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Linux's Staging Area To Now Reject LLM-Generated Patches, Except For Real Security Fixes (www.phoronix.com)

submitted 7 hours ago by misk@piefed.social to c/linux@programming.dev

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Note, LLMs are very good at finding suspect "security issues" in kernel code these days. But even with the best of the current and next generation tools, at least 1/3 of the results they generate are flat out wrong or harmful. So, if you think your LLM-found/fixed issue in a drivers/staging/ file is really valid, it's fine to submit it BUT you must have first tested it on the actual hardware for the driver, and described how you have done so, in order for us to be willing to take the change.

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[–] NotSteve_@lemmy.ca 17 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Nice, I can get behind that policy. LLMs can be useful but only if you assume the output is wrong until proven correct. Using it to find potential threads to pull at makes sense to me but not blindly trusting everything it points out

[–] Hirom@beehaw.org 7 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Actually proving that C code is correct is not easy.

Having a human developer manually write code that is less harmful/wrong, and doesn't require proof, is probably easier.

[–] LurkingLuddite@piefed.social 4 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Except a good programmer will have proof, in the form of at minimum manual tests that exercise the exact issue. A good programmer will have automated tests that clearly assert the behavior in question.

It genuinely boggles my mind when people whine about having to prove what the AI said... THEY SHOULD'VE BEEN DOING THAT THE WHOLE FUCKING TIME in their entire career!

[–] Hirom@beehaw.org 7 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

We're talking about different kind of proofs.

Proving a program is correct requires a formal specification and a formal verification with mathematics and/or formal methods. ie proving the behavior and result perfectly match specification for all possible inputs.

A test only proves that a program 1) returns the expected output for a specific input, or limited set of inputs, and 2) appears to behave correctly, ie there may be undefined behaviour but they don't cause an immediate crash.