Re: GR: Ban LLM contributions from Debian

Simon Richter <[email protected]> Sat, 25 Jul 2026 02:19:07 +0900
Newsgroups	gmane.linux.debian.devel.vote
Message-ID	<[email protected]>
Hi,

On 7/25/26 00:25, Ian Jackson wrote:

> -8<- BEGIN PROPOSAL
> 
> Summary: Reject LLMs (generative "AI") as far as practical
> 
> BACKGROUND
> 
> LLMs have many serious problems, including: undermining the mechanisms
> of free software community building; environmental damage;
> exploitation of authors; disruption to open web hosting by
> aggressive scraping; generation and promulgation of bullshit;
> polluting the information commons; hazards to users' mental health;
> economic bubbles; distortion of the computer hardware market;
> fraud; ownership by horrible people and companies; and so on.
> Ethical and safe use of this technology is almost impossible.
> 
> Ideally, LLM output should not form any part of software that we rely
> on, nor should LLM output ever take the place of human-written prose.
> 
> Unfortunately some of the wider software world, including many of our
> upstreams, take a different view.  Therefore a complete ban on LLM
> output as part of Debian is currently impractical.
> 
> REQUESTS
> 
> 1. We request that all contributors to Debian avoid the use of LLMs in
>     their Debian work.
> 
> 2. We request that all decisionmakers within Debian discourage LLM use
>     as much as practical.  Practicality is a judgement call and we
>     recognise that it will involve uncomfortable compromises.
> 
> 3. We request that everyone, even outside Debian, should refrain from
>     using this technology.  In particular, the Free Software and Open
>     Source communities should reject LLMs.  We recognise that not
>     everyone will heed this call.
> 
> REQUIREMENTS (SUPPLEMENT TO THE CODE OF CONDUCT)
> 
> 4. Within Debian, messages to humans (including for example bug
>     reports, mailing list messages, discussions on Salsa, and blog
>     posts on Planet Debian) must be drafted solely by humans without
>     LLM assistance.
> 
> 5. Any use of LLMs for Debian work must be disclosed.
> 
> 6. Individual projects and maintainers may ban LLM contributions
>     completely.  Such bans (including by upstream projects) must be
>     respected.
> 
> 7. Violations of these requirements should be treated as violations of
>     the Code of Conduct and should result in swift but proportionate
>     disciplinary action.
> 
> 8. Any contributor who feels they cannot write in English without
>     assistance, may write in their native language, and expect readers
>     to use translation tools of their choice.  In that case a
>     human-written English summary would be very welcome but is not
>     required.  In any case we promise not to shame anyone for any
>     linguistic mistakes.
> 
> ->8- END PROPOSAL
Seconded.

    Simon
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