the BSDs in the AI Age

[George Rosamond]

Ha!

>> This is useful:
>> https://subspace.kernel.org/etiquette.html#do-not-top-post-when-replying

Please reply to the original thread inline... and please no one reply to
Justin's top post.

g

On 4/2/26 11:53, Justin Sherrill wrote:
> The two things I can think of for quantifiable tests:
> 
> - What models and software run on BSDs?  There's all sorts of tooling for
> accessing LLMs, but how much have made it to BSD?
> 
> - How well do LLMs answer questions about BSD specific technology?  Or how
> exact are they when answering questions that could also be for Linux
> systems?  This one might be enraging, as in "check your systemd settings to
> tune your ZFS pools..." or some such.
> 
> On Thu, Apr 2, 2026 at 9:15 AM George Rosamond <george at ceetonetechnology.com>
> wrote:
> 
>> I want to initiate a thread on the "BSDs and AI today."
>>
>> A few things first.
>>
>> There are many levels to this discussion, and for the sake of clarity
>> and sanity, please top posting. All replies should be inline.
>>
>> This is useful:
>> https://subspace.kernel.org/etiquette.html#do-not-top-post-when-replying
>>
>> I'm looking to do a presentation on this in the summer for NYC*BUG.
>> There hasn't been anything in our community which provides the
>> high-level overview of the impact of AI, covering things from the impact
>> on the BSD operating systems to the impact on $job, etc. Hopefully this
>> thread can provide some raw materials, and become an outlet for
>> individual experiences and more general views.
>>
>> I initiated a similar fruitful (but private) discussion for another
>> open-source project, and think it's high-time for us to do the same on
>> a public list.
>>
>> ***
>>
>> There's a few layers to this discussions. Note these are discussions
>> points, not "Yes" or "No" surveys.
>>
>> * How are LLMs (big tech or otherwise) impacting $job now? Are you using
>> Claude Code or similar tools for day to day? Was it required or was it
>> your choice? Was there expectations from this tools in terms of
>> productivity, etc? This question raises the impact of AWS Bedrock/Kiro...
>>
>> * Should BSD projects have explicit LLM-focused policies? Look at the
>> 2nd point in the NetBSD "Commit Guidelines" at
>> https://www.netbsd.org/developers/commit-guidelines.html. OSS-Security
>> already discussed the issue with alleged CVEs discovered by people with
>> LLMs trying to stack their resume with credentials.
>>
>> * How should the BSD projects themselves be using LLMs? Integration in
>> the shell (oh, please no...)? Porting of APIs for big tech LLMs?
>> Utilizing LLMs to discover bad code, CVEs, undiscovered vulnerabilities?
>>
>> * How should individual developers and users consider LLMs as tools for
>> contributing to the BSDs and other open-source projects? I happily used
>> a big tech LLM to deal with an rc file for some very Linuxey software
>> wrapped up in systemd clutter.
>>
>> Other relevant questions added to this thread are welcomed, including
>> references to other relevant public mailing list discussions.
>>
>> g
>>
>