👀 … sfconservancy.org/blog/2026/ap… …my colleague Denver Gingerich writes: newcomers' extensive reliance on LLM-backed generative AI is comparable to the Eternal September onslaught to USENET in 1993. I was on USENET extensively then; I confirm the disruption was indeed similar. I urge you to read his essay, think about it, & join Denver, me, & others at the following datetimes…
$ date -d '2026-04-21 15:00 UTC'
$ date -d '2026-04-28 23:00 UTC'
…in bbb-new.sfconservancy.org/room…
#AI #LLM #OpenSource
$ date -d '2026-04-21 15:00 UTC'
$ date -d '2026-04-28 23:00 UTC'
…in bbb-new.sfconservancy.org/room…
#AI #LLM #OpenSource
BigBlueButton
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This entry was edited (2 days ago)
Bradley M. Kühn
in reply to Bradley M. Kühn • • •(1/5) [ Meta-info to start the thread. Here and the posts that follow reply to lots of people's comments (from various threads) together here. Can we consolidate this conversation into this single thread to discuss sfconservancy.org/blog/2026/ap… ? ]
Cc: @wwahammy @silverwizard @mjw @cwebber @josh @jamey @mason @spencer @rootwyrm @drwho @mmu_man @mathieui @beeoproblem
#LLM #AI #OpenSource #FOSS #SoftwareFreedom
Eternal November — this new influx of users may be better than the last one
Software Freedom ConservancyBradley M. Kühn
in reply to Bradley M. Kühn • • •(4/5)…It's easy to forget that the enemy to software freedom is *not* proprietary systems' *users*, rather those who *sell* such systems *for profit*. #LLM-backed gen-#AI proprietary systems are simply the latest tech fad (like, say, Web 2.0 & AJAX).
@karen & I keynoted 2x at #FOSDEM & 1x at LCA about the importance of — as social workers say — “meeting people where they are”:
archive.fosdem.org/2019/interv…
archive.fosdem.org/2019/schedu…
youtube.com/watch?v=n55WClalwH…
archive.fosdem.org/2020/schedu…
Cc: @silverwizard @josh
- YouTube
www.youtube.comsilverwizard
in reply to Bradley M. Kühn • • •@Bradley M. Kühn @Karen Sandler @Josh Triplett I think we need to separate 'the people using it are bad" from "commit from people using it are bad".
There's a huge difference, and no one is claiming the first
Bradley M. Kühn
in reply to silverwizard • • •Nor does @ossguy claim in his post that “slop commits from people #LLM-backed gen #AI are good”. I think people are reading it as if he said it, but he didn't.
He's putting out an olive branch to people who have been lambasted by the #FOSS community for months. Maybe they'll take it, maybe they won't.
But peaceful negotiation is better than a protracted, hateful argument.
Cc: @karen @josh
Eric Schultz
in reply to Bradley M. Kühn • • •Bradley M. Kühn
in reply to Eric Schultz • • •Feel free to share what you would do in our place. I am genuinely interested.
But talking with the people sending #slop patches is the best way to resolve the escalating crisis.
Shouting that it's all horrible is not working.
Cc: @silverwizard @ossguy @karen @josh
Josh Triplett
in reply to Bradley M. Kühn • • •Talking with them is good. Helping to educate them is good. Making it sound as if what they are doing is okay is *not*.
There is a big difference between offering an olive branch to people who *might* be productive contributors in the *future*, and telling them that what they're doing *now* is okay.
The best AI policy remains "do not contribute any LLM-written content, ever". You have published a post that makes it easier for people who oppose such policies to cite your "olive branch" when arguing against it, and it is not obvious from your post that you do not want that to happen.
I don't want to see people *abused* for using LLMs. I do want them to understand that what they're doing is not okay and not welcome and not a positive contribution.