i know of - removing him from a project would not be a positive thing. He actually embodies the mentality of taking responsibility for code you provide; I am pretty sure he would stop coding for OSS projects before betraying that concept. We need more coders like him that take pride and responsibility for their code, not put up artifical barriers because of the tools someone uses.

Yeah well Hulk Hogan seemed cool in the 90s, but people change. Sloppers produce slop at the cost of quality, at the cost of the environment, at the cost of freedom, and at the cost of the economy: they deserve no credibility.

All the costs you name are attached to OpenAI/Anthropic/Nvidia/Microsoft, not the technology. You can run local models, and noone except Sam Altman and Dario Amodei need that amount of datacenters, because if they stop building, these guys are finished. Instead of bashing the technology which has a lot of uses that don’t need the power of a small city, go bash the fucking end times capitalists in the US which are responsible for that shit.