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1 correction found
rules against AI coding tools
The Linux kernel discussion was not about a rule banning AI coding tools; it was about an "Assisted-by" disclosure requirement for patches made with AI/helpful tools.
Full reasoning
Linus Torvalds really did write the quoted "UTTERLY STUPID" line on the Linux kernel mailing list, but he was arguing against a hypothetical ban like "don't use AI for X," not describing an actual kernel rule that forbade AI coding tools.
The contemporaneous patch discussion shows the real rule under debate: contributors who used an LLM were asked to add an Assisted-by tag to their patches. Sasha Levin's patch explanation says the docs had asked contributors "to add an Assisted-by tag to patches developed with help from an LLM," and that the proposal was to remove that requirement. The kernel's patch-submission docs likewise said: "If you used any sort of advanced coding tool in the creation of your patch, you need to acknowledge that use by adding an Assisted-by tag."
So the misleading part of the post is calling these "rules against AI coding tools." The rule being discussed was an attribution/disclosure rule about acknowledging AI assistance, not a rule prohibiting the use of AI coding tools.
3 sources
- Re: [PATCH] docs: remove Assisted-by references
Linus Torvalds wrote: "I don't understand this whole idiotic concept of 'don't use AI for X'... Do you not see how UTTERLY STUPID those kinds of rules would be?"
- Re: [PATCH v2] docs: remove Assisted-by references
Sasha Levin wrote that the docs had "asked contributors to add an Assisted-by tag to patches developed with help from an LLM" and proposed removing that requirement.
- Submitting patches: the essential guide to getting your code into the kernel
The docs said: "If you used any sort of advanced coding tool in the creation of your patch, you need to acknowledge that use by adding an Assisted-by tag."