A way forward after the recent LLM thread

Community
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I was reading through the “Thoughts on the recent Debian GR” thread, and I wanted to discuss something that deserves its own thread.

The community has been discussing the topic of LLM use for many months, and from testimonials on that thread, it’s quite clear that the uncertainty around the topic is causing emotional distress and affecting the mental wellness of some people. On top of that, a lot of energy is being spent fruitlessly on debates and arguments that would be much better-spent on a collective resolution.

I think for the health of the people in the project and of GNOME as a whole, a GNOME-wide referendum on this topic is both necessary and urgent.

Personally, I support limited use of LLMs for coding, and I think that they are a god-send for people who do not speak English to be able to effectively participate in the community. However, I am prepared to accept any outcome that is decided by the GNOME community. I think many people feel the same way.

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Thoughts on the recent Debian GR
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I agree that we need some resolution on this topic, but I’m not convinced that a referendum is a good approach. Referendums tend to divide people into opposing camps (you can only be for or against) and can entrench and polarise differences of opinion. I’d much prefer a process that allows us to come to a conclusion while avoiding those pitfalls.

What we really need is a small group to carry the task of drafting and proposing a policy…

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Whatever the approach to resolution might be, the status quo is untenable. I will support whatever path forward people are willing to work on.

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What process do you have in mind? A vote like the one Debian had, or an RFC once the RFC 0001 will pass?