@toots I feel there must be some financial incentives in play. But then if you try using LLMs, you might discover that they're built for the maximum engagement, they're really good at convincing people that they can do the job...
Oct 15, 2026, 7:17 PM@nina_kali_nina yeah I think Linus' immigration into USA from Finland might have been weighed down by Transmeta or whatever, but I'm definitely not one to judge or suspect or being an amateour detective. Whatever; I actually suspect none of the things I listed has much to do with anything, but yeah the LLM train surely has incentives, beyond my interest really, since I try to ignore all of it.
@nina_kali_nina @toots I think it's just desperation. Like the "every bug is a CVE" thing. And dropping support for the 486. Any and every thing they can try while holding onto crazy complex stuff like cgroups and Microsoft/Google stuff that *does* generate dev hours and funding.
It always amazes me that Linux, like, still boots and stuff. Truly a modern tower of Babel.
I use it so I can't say much, but I can totally see how it would drive its creators insane!
@nina_kali_nina @toots maybe hes gaming the system? Getting filthy rich over what has the power to destroy his project and career if he refuses?
Oct 15, 2026, 9:31 PM@PyrexContainer @nina_kali_nina I deeply doubt Linus Thorvalds is gaming the system like this. He's a super-upstanding citizen, his wife and family is beyond critiques, and he's got a ton of humble-gotten money in the banks, Linus won't turn cynically grubbing for some blind reason; I really think the chance of him being like that would be inexistent.
@toots @PyrexContainer lately he came across as an asshole in mailing lists. And if not an asshole then just a tired disgruntled engineer who has ran out of care for the community
Oct 15, 2026, 9:43 PM@nina_kali_nina @PyrexContainer yeah he's "always" been kind of crude in the lkml or those places but I still think it's a larger threshold to be hopefully not seen. We'll have to hold our popcorns, but he's from Finland, and , well but I really doubt he'll go totally Darth Vader, or your favourite villain, since I don't keep up with the marvel bs, but fingers crossed.
Oct 16, 2026, 1:26 AM@nina_kali_nina @toots @PyrexContainer lately? Linus has been a savage in the mailing lists since time immemorial.
@nina_kali_nina @toots I think it's a lot like nicotine: plenty of people aren't addicted to it until they try it, and then it's really, really hard to stop, because that's what it does. I've seen LLMs compared to gambling, and I believe it's using the exact same neural pathways. People talk about it and behave the same way someone with a gambling problem would. (Not to absolve people of their agency, either. I also believe it's easier to stop using LLMs than it is to stop gambling.)
Oct 15, 2026, 9:45 PM@theorangetheme @nina_kali_nina I doubt Linus specifically is addicted to LLMs but I can also not critique his decisions, being that he's got like ages of experience being the BOFH, or inevitable dictator; can't really beat things subjectively down with a shovel, I feel.
@toots @nina_kali_nina *grabs a second shovel* I'm spec'd for dual-wielding.