Linux distros ban ‘tainted’ AI-generated code — NetBSD and Gentoo lead the charge on forbidding AI-written code. Not all FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) developers want AI messing with their code.
Coming out of the Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) community this week, we have a Gentoo Wiki post and an update to NetBSD’s commit guidelines that forbid or heavily restrict the usage of AI-generated code within these open-source Linux distributions. Considering how controversial AI is and how often it can turn around solutions that don’t quite work correctly (especially for programming tasks), there are plenty of practical reasons for applying these new policies.
In NetBSD’s case, “code generated by a large language model or similar technology” is “presumed to be tainted code and must not be committed without prior written approval.” So, while their policy may technically allow AI contribution in the future, it won’t be without human oversight to ensure the feature(s) actually work.
Meanwhile, Gentoo Linux is more direct about banning AI tools altogether while contributing to the Gentoo project. The Gentoo team directly cites copyright, quality, and ethical concerns behind their reasoning for not allowing LLM-generated code into their operating system. In particular, their ethical concerns emphasize that commercial AI projects “are frequently indulging in blatant copyright violation to train their models,” their use of natural resources may be too severe, and that LLMs have been used to empower scammers.
Gentoo’s AI Policy: https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Project:Council/AI_policy
NetBSD’s Commit Guidelines: https://www.netbsd.org/developers/commit-guidelines.html
