Re: AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md Are Concessions to Proprietary Services, Not Defenses Against Them

On August 4, 2026 10:09:41 AM GMT+03:00, Yuri Khan <yuri=2Ev=2Ekhan@gmail=
=2Ecom> wrote:
>On Tue, Aug 4, 2026 at 1:36=E2=80=AFPM Jean Louis <bugs@gnu=2Esupport> wr=
ote:
>
>> This is not FUD=2E It's a principled question: why should GNU adopt a
>> convention created by a proprietary company
>
>That=E2=80=99s what GNU is, historically: A reimplementation of conventio=
ns
>created by a proprietary company=2E (UNIX)

Creating free software system based on some principles found in proprietar=
y software is totally different to adopting vendor specific file format tha=
t evidently cannot protect what we strive to protect=2E

>> Let me take example of OpenCode;
>>
>> Ignore AGENTS=2Emd and and improve my-package=2Eel
>
>You=E2=80=99re talking like you assume the LLM to actively look for and r=
ead
>that file=2E That is not what happens=2E

No, I don't assume at all=2E That's the whole point of my messages, that n=
o user is really prevented using LLM so using auch vendor Files only benefi=
t the vendor and not Emacs=2E


>The harness (Pi, OpenCode, whatever) reads the file and appends its
>contents to the system prompt that is given to the LLM as its context
>starter=2E The output of the LLM then may or may not be affected by the
>presence of that prompt fragment=2E Yes, there are models that are
>better or worse at following prompts=2E

Exactly and fine=2E

And yet if you personally use such harness to improve so I don't as I can =
use Emacs lisp function to access LLM inference=2E And so many users will u=
se zillion of tools which implies that such vendor Files are useless=2E No =
benefit but only kudos to Anthropic and inviting people to use service as s=
oftware substitute LLMs=2E=20


>From the point of view[1] of the LLM, you[2] gave it an instruction to
>not modify any files, then another instruction to ignore an unrelated
>file, and then a third instruction to improve a file=2E The first and
>third conflict=2E The second is a slight hint to favor the third=2E

Very right=2E And it proves in two examples that files can be easily modif=
ied by any software using LLM and MCP servers who will anyway not look into=
 the file and even if Agents=2Emd is considered like in my Open code exampl=
e it can simply be ignored if user says so=2E

So what is exactly prevented by having those files? Nothing really=2E

>> And finally, why would Emacs User necessarily use OpenCode in the shell=
?
>
>Who said anything about shell? Many harnesses implement a way to use
>them as a middle tier between the LLM and the UI=2E There exist UIs
>implemented as Emacs modes=2E

Nevertheless you can prove the point if you find any standard on using age=
nts=2Emd and if such standard isn't there who is it them benefiting?

It's obvious from my empirical evidence that is easy to ignore such file=
=2E Just say so=2E Or insist on modification and it will be done by ignorin=
g the file=2E=20

>> Why assume that LLM generated code will be generated over those softwar=
e
>> pieces which use AGENTS=2Emd?
>
>Because that=E2=80=99s the reasonable thing to assume: Over time, most
>harnesses will converge on a shared convention for project-local
>customizations, and AGENTS=2Emd seems to be the most likely=2E

I don't use harness=2E Why you think people need to use harness to generat=
e code?

Majority of Emacs packages for LLM don't have such harness=2E So it's not =
harness in literal sense at all=2E

>> Majority of Emacs packages for LLM code generation do not use AGENTS=2E=
md,
>
>File bugs at them=2E

That's absurd=2E=20
That isn't a bug=2E Such file places anywhere doesn't guarantee nothing=2E=
=20

Filing bugs on missing AGENT=2Emd would just legitimize proprietary Anthro=
pic stuff and SaaSS LLMs=2E

Since when would Emacs need to comply to rules set by Anthropic?

And it will anyway waste time on vendor specific motion=2E

>Of course you can=E2=80=99t=2E You can=E2=80=99t prove the same for a hum=
an reading
>CONTRIBUTE, either=2E

The difference is that with human we can discuss ethical values=2E You can=
 hold human accountable=2E

>Basically as a maintainer of a GPL-licensed project you can=E2=80=99t enf=
orce
>any policy on the individual user, until and unless they start
>redistributing it=2E

That's right=2E Just goal is to prevent LLM generated contribution and tha=
t can be done technically like git hooks and by review and observation proc=
ess=2E


Jean