Re: GR: Ban LLM contributions from Debian

Bill Blough <[email protected]> Fri, 24 Jul 2026 15:56:40 -0400
Newsgroups	gmane.linux.debian.devel.vote
Message-ID	<amPDeENmjKxvHxlo@prometheus>
On Fri, Jul 24, 2026 at 04:25:32PM +0100, Ian Jackson wrote:

<snip>

> I wrote an alternative proposal below which is intended to
>    - avoid legalistic prescriptions which need to be nitpicked
>    - recognise that we're in a difficult situation
> It is (effectively) a set of requests to existing teams and a
> supplement to the Code of Conduct.
> 
> 
> - -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.

Bill
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