this post was submitted on 18 May 2026
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Linus Torvalds says AI-powered bug hunters have made Linux security mailing list ‘almost entirely unmanageable’ (lkml.org)
submitted 2 days ago by beep@piefed.world to c/linux@lemmy.ml
18 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/tech/p/1131733/linus-torvalds-says-ai-powered-bug-hunters-have-made-linux-security-mailing-list-almost

The continued flood of AI reports has basically made the security list almost entirely unmanageable, with enormous duplication due to different people finding the same things with the same tools. People spend all their time just forwarding things to the right people or saying "that was already fixed a week/month ago" and pointing to the public discussion.

Which is all entirely pointless churn, and we're making it clear that AI detected bugs are pretty much by definition not secret, and treating them on some private list is a waste of time for everybody involved - and only makes that duplication worse because the reporters can't even see each other's reports.

AI tools are great, but only if they actually help, rather than cause unnecessary pain and pointless make-believe work. Feel free to use them, but use them in a way that is productive and makes for a better experience.

The documentation may be a bit less blunt than I am, but that's the core gist of it. So just to make it really clear: if you found a bug using AI tools, the chances are somebody else found it too. If you actually want to add value, read the documentation, create a patch too, and add some real value on top of what the AI did. Don't be the drive-by "send a random report with no real understanding" kind of person. Ok?

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[–] idriss@lemmy.ml 2 points 5 hours ago

I am nowhere close to be as smart as him or people like him, but I abandoned a project because of sloppy massive PRs and started refusing to put my name / approval on most PRs at work also because of the same thing, I am the tech person who stayed the most here and not gonna waste my time reviewing slop for others to take credit (just push it with Claude, dev XX will review it properly before it hits prod).

The decline started, but I will keep protecting my side in this company while I am here. I use LLMs occasionally (so I am not going against management trying to make us more productive) to type less, or extract smaller snippets, ... but the change is 100% what I had in mind and I hold myself 100% responsible for the output.

[–] magikmw@piefed.social 57 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Linus really did work on himself huh. Imagine early 2000s Torvalds responding to this.

[–] Feathercrown@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

The Gordon Ramsay of mailing lists

[–] eldavi@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

he would sound like the graphene people. lol

[–] lord_ryvan@ttrpg.network 1 points 6 hours ago

Oh, they that bad?

[–] SocialistVibes01@lemmy.ml 16 points 2 days ago

What a shit show

[–] JohnDarlen@lemmy.today 18 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I can't believe Linus is saying AI is "great" man. I mean even I know it has a few usages for very disposable things, but saying it's great... That's sad. It's very well know the dozens of issues that lies behind LLM use.

[–] AndrewZabar@lemmy.world 26 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I know you were just being glib, but I feel compelled to point out that given its context, it was only used as one might say "AI is all well and good, but...", like just using it to get to the real point, which is that in-and-of itself, without a person acting upon the AI's results, it is actually not great at all. Like any tool, it has to be used to help you accomplish something and not just set about to do your entire job for you. So he was actually saying the opposite.

[–] gary_host_laptop@lemmy.ml 9 points 2 days ago (1 children)

@yogthos@lemmy.ml, Linus agrees with you that what you did with the Feds is totally okay. lol

Which is all entirely pointless churn, and we’re making it clear that AI detected bugs are pretty much by definition not secret, and treating them on some private list is a waste of time for everybody involved - and only makes that duplication worse because the reporters can’t even see each other’s reports.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 day ago

I feel very validated :)

[–] juipeltje@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago

This was to be expected i guess

[–] racoon@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 days ago

OpenBSD devs were right all along