General Resolution: LLM usage in Debian
https://www.debian.org/vote/2026/vote_002

Discussion period ended yesterday. Voting starts tomorrow. There are now 8 choices on the ballot. This should be... interesting.

#debian

One of the reasons I've used Debian Unstable is to see what new packages are being added to the repositories. I'd usually use Synaptic to see a list. One issue was that when I update Synaptic, the previous list of new packages is lost.

So I've switched from XFCE to GNOME, and it looks like some background process is updating the package catalog, so I don't see any new packages listed in Synaptic. The Software app lists "new and updated packages", but it's just a sampling, and only seems to be GUI apps. It also obscures what software is getting updated; it's much less informative than Synaptic.

Is there another way to get a list of recently added packages?

#Debian

debian-testing-amd64-netinst.iso is now 946MB. I remember when this was the one I used to grab because I was on a low-bandwidth connection.

You can *definitely* fit an entire distro in 946MB.

#Debian

Does anyone know the last Linux kernel version that didn't include slop code?

I'm using boxes that are 6-8 years old, so I don't need a shiny new kernel.

I'm also running Debian stable which uses ancient versions of packages, so I feel like I could run with an older kernel.

Would it work?

#linux #ai #slop #kernel #debian

@nixCraft people scoffed when #Debian made that kind of an announcement. How do folks think about Oracle?

I have a USB keyboard attached to my laptop, for ergonomics reasons. I've been finding that when I switch apps, or pause typing for a few seconds, the first keypress I make after that is lost. I'm guessing there's some sort of process that puts the USB connection to sleep and wakes when there's activity, that effectively drops that first keypress.

Is there a setting I can change so that no keypresses are lost?

I've done a few web searches, and I found a few references to fixes on Windows, but that doesn't help much, as I'm using Debian Linux.

#linux #debian #xfce #thinkpad #usb

Dear top people,

htop -t seems pretty. What is your favorite top and why?

#top #htop #Debian #Linux #DevOps

@david_chisnall I did not know that, thanks for sharing.

Can Poudriere also be used to generate .iso images? Suppose I wanted to create a custom FreeBSD desktop and install it on some spare laptops?

I recall doing something similar with #Debian about 10 years ago, but using its toolset in a chroot and squashfs.

So #Debian is proposing a policy similar to #Codeberg with regard to LLMs (Large Language Models). Interesting.

Time to reveal the secret:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimmy_(book)

Picture source: https://jenniefitzkee.com/2024/08/31/a-childrens-book-in-the-sky-swimmy/

#Swimmy #LeoLionni #community #collaboration #solidarity #diversity #Debian #DebConf26 #Jabber #XMPP #children #literature #book

Alt...

Picture of a large fish, from 1963 children picture book "Swimmy" by Leo Lionni. The fish is composed of many small red fishes with Swimmy, the black fish, as its eye.

#AIsucks.

https://www.debian.org/vote/2026/vote_002

The problem with "A": Some people will use LLMs anyway. If it's forbidden or made socially inacceptable, they will (try to) hide the fact.

With "B", we have a small chance, that people will disclose if they use #AI, which #LLM or #model in what way. While I'm not happy about it, it might provide at least minimal #transparency.

Best would be to #postpone the matter.

I tend to vote Further Discussion > B > A.

#Debian #GeneralResolution #GR

if you have access to debian-vote, please for the love of all gods vote Proposal A to ban the use of LLMs in #Debian packaging tools
https://www.debian.org/vote/2026/vote_002

Debian Developers Debate Ban on AI-Assisted Contributions

https://linuxiac.com/debian-developers-debate-ban-on-ai-assisted-contributions/

> Debian developers are discussing whether to prohibit LLM-assisted contributions or allow them under a new set of accountability and disclosure rules.

#debian #linux #slop #ai #llm #technology #programming #foss

Debian is the solution. Now what was the problem?
#debian #Linux

I don't know who needs to hear this, but #Linux is political. You personally might not be into it for the politics, which is fine I guess, but anything that pushes back against America's global tech monopoly is a political project. It can't not be.

Just saying.

#FOSS #FLOSS #OpenSource #Linux #Debian #Gnome

Updated Debian Linux version 13: 13.6 has been released. If you regularly update your system using the APT you will get these updates but you may have to schedule system reboots.

https://www.debian.org/News/2026/20260711

#linux #debian #sysadmin

I think I’m going to set up #Debian now. I have a huge problem with some packages conflicting and refusing to build on Arch, hindering the system update. Not cool and will take too much time to resolve for something that shouldn’t’ve even happened. I need a really boring system to base things off, as I care about software and ideas (and ed(1),) and not about drivers and systemd whatever. I just want something that is guaranteed to stay out of my way. So yeah, it’s a values decision.

I am also considering #Guix, but the stance on non-free software and the dire gaming situation is somewhat disincentivizing. No systemd and lack of slop though. Can I install Shepherd on Debian? Is Devuan a good distro? Is SysV too vaporwave with kids these days?

#Plan9 sounds fun too, especially for running in a container on a more secure system.

God damn. Gnome's "activities" overview remains absolutely genius design. You tap *one* button, and you have access to 95% of what you use on a regular basis. It's sad that other desktop environments don't have this.

#FOSS #FLOSS #OpenSource #Linux #Debian #Gnome

Alt...

A Gnome desktop with "activities" revealed. There is a desktop window slightly shrunken, in the centre of the screen, a series of desktop thumbnails across the top, and a "dash" with frequently used programmes along the bottom. One button reveals your whole computer.

okay, some big debian questions; so I'm using rsync daily to backup all my important stuff (both locally and to offsite)

my debian stable (trixie) has version 3.4.1, which is fine; but I don't want the newer, sloppified version..

so I wondered:

- can I tell my debian install to just keep this version forever? or will that break things sooner or later?

(to everyone explaining how to hold a package, yes thanks but I know that; my question is more like "can I do that forever without things breaking". but I understand the answer must be no 😅 maybe the question was more out of desperation; that clearly isn't the way to go in the long run.. a real solution must come from the debian team then =>)

- since debian tends to be pretty strict when it comes to stability (it's called debian stable after all), is there an active discussion going on, in the debian community, about how to deal with obviously sloppifying packages like rsync?

will debian maybe freeze them at the last non-sloppified version too somehow, so I don't have to deal with that?

surely, it can't be that obviously worse versions of packages go from debian experimental, through testing, to stable, right? 😬

I'm rather curious/puzzled/anxious how debian will handle cases like this, since there's bound to be a ton of them before long.

does anyone, someone more familiar with the debian community, have some insights on this process, and if this is being actively discussed? I really hope it is!

because this is going to be a massive, make or break, problem before long - it kinda already is, at least for me, a random user, who is worried their backups might start breaking soon 😬

btw. I understand I could switch from rsync to some forked version, and I probably will if the answer to my question is "no, there's little discussion, and they are going to let the sloppified packages trickle through the experimental => testing => stable chain"; but that only works around the problem for this specific package.

I don't have time to find slopfree alternatives to all of these hundreds of tools that exist in a standard debian installation..

or maybe, would debian at some point maybe switch to forked, non-sloppified versions of packages, and denote them the new defaults, and handle the upgrade in somewhat automated fashion?

I remember how mariadb became kind of the new standard mysql, after oracle acquired that. but of course that only works if there is a big enough community of hobbyist programmers to maintain these unslopped forks - if only for security fixes; I'd be happy enough if everything just stays mostly fixed in functionally from this point in time on.

questions, questions! sorry this got a bit long and winding. just worried about the future of linux. I'm sure we all are.

#linux #debian

@structuredsucc The conservative and slow-moving nature of #Debian is a feature, not a bug. When mass delusions - like the AI gold-rush - seize the IT industry, Debian holds its course, a bulwark of sanity and steadiness in a churning sea of narcissism and recklessness. #Linux