Tim BrayFeb 17

1/2 Two new blog pieces. In which I have opinions about GenAI and open-source: https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/202x/2026/02/16/GenAI-and-OSS-opinion

#GenAI #opensource

Open Source and GenAI?

ongoing by Tim Bray
Show threadTim Bray

2/2 … and in which I describe the second of the two Quamina-related Claude interventions, namely an automated port from Go to Rust: https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/202x/2026/02/14/Q-Plus-C-Ch2

#GenAI #opensource

Quamina + Claude, Case 2

ongoing by Tim Bray
Feb 17 at 7:46pmWeb
Show threadTim BrayFeb 17
(Now I’m in trouble, probably.)
Show threadStefan EissingFeb 17

@timbray In #curl we see good in code reviews by LLMs. But they generate a flood initially. There are issues they can find and others they are blind to

New is that they find discrepancies between comments and code. In something as old and alive as #curl this is very useful. No other tool can do that.

But we get access for free, having a brand. These are not cheap. And we could not pay for them, so…

AI economics are nuts. Bananas.

Show threadTim BrayFeb 17
@icing AI technology may or may not make sense but I totally can't see sense in the economics.
Show threadClark Breyman (he/him)Feb 17
@timbray - Thank you for nuance.
Show threadwwarnerFeb 17
@timbray I’m glad you published this, bc it’s a very weird moment where one minute it feels like the bots empower me and the next like they’re coming after me. On balance, i think it’s empowering, like any knowledge sharing. But there is an implosion taking place in sw development.
Show threadAslak RaanesFeb 17
@timbray What's the copyright on those translations?
Show threadTim BrayFeb 17
@aslakr Apache license
Show threadAslak RaanesFeb 17
@timbray Sorry, maybe my english was a bit unclear. Who is copyright holder that can decide if this code is Apace license? Also does translation like this using Claude pass the threshold originality?
Show threadTim BrayFeb 17
@aslakr I am not a lawyer.
Show threadAbe KatzFeb 18
@timbray I really appreciate your writing on this topic. I'm a non-Engineer who has been using Claude Code for about a month to vibe code, and am grappling with the many ethical tradeoffs in it. Your perspectives are very valuable - thank you!
Show threadDr. Dr. Bethan Tovey-WalshFeb 18

@timbray

Congratulations. Your open source project is now the Nazi Bar.

I wish I hadn't lost a whole community I thought were friends last year after I pointed out the ridiculous exceptionalism of white guys in tech who think that somehow *their* Nazi Bar isn't *really* a Nazi Bar, and that I'm the problem for pointing out the fucking Nazis sitting right there sipping beer. If that hadn't happened, I might have the energy to try and persuade you. But it did, so I don't.

Enjoy the beer.

Show threadLarry GarfieldFeb 24

@timbray I somewhat agree with your conclusions in part 3 (can't find that post now), but I don't get how you think coding is exempt from responsibility for the environmental impact. Maybe I can see the sweatshop argument, but aren't these big AIs trained on more than just code? They need a grasp of English, at least.

Whole industries are trying to retool to fix a 4% of total CO2 output. Coding bots don't get a free pass.