Do you know what a "Linux install party" is? A dozen enthusiasts in a borrowed classroom, well past dusk, screens lighting up their faces.
30+ years ago, Linus Torvalds created "Linux," an open source operating system. During my CS studies, installing some version ("distro") of Linux on your computer ("machine") was a rite of passage. It wasn't easy, so we did it as a tribe.
Since those times, AI has had an impact on the developer community, giving rise to no-AI purists (no AI usage, for anything, ever). Linus would go on to call AI "mostly marketing" in 2024.
Earlier this year, the wind seemed to shift for Linus. He shipped a personal project built using AI. The creator and top maintainer of Linux put his foot down this week:
Linux is not an anti-AI project:
"AI is a tool, just like the others. And it's clearly useful. Anybody who doubts that clearly hasn't actually used it." Don't like it? Start your own offshoot of Linux, or walk away.
When the most credible skeptic on earth stops debating whether AI is useful, the debate is over.
The question was never "is it useful?" It's whether you're using it well (or enough), or whether you're still singing la-la-la with your fingers in your ears.
Decisions on technical merit. Not fear of new tools.