Linus Torvalds tells anti-AI developers to fork Linux or walk away as AI becomes core tool

Linus Torvalds puts his foot down, tells anti-AI programmers to 'fork it'

Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET's key takeaways * Don't like that AI is used to develop and maintain Linux? Torvalds says: Tough! * AI is part and parcel of developing Linux now, and that's not changing. * Other top Linux maintainers agree with Torvalds. AI is here to stay. Many people hate AI. They don't trust it a bit. Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux, isn't one of them. Torvalds thinks AI can be quite useful for programming and maintenance. Indeed, AI is explicitly approved for use in the Linux kernel. However, that didn't stop some people from wondering if AI should be used in Linux development. For example, the Zig language project has adopted strict policies against AI-generated code. Also: 'I'm not a programmer' anymore: Linus Torvalds on the only two tools he uses now To those who'd like to see Linux take a similar stance, Torvalds recently replied on the Linux Kernel Mailing List (LKML), that if you can't support using AI in the Linux kernel, you "can do the open-source thing and fork it." He's not joking. Torvalds also wrote, "I realize that some people really dislike AI, but this is an area where I'm willing to absolutely put my foot down as the top-level maintainer." Why? Because "AI is a tool, just like other tools we use. And it's clearly a useful one. It may not have been that 'clearly' even just a year ago, but it's no longer in question today." Torvalds isn't the only one As Greg Kroah-Hartman, maintainer of the Linux stable kernel, told me earlier this year, "Months ago, we were getting what we called 'AI slop,' AI-generated security reports that were obviously wrong or low quality." But then, he continued, "the world switched. Now we have real reports. All open-source projects have real reports that are made with AI, but they're good, and they're real." Other open-source developers and maintainers agree. Starting with the 2026 frontier models, such as Anthropic Claude Opus 4.8, AI programming is vastly improved. As Torvalds continued, "There are other questions around AI (like what the economy of it will actually look like in the end), but 'is it useful?' is no longer one of those questions." Also: 'Rust makes coding fun again': Why Linux is moving away from C, according to Greg Kroah-Hartman That said, Torvalds knows full well that AI is far from perfect. "Yes, it can also be a somewhat painful tool ... But the solution is not to put your head in the sand and sing "La La La, I can't hear you" at the top of your voice like some people seem to do." No, concluded Torvalds, "The solution is to make sure those LLM tools help maintainers instead of just causing them pain. There's no question on that side." Therefore, while Torvalds won't force anyone to use AI, "I will very loudly ignore people who try to argue against other people from using it." Some projects strongly object to the use of AI What prompted this outburst was Linux developers discussing the Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC)'s recent AI policy statement, "When Using LLM-backed Generative AI Systems for FOSS Contributions." In it, the SFC suggests the "best practices" for AI use in open-source projects are to "support, not just tolerate, those who outright reject LLM-gen-AI systems." Also: 7 ways AI can help with your Linux system management The corner cases with this stance are what bug senior Linux kernel maintainer Theodore "Ted" Ts'o. He wrote, "If someone rejects LLM-gen-AI systems, and the LTS kernel contains patches which are automated backported, and they object, are we bound to forswear the use of automated backport technologies? What if someone reports a bug with a kernel stack trace, and someone uses an LLM agent to analyze their bug report and find a fix? What does it mean to 'support someone who outright rejects the use of LLM-gen-AI systems' in that case?" Ts'o's position is, "I don't think it's obvious that we must bend over backward to oblige the needs of all patch authors." For Linux, AI is here to stay Another top Linux kernel developer, James Bottomley, answered this way: "The contributor doesn't get to approve the tools the maintainer uses to assess and apply patches. If there's AI in there, and the contributor is an AI luddite, then the patch doesn't get applied (i.e., your right to ignore AI stops when it infringes others' right to use it)." Also: Linux after Linus? The kernel community finally drafts a plan for replacing Torvalds Or, as Torvalds succinctly put it, "In the kernel community, we do open source because it results in better technology, not because of religious reasons. And so we make decisions primarily based on technical merit. Not fear of new tools."

Linus Torvalds tells AI haters to fork off

Linux supremo says contributors opposed to AI use can 'just walk away' Chief penguinista Linus Torvalds has declared that Linux is not an "anti-AI" project, telling contributors who object they can either walk away or fork the kernel. On lore.kernel.org, the archive for Linux kernel mailing lists, reformed potty mouth Linus was responding to a discussion about some negative sentiments toward AI. It is one area where Torvalds said he was willing to "absolutely put my foot down as the top-level maintainer ... Linux is not one of those anti-AI projects, and if somebody has issues with that they can do the open-source thing and fork it." "Or just walk away." Ever the pragmatist, Torvalds described AI as a tool, "just like other tools we use. And it's clearly a useful one. It may not have been that 'clearly' even just a year ago, but it's no longer in question today. "Anybody who doubts that clearly hasn't actually used it." In October 2024, the Linux kingpin branded 90 percent of AI as marketing hype, saying he hated the hoopla generated by the tech industry. He said at the time: "I really don't want to go there, so my approach to AI right now is I will basically ignore it." He predicted things would change in five years, though he has softened his stance in 21 months. AI can be a "somewhat painful tool, both for maintainer workloads and just from an 'it keeps finding embarrassing bugs' standpoint," Torvalds conceded this week. "But the solution is not to put your head in the sand and sing 'La La La, I can't hear you' at the top of your voice like some people seem to do." The solution, he said, is to make sure LLM tools help maintainers rather than cause them pain. "We're not forcing anybody to use it, but I will very loudly ignore people who try to argue against other people from using it." The kernel project continues to be about technology, Torvalds added, and while the social angle of developing open source software is an important aspect, it is a "side benefit, not the point of the project." "In the kernel community we do open source because it results in better technology, not because of religious reasons. And so we make decisions primarily based on technical merit. Not fear of new tools." The seeming shift in stance was evident when The Register's SJVN spoke to senior Linux maintainer Greg Kroah-Hartman in March: he told us AI-assisted bug reports and code review had improved dramatically. "Something happened a month ago, and the world switched. Now we have real reports... All open source projects have real reports that are made with AI, but they're good, and they're real." Torvalds in May said AI tools were only useful if they help "rather than cause unnecessary pain and pointless make-believe work." Some maintainers in open source have complained of burnout - not helped by AI slop bug reports - and others worry about the quality of vibe-coding. Work still lies ahead before AI consistently proves it's more help than hindrance. "AI isn't perfect," said Torvalds in the mailing-list post on Tuesday. "But Christ, anybody who points to the problems at AI [sic] had better be looking in the mirror and pointing at themselves at the same time. Because it's not like natural intelligence is always all that great either."

Linus Torvalds tells anti-AI critics to fork Linux or walk away

Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. A hot potato: Linus Torvalds' stance toward AI appears to be softening. After pointing out that AI tech was 90% marketing and 10% factual reality in 2024, Torvalds just said that Linux is not an "anti-AI" project, and that anyone who has an issue with this can either walk away or fork the kernel. Torvalds' comments came in response to a discussion about anti-LLM feelings on lore.kernel.org, the official public archive for Linux kernel development mailing lists. He said that while he realizes some people really dislike AI, it's an area where he's willing to "absolutely put my foot down as the top-level maintainer." "Linux is not one of those anti-AI projects, and if somebody has issues with that, they can do the open-source thing and fork it. Or just walk away." The Linux creator added that AI is a tool, just like any other, and a useful one at that. He said that while there are other questions around AI, such as what its economic impact will ultimately look like, "is it useful" was no longer one of those questions. AI can be a "somewhat painful tool, both for maintainer workloads and just from an 'it keeps finding embarrassing bugs' standpoint," Torvalds said. "But the solution is not to put your head in the sand and sing 'La La La, I can't hear you' at the top of your voice like some people seem to do." "We're not forcing anybody to use it, but I will very loudly ignore people who try to argue against other people from using it." Torvalds admitted that AI isn't perfect, but he believes anyone who points to the technology's problems better be looking in the mirror and pointing at themselves at the same time. "Because it's not like natural intelligence is always all that great either," he said. The Finnish software engineer appeared to take a more cautious approach to AI back in 2024. In addition to complaining that it was 90% marketing hype, he said it would take five years for it to become clear what AI is really useful for. It looks like that usefulness has become apparent in a shorter timeframe than expected. In January, Torvalds said he had started using AI to write code, though only as part of a small personal project rather than on Linux. A few months later, he criticized Linux developers for filing poorly timed bug reports shortly before an RC5 release, noting that some relied on AI to flag trivial issues. He added that many of the proposed fixes were also AI-generated and often introduced unnecessary bloat into the Linux kernel instead of addressing the underlying problem. Torvalds' comments suggest AI has already moved beyond the experimental stage for Linux, even if developers are still grappling with the extra workload, questionable fixes, and occasional kernel bloat it creates.

Linus Torvalds says Linux is not "anti-AI", tells haters to 'fork it' and 'just walk away'

* Linus Torvalds asserts Linux developers can make their own mind up about using AI * Anti-AI developers can "fork it" and go elsewhere, he says * AI should be used to help developers, Torvalds emphasises Linux creator Linus Torvalds has ultimately concluded that, while developers won't be discouraged from using AI tools to help with their coding needs, artificial intelligence shall not be mandatory and nobody is being forced to use it. "Linux is not one of those anti-AI projects, and if somebody has issues with that, they can do the open-source thing and fork it," he said in a kernel mailing list update. Torvalds himself doesn't actively advocate either way, acknowledging that the tech is more of a tool than an ideology and that proven use cases have helped solidify its uses, despite questionable economics, environmental impacts and long-term consequences. Torvalds tells AI haters to "fork it" Torvalds added that he also knows that AI can create serious issues for maintainers, with AI-assisted submissions increasing workloads, producing noise and potential duplication, and generally adding more workload for humans. Speaking about AI's role in developer workflows, Torvalds criticized some for burying their heads in the sand and ignoring its impact. "The solution is to make sure those LLM tools _help_ maintainers instead of just causing them pain," he stressed. In his message, Torvalds also rejected perfection as the standard, admitting that "natural intelligence" can be just as prone to mistakes as artificial intelligence. The open-source project, then, is not a "some kind of 'social warrior' project" used to debate the relevance of artificial intelligence, with Torvalds welcoming all manner of viewpoints and contributions from developers regardless of whether they use AI assistance. "The kernel project has been and will continue to be about the technology," he concluded. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.

'It's not like natural intelligence is always all that great either': Linus Torvalds addresses anti-AI sentiment in Linux development

'We make decisions primarily based on technical merit. Not fear of new tools.' Linux likers and AI dislikers, it's time to raid the cutlery drawer and fork your favourite distro. Why? Because Linus Torvalds has declared that Linux is not an "anti-AI" project. Torvalds recently responded to a discussion about Sashiko, an agentic Linux kernel code review system, writing, "I realize that some people really dislike AI, but this is an area where I'm willing to absolutely put my foot down as the top-level maintainer. Linux is not one of those anti-AI projects." His full response has been preserved via the archive for Linux kernel mailing lists, lore.kernel.org (via The Register). If users and developers don't like the project using AI, Torvalds instructs them to either fork their distro "or just walk away". Torvalds goes on to argue, "AI is a tool, just like other tools we use. And it's clearly a useful one. It may not have been that "clearly" even just a year ago, but it's no longer in question today." He also notes that "yes, [AI] can also be a somewhat painful tool, both for maintainer workloads and just from a 'it keeps finding embarrassing bugs' standpoint." But, not dissimilarly to Microsoft and Firefox, he is apparently now welcoming AI as a tool that can help make the maintainer bug-hunt a little less painful. It's not a complete 180 from Torvalds -- even if, back in May, Torvalds has previously lamented how the use of LLMs to find bugs was wasting a lot of the Linux team's time. He explained then, "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." Before then, during the Open Source Summit in 2024, Torvalds had described AI as "90 per cent marketing and ten per cent reality." He also said: "Let's wait 10 years and see where it actually goes before we make all these crazy announcements." It would appear, as far as Torvalds is concerned, we didn't even need to wait that long. In his latest missive, Torvalds goes on to write: "We're not forcing anybody to use it, but I will very loudly ignore people who try to argue against other people from using it. And no, AI isn't perfect. But Christ, anybody who points to the problems at AI had better be looking in the mirror and pointing at themselves at the same time. Because it's not like natural intelligence is always all that great either." Torvalds also writes that, "the kernel project has been and will continue to be about the technology," and he concludes his missive by saying, "we make decisions primarily based on technical merit. Not fear of new tools."