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.
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.
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
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deleted by creator
deleted by creator
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
deleted by creator