Re: Ballot Option: Allow public AI for translations

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On Thu, 30 Jul 2026 at 08:53, Marc Haber <[email protected]>
wrote:

> On Tue, Jul 28, 2026 at 12:43:21PM -0300, Pirate Praveen wrote:
> >----draft proposal ----
> >
> >LLMs have made a huge leap in language translations, but at the same
> >time depending on big tech companies to provide this service is not a
> >good idea.
> >
> >1. Public AI is AI as public infrastructure like highways, water, or
> >electricity.
> >
> >2. Public AI must use Free Software models.
>


> Please consider not using "public AI" in your ballot name, many people
> will consider ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, Mistral etc "public" because it is
> publicly accessible on the Internet, and you're redefining that term in
> your ballot.
>

I agree. If a definition is to be used, the one currently available
definition is from https://opensource.org/ai , Inventing something else
with the limited scope for clarification only introduces confusion.



> That being said, your proposal basically forbids using AI made available
> by the big global players, where the music is currently playing. While
> it is legitimate to do that, this privileges rich DDs who can afford big
> hardware to run local models or DDs with a corporate sponsor.
>
> Is "public AI" as you define already available today, and what would be
> the approximate costs to make use of that? How good is the code produced
> by public AI today, compared to what for example claude produces?
>

Any PC with a video card like AMD XTX 7900 or similar could run quite a few
local AI payloads with decent speed. Finding a few of those for Debian
infra should not be a blocking problem. Additionally there are many hosting
providers all over the world offering AI-capable hardware to be rented on
hourly basis for as low as 0.37=E2=82=AC/hour in a fully green datacenter
https://www.hetzner.com/dedicated-rootserver/matrix-gpu/ (as example only,
no endorsement intended). And Debian has also not asked for any hardware or
time donations from any providers yet. Historically Debian has been able to
acquire needed compute power with little or no cost, when needs were
clearly articulated and expressed.

Fronteer models will always be more capable, but in restricted contexts
(like translation or coding) it is possible to find good-enough solutions.

Providers of fronteer models would also likely jump at the opportunity of
providing complimentary pro access to Debian Developers for project work,
if we ever actually asked for that.
--=20
Best regards,
    Aigars Mahinovs

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<div dir=3D"ltr"><div class=3D"gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir=
=3D"ltr" class=3D"gmail_attr">On Thu, 30 Jul 2026 at 08:53, Marc Haber &lt;=
<a href=3D"mailto:mh%[email protected]">[email protected]=
e</a>&gt; wrote:<br></div><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin=
:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"=
>On Tue, Jul 28, 2026 at 12:43:21PM -0300, Pirate Praveen wrote:<br>
&gt;----draft proposal ----<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt;LLMs have made a huge leap in language translations, but at the same <b=
r>
&gt;time depending on big tech companies to provide this service is not a <=
br>
&gt;good idea.<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt;1. Public AI is AI as public infrastructure like highways, water, or <b=
r>
&gt;electricity.<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt;2. Public AI must use Free Software models.<br></blockquote><div>=C2=A0=
</div><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;b=
order-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">Please consider not=
 using &quot;public AI&quot; in your ballot name, many people <br>
will consider ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, Mistral etc &quot;public&quot; because=
 it is <br>
publicly accessible on the Internet, and you&#39;re redefining that term in=
 <br>
your ballot.<br></blockquote><div><br></div><div>I agree. If a definition i=
s to be used, the one currently available definition is from=C2=A0<a href=
=3D"https://opensource.org/ai">https://opensource.org/ai</a> , Inventing so=
mething else with the limited scope for clarification only introduces confu=
sion.</div><div><br></div><div>=C2=A0</div><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote=
" style=3D"margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);=
padding-left:1ex">
That being said, your proposal basically forbids using AI made available <b=
r>
by the big global players, where the music is currently playing. While <br>
it is legitimate to do that, this privileges rich DDs who can afford big <b=
r>
hardware to run local models or DDs with a corporate sponsor.<br>
<br>
Is &quot;public AI&quot; as you define already available today, and what wo=
uld be <br>
the approximate costs to make use of that? How good is the code produced <b=
r>
by public AI today, compared to what for example claude produces?<br></bloc=
kquote><div><br></div><span class=3D"gmail_signature_prefix">Any PC with a =
video card like AMD XTX 7900 or similar could run quite a few local AI payl=
oads with decent speed. Finding a few of those for Debian infra should not =
be a blocking problem. Additionally there are many hosting providers all ov=
er the world offering AI-capable hardware to be rented on hourly basis for =
as low as 0.37=E2=82=AC/hour in a fully green datacenter=C2=A0</span><a hre=
f=3D"https://www.hetzner.com/dedicated-rootserver/matrix-gpu/">https://www.=
hetzner.com/dedicated-rootserver/matrix-gpu/</a> (as example only, no endor=
sement intended). And Debian has also not asked for any hardware or time do=
nations from any providers yet. Historically Debian has been able to acquir=
e needed compute power with little or no cost, when needs were clearly arti=
culated and expressed.</div><div class=3D"gmail_quote gmail_quote_container=
"><br></div><div class=3D"gmail_quote gmail_quote_container">Fronteer model=
s will always be more capable, but in restricted contexts (like translation=
 or coding) it is possible to find good-enough solutions.</div><div class=
=3D"gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><br></div><div class=3D"gmail_quote =
gmail_quote_container">Providers of fronteer models would also likely jump =
at the opportunity of providing complimentary pro access to Debian Develope=
rs for project work, if we ever actually asked for that.</div><div class=3D=
"gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><span class=3D"gmail_signature_prefix">=
-- </span></div><div dir=3D"ltr" class=3D"gmail_signature"><div dir=3D"ltr"=
>Best regards,<br>=C2=A0 =C2=A0 Aigars Mahinovs</div></div></div>

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