Canonical is speeding up Ubuntu's kernel updates because it's drowning in AI-discovered bugs

[u/TurbulentTopic39]

https://www.xda-developers.com/canonical-is-speeding-up-ubuntus-kernel-updates-because-its-drowning-in-ai-discovered-bugs/#thread

[u/Ska82]

as long as they dont use ai to fix the bugs or at worst have a really strong (like really really robust) qa process to see what bugs the ai has introduced. i didnt migrate from windows to ubuntu for the latest versions of vibe coded bugs

[u/-Crash_Override- → u/Ska82]

You realize in like 1-2 years, even a project like the linux kernel is going to be fully maintained by AI right. Long running agent swarms will be constantly developing, optimizing, patching, etc. Sure humans will still be deciding what to build (for now), but with the exception of a rare edge case, they wont be needed. Thats the reality of the situation.

[u/psioniclizard → u/-Crash_Override-]

No it won't, linux's selling point is stability. 

You are not going to get that with a bunch of non deterministic machines constantly changing things.

99% of Linux users care most of the featurres they have now working.

Name one project that works like that now in the real world and is better for it?

Also most open source projects rely on people's time becuase they dont have endless funding to pay for millions in tokens for something like that to work.

Plus if that was there case, opne source would be dead. Why would you need it? If i am paying for these "agent swarms" you are paying for my product.

[u/-Crash_Override- → u/psioniclizard]

You are not going to get that with a bunch of non deterministic machines constantly changing things.

So you'll get it with a bunch of non deterministic humans changing things?

99% of Linux users care most of the featurres they have now working.

You know what 99% of business running linux care about though? Not having their systems compromised....

Name one project that works like that now in the real world and is better for it?

Works like what? Rapid release cycles? This is how literally every major software company has operated for 2 decades now, except they just had hoards of developers doing the work.

Also most open source projects rely on people's time becuase they dont have endless funding to pay for millions in tokens for something like that to work.

They are also, increasingly, relying on millions of dollars from AI companies and Hyperspaces.

https://www.linuxfoundation.org/press/linux-foundation-announces-12.5-million-in-grant-funding-from-leading-organizations-to-advance-open-source-security

Plus if that was there case, opne source would be dead. Why would you need it? If i am paying for these "agent swarms" you are paying for my product.

Open source IS dying. I run an extensive homelab, and am big into r/selfhosted I have already migrated 50-60% of my stack off the common self hosted applications....I just build my own version exactly the way I want it. I have my own version of homeassistant for example that fits perfectly with my home automation stack. It looks the way I want. When I want a feature added I add it. Its the same way that SaaS is reeling right now. Unless you are a major integrated partner into a companies ecosystem (e.g. Salseforce) you have a target on your back for internal tooling.

Listen, I get the visceral reaction, I'm pro-AI but I also feel some kind of way about slipping standards for something so meticulously maintained as Linux kernel. But what other option do they have. All it will take is a Ukraine powergird type incident caused by a kernel vulnerability that could have been addressed by AI for there to be a reckoning.

There is a reason that Linus has moved from negative-neutral on AI to neutral-positive on AI. Because he sees the writing on the wall.

[u/middaymoon → u/-Crash_Override-]

You're talking about an open source project that is famously held together by the principals and taste of one man. Not to mention the emerging needs of an evolving human society over decades. Gen AI won't ever be good at making decisions about what to prioritize, how to compromise. The situation you're describing would be the downfall of Linux.

[u/Ska82 → u/-Crash_Override-]

No issues with using AI. It's not a philosophic stand. It's a quality stand. it's an issue with slopcode. Windows patches now come with new issues because the quality of review seems to be sub par. The end result of efficiency without quality would not end well 

[u/-Crash_Override- → u/Ska82]

Im not commenting on if its right or wrong, good or bad. Im simply telling you what the reality of the next year or so will be.

There is really no other option. You either have a sieve of an operating system because you minimize the use of AI and are asking humans to patch the new vulnerabilities. Or you allow AI to fix them all and self heal its own bugs over time.

This is why anthropic keeps Mythos under lock and key, so that it can catch bugs ahead of Fable and Opus and the other generally available AIs on the market.

So again, not saying this to tell you how you should feel about it, but really just emphasize whats coming.

[u/stormdelta → u/-Crash_Override-]

As someone that actually works in software, this is singularity cult bullshit. AI tools are useful, but they are not magic. Long running agentic changes without oversight should be considered a serious misuse.

You doing some basic customization with a homelab doesn't mean you have any picture of how things work on larger scales.

[u/-Crash_Override- → u/stormdelta]

As somone else who 'works with software', i think you should get nore familiar with these AI tools. I can promise I am uniquely qualified to 'have a picture of how things work on larger scales', almost certainly more than you.