cross-posted from: https://discuss.tchncs.de/post/64896415
For additional context, here’s Brian’s previous blog post about the first preview release of Xfwl4, where he describes his history with Xfce and the sponsorship.
https://www.spurint.org/journal/2026/06/xfwl4s-first-preview-release
Nope, you’re supposed to run your free project in a manner that we approve of only, please.
Unknowingly using potentially copyrighted code from an LLM in a FLOSS project opens it up to being sued for infringement, which most FLOSS devs can’t afford to fight, especially in the US’s current extremely pro-corporate courts.
It’s putting a target on your back for down the road when it becomes profitable for patent trolls to use AI to try to scan for copyrighted code on public code bases. Big tech companies could do the same to squash an open source competitor.
It could also simply be seen as a bad look no matter any risks, potentially the taking of code snippets from other projects that may have a significant code length, without attributing them properly. I find it sad.
If somebody proposed to build you a house with slave labor free of charge, would you be happy about it?
Since the answer is quite obvious, we can clearly state that even if something is free and beneficial for you, there is a line which you shouldn’t cross.
That out of the way, we now have to figure out where to draw this line. It just so happens that for a lot of people using a technology that actively destroys our environment, makes every computiational device more expensive, literally makes it’s users dumber, and is built with very ethically questionable methods lies beyond the line.
Oh, if that’s not enough, LLMs can kill you if you are psychologically unstable.
you mean like the metals mined by children and forced labor that’s in every electronic device and battery on the planet? so you’re talking to us from a cup and string in the woods then, right?