Hi, On 18/02/26 at 16:27 -0800, Russ Allbery wrote: > Lucas Nussbaum <[email protected]> writes: > > > Based on recent discussions, it sounds like we probably need a > > discussion in the framework of a GR to understand where we stand > > regarding AI-assisted contributions to Debian. > > As folks start considering how to draft these documents, can I ask people > to please think about how to precisely describe what technologies the > proposal you're making will affect?
I don't believe that the specific technology matters all that much. What this proposal really boils down to is the use of automated tools for code analysis and generation. I actually considered making it more generic, but felt that the additional abstraction was probably unnecessary. As an experiment, here is a version of the GR proposal with all mentions of a specific technology removed, which I believe also works: https://salsa.debian.org/lucas/ai-gr/-/commit/c4b9a71247047f762aaa40de8b1731ce245f3861 The current proposal could apply similarly to any hypothetical new, very powerful technology that can help with software development. That technology would offer great potential, but also carries many drawbacks: - it's mainly controlled by private actors, some more questionable than others; - it has a major environmental impact due to the computing resources required to build and operate it; - there's currently no fully free alternative (open weight models only cover the "operate" stage, not the "build" stage). I see the problem we face as similar to the historical questions surrounding the use of BitKeeper by Linux (except that the choice of BitKeeper imposed its use by other contributors). It is also similar to the discussions about proprietary security analysis tools: since those tools are proprietary, should we ignore the vulnerability reports they issue? If we were to adopt a hard-line "anti-tools" stance, I would find it very hard to draw a clear line. Should we stop using CI and automated testing due to the computing resources required? What about GitLab and its Open Core business model? What about purely local tools used by contributors? Is it a problem if a non-free text editor is used, or non-free hardware? If we really want to avoid all assistance, should we forbid the use of spellcheckers? syntax highlighting? Lucas
