Re: GR: Ban LLM contributions from Debian

Holger Levsen <[email protected]> Tue, 28 Jul 2026 22:52:52 +0000
Newsgroups	gmane.linux.debian.devel.vote
Message-ID	<[email protected]>
hi,

i've said today on IRC that I wont comment on this thread, because
I believe the problems with AI are fascism and climate change, which
are not really included in this discussion here, but as there is a nitpick
I want to make to this ballot anyway, I thought I could write this email
and also quote Simon Richter <[email protected]> in <[email protected]>

"Obligatory remark: my main issue with AI is resource usage, that alone makes
it completely unacceptable for me to use for anything. Any concerns about the
negative social or technical effects are secondary, but I recognize that there
are people who believe that the resource expenditure can somehow be
rationalized, and who need other arguments."

that said, I'd also like to quote Johannes Schauer Marin Rodrigues <[email protected]>
in <178491303566.10630.7565589159477125943@localhost>

"Thank you so much for contributing another ballot option! I regard your
proposal superior to the status quo. I am thus gladly seconding your proposal.

I sponsor the resolution quoted below."

and now my nitpick:

On Fri, Jul 24, 2026 at 12:40:59AM +0200, Pierre-Elliott Bécue wrote:
> Based on the feedback I got:
> 
> BEGIN BALLOT OPTION
> 
> Accept AI contributions for Debian specific work
> ================================================
> 
> Debian as a project does not endorse or recommend the use of generative
> AI assistants for software development, as it raises multiple concerns
> about ethics, legality, copyright, etc.
> 
> Nevertheless, Debian acknowledges that these practices are already in
> use and here to stay. Rather than banning their use, which seems
> counter-productive and unenforceable, the project chooses to place
> responsibility on contributors and therefore defines the following
> guidelines.
> 
> *These apply exclusively to code and work done specifically for the
> Debian project (Debian websites, applications, resources, packages,
> etc.)*. They do not apply to any upstream work. In what follows, "work"
> refers to the contributions done specifically for the Debian project.
> 
>  - All code and work assisted by a generative AI agent or tool must
>    comply with the DFSG.
>  - The submitter is solely responsible for the submitted work and:
>    + they sufficiently evaluated and properly understand the work they
>      intend to submit, and are able to explain and defend it;
>    + they put any potential Signed-off-by tag and GPG signatures on the

ITYM "PGP signatures".

>      contributions they send to the Debian infrastructure (package,
>      commit, mail, …) themselves;
>    + any content uploaded that would end up in production on Debian
>      infrastructure (main git branch, package upload) has been submitted
>      by them explicitely.
>  - Work assisted by a generative AI agent or tool should be marked as
>    such in the adapted place (commit message, changelog, …). Some
>    lightweight generative tools, such as tab-completion in Copilot, may
>    be used without the contributor realising they rely on generative AI
>    models; we therefore trust submitters to assess when this rule
>    applies. When in doubt, add such marking;
>  - No cloud-based AI shall be used when the data transmitted could
>    either be sensitive to the project (personal data, information under
>    embargo, …) or not public (debian-private discussions, …).
> 
> END BALLOT OPTION

& seconded.


-- 
cheers,
	Holger

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 ⣾⠁⢠⠒⠀⣿⡁  holger@(debian|reproducible-builds|layer-acht).org
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The fundamental weakness of Western civilisation is empathy. (Elon Musk)
The death of human empathy is one of the earliest and most telling signs of a
culture about to fall into barbarism. (Hannah Arendt)
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