Re: [RFC] Counter-Proposal -- Interpretation of DFSG on Artificial Intelligence (AI) Models

On Thu, 24 Apr 2025, Carsten Leonhardt wrote:

>Thorsten Glaser <[email protected]> writes:
>
>> Hi! I had not realised it’s going to GR with this, so I’ve drafted
>> a counter proposal [...]
>
>Could you give a brief summary of the main differences you see between
>your and Mo's proposal? You call it "counter-proposal", so I expected
>something radically different, but so far I fail to see it.

Mostly, a hard anti-AI stance (with select exceptions).
No discussing of its benefits, no calling it inevitable.
Requiring full sources, full attribution etc. following
our normal processes. No adopting OSAID terminology.

I admit Mo’s proposal is… hard to follow, and I’m not
entirely sure I understood all of it. Here’s what I can say:

| This proposal focuses on one interpretation of the DFSG on a particular type of

Mine states clear rules for all models.

| in the future. If necessary, I can work with the Debian Policy Team to
| incorporate the GR result into appropriate sections of the Debian Policy (e.g.,

I don’t think mine requires a Policy change. It just
affirms existing policy (even refers to it) and says
no exceptions for “AI”.

| Debian archive. This proposal does not specify whether the "non-free" section
| of Debian archive can include those files.

Mine does address under which circumstances redistributable
but not free models can enter non-free, although it defers
to the usual non-free rules for requirements on source
availability.

(It does result in all those TESCREAL models which didn’t
legally acquire sources and don’t honour their licences
being inadmissible for even non-free.)


Basically, I tried to think of what would a model and an AI
thing (analytic or generative, which are different uses)
have to be/do for me to consider it acceptable (the d-private
thread has more on that), added a main/non-free distinction
on them, made clear non-free-firmware is not a place for it,
and pondered how the contrib area would fit for it, all with
(what I think are) how Debian currently handles things.

Does this help?

bye,
//mirabilos
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