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Debian Project Says LLM Slop (Plagiarism) Can be Tolerated and Unpaid Volunteers Will Need to Accept It
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GamingOnLinux ☛ Debian Linux developers vote to allow "Responsible Use of Generative [slop]" | GamingOnLinux
The flood gates for generative [slop] in Debian Linux are now seemingly open, with the results from a recent vote now available.
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It's FOSS ☛ Debian [slop] Vote has Divided the Community
Debian has now officially voted to allow the use of generative [slop] in project contributions. And as you can expect, such a decision doesn't go well with everyone. There are people who are indifferent to the decision, and then there are people who cannot tolerate anything [slop] in their favorite open-source projects.
Let's see what Debian has decided.
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XDA ☛ Debian gives the green light to [slop] code after a two-week vote, but submitters are responsible for it
Another distro declares its stance on [slop].
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Make Use Of ☛ The Linux community is split over AI-generated code and Debian just chose the controversial side
Developers behind Debian have voted to allow generative [slop]-assisted contributions to one of the world's most influential Linux distributions. After weeks of debate and a ballot containing eight competing policy proposals, the result came down to "Responsible Use of Generative [slop]." Other rejected alternatives included discouraging LLMs and banning their output from direct Debian contributions.
According to Debian's official General Resolution, [slop] tools may be used in software development, maintenance, packaging, and documentation. Naturally, Debian emphasizes that the work must meet its existing standards, and anyone submitting [slop]-assisted code will remain accountable for its quality and security.
LWN:
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Debian votes to allow "responsible use of generative [slop]"
The results of the Debian general-resolution vote on the use of large language models have been posted; the winner is choice 5: Responsible Use of Generative [slop].
Negative reaction:
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Ingo Juergensmann: Debian GR on Responsible Use of Generative AI
So, the members of Debian (developers and such) have voted in a GR about “LLM usage in Debian” for Option 5)/Proposal E) “Responsible Use of Generative AI”.
And in the #Fediverse the hell breaks lose!
A couple more:
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The Register UK ☛ Debian votes to let contributors code with AI
The rules of the vote saw community members asked to rank each of the eight proposals. Just under 600 people voted, but Debian’s election team rejected many for unspecified reasons, leaving almost 450 valid votes to count.
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[Repeat] Joey Hess ☛ Debian and the sirens
Unfortunately, one of the things that Debian is, is almost unable to manage packaging modern dependency trees. While more recent distributions like Guix can recursively import dependencies from a dozen programming languages' package repositories, with a result that is generally acceptable to add to the distribution, Debian's policies don't make that very possible for a progam to accomplish. Perhaps some will use LLMs to do that. If they succeeed, Debian will become dependent on proprietary software for development, while still needing people in the loop, doing even less appealing scut-work.
Two more pieces:
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The Verge ☛ Debian won’t ban AI code from its Linux distribution
The project’s voting developers considered several other proposals on how to handle AI, including some that would have banned contributions made using AI tools. As It’s FOSS reports, some users and contributors aren’t happy with the policy, including one contributor who says he’s quitting and “no longer interested in anything coming from Debian.” Earlier this year, Ubuntu developer Canonical faced similar backlash over its own stance on AI.
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Dolphin Publications B V ☛ Debian project will not ban the use of AI
Debian will not ban the use of generative AI for writing code, documentation, and other contributions to the open-source project. Developers may use AI tools as long as they can vouch for the results themselves. Disclosing the use of AI is encouraged but not required.
This settles, for now, a discussion within the Debian community about how to handle generative AI, according to The Register. In a vote, developers were able to rank eight different proposals. These ranged from a ban to variants in which AI was permitted under certain conditions. Nearly 450 votes were ultimately deemed valid.