So, Linus Torvalds has come out and said that LLMs are just a tool, and that Linux is not considered to be an anti-AI project. This has caused anti-AI people to crash out on social media, down to making very embarrassing conspiracies about Linus Torvalds being “compromised” when really he seems to be a no-bullshit type of guy (and there’s a lot of bullshit that surrounds desktop Linux, culturally/ideologically) and arts majors claiming they can make a better Linux than the guy who literally created Linux (lmfao). As a guy currently on Windows (on and off about Linux again, KDE is just too good lol) it’s kinda funny seeing this dichotomy from the sidelines, especially when there’s an equally loud group of people, seemingly motivated by an ideological push against Microsoft specifically, rizzing up LLMs for making Linux easier to deal with.

I’ve seen a general call for LLMs when using Linux, as well as people throwing coding agents at Linux to fix its weird issues and quirks. LLMs definitely did hoover up Reddit and StackOverflow, and I can 100% understand that people would rather deal with a sycophantic parrot than humans especially on Reddit, ethical issues be damned (the water thing is anti-AI psychosis. If you want to change the world for the better, going vegan has a bigger effect).

It’s why in my Linux problems post I said if you are anti-AI/LLM, you are better off sticking to your current operating system. Yes, even if you’re on Windows. If you know how to navigate Windows, or read Microsoft documentation, or fix Windows’ weird quirks without an LLM, that will 100% reduce your reliance on them. Hell, going to any OS that claims to be anti-AI or whatever because of Linus’ statements is very silly, as LLMs are going to be inescapable wherever you go – some software you’re using right now certainly has an LLM handling its code. I’m gonna stress that I’m not saying this to go all “AI IS THE FUTURE AND YOU’RE SLACKING IF YOU DON’T USE IT”, I really don’t care what you (don’t) use. I’m saying this to help curb obsessive-compulsive thoughts, and you’re not admitting defeat by using something that an LLM has touched if it’s helping you do things conveniently. Likewise, if you eventually use an LLM for something, that’s not defeat either. A dose of pragmatism won’t hurt you, and it might even be better for your mental health.

Once you go down the ideological pipeline, it causes you a lot of stress. It happened to at least one person. I wouldn’t be surprised if this person ended up getting a diagnosis for OCD…