I've been part of open source for most of my life. This year, the projects I love started closing their doors to outside contributors, and I don't blame them one bit, but it makes me sad.
A personal look at how AI is changing open source as I've known it.
Can you explain this emotion logically so we can all understand it, despite the fact that it is absolutely obvious what your stance is? Make sure to not include anything difficult that necessitates us extending our thinking beyond what is in directly in front of our eyes or to do with our own personal desires.
I don’t know man, feels like you’re not allowed to feel emotions about these things. “This new power plant delivers 2x the power at 20x the carbon emissions, it’s awesome!”. It’s clear as day why someone is opposed. The feigned shock, as though half the populace doesn’t feel this way, is grating.
What’s even more grating is that the Overton window has shifted so far that you’re not allowed to reference the negative externalities anymore. “Ethics aside” has become the modus operandi. Anyone who does goes into this is a killjoy and a loser.
We’re on a programming forum, so it’s a given that people here care about the craft itself.
But there are people who don’t want to program. To them software is just a hassle standing between them and their goal.
That’s normal. Not everyone wants to cook fine cuisine, many people get fast food. Not everyone wants to make custom furniture from the finest oak, plenty are happy with IKEA, etc.
And now software is moving beyond artisanal passionately crafted projects, and machine-extruded code nuggets are on the menu.
Craft vs. mass is a false equivalence. LLMs are not the IKEA of software as their products are created with precision. Writing code without LLMs is not using hand tools instead of power tools. I use efficient and precise power tools when I’m woodworking and when I’m programming. I cut rabbet joints on my table saw instead of cutting dovetails with a hand saw. I use Emacs instead of Notepad. LLMs are something else entirely because they are inherently probabilistic black boxes. They resemble slot machines a lot more than CNC machines.
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Can you explain this emotion logically so we can all understand it, despite the fact that it is absolutely obvious what your stance is? Make sure to not include anything difficult that necessitates us extending our thinking beyond what is in directly in front of our eyes or to do with our own personal desires.
I don’t know man, feels like you’re not allowed to feel emotions about these things. “This new power plant delivers 2x the power at 20x the carbon emissions, it’s awesome!”. It’s clear as day why someone is opposed. The feigned shock, as though half the populace doesn’t feel this way, is grating.
score 2 · canonical
What’s even more grating is that the Overton window has shifted so far that you’re not allowed to reference the negative externalities anymore. “Ethics aside” has become the modus operandi. Anyone who does goes into this is a killjoy and a loser.
score 1 · canonical
You’re being so vague and unspecific here that there’s no point in responding to you because I’d have to imagine what your point actually is.
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Let me clear it up: using LLMs is a disservice to yourself and the entire world and thinking they are “genuinely amazing” is quite sad.
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Man I don’t care I just wanted my iPod to work so I could use my phone less
score 2 · canonical
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We’re on a programming forum, so it’s a given that people here care about the craft itself.
But there are people who don’t want to program. To them software is just a hassle standing between them and their goal.
That’s normal. Not everyone wants to cook fine cuisine, many people get fast food. Not everyone wants to make custom furniture from the finest oak, plenty are happy with IKEA, etc.
And now software is moving beyond artisanal passionately crafted projects, and machine-extruded code nuggets are on the menu.
score 1 · canonical
Craft vs. mass is a false equivalence. LLMs are not the IKEA of software as their products are created with precision. Writing code without LLMs is not using hand tools instead of power tools. I use efficient and precise power tools when I’m woodworking and when I’m programming. I cut rabbet joints on my table saw instead of cutting dovetails with a hand saw. I use Emacs instead of Notepad. LLMs are something else entirely because they are inherently probabilistic black boxes. They resemble slot machines a lot more than CNC machines.
score 1 · canonical
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