alt Hacker NewsUsing the source code to ask questions about poorly documented features in projects you have no experience is my favourite thing that LLMs make possible (of course you could do this before but it would take way, way more time). There are so many little annoyances that I’ve been able to patch and, thanks to NixOS, have the patched software permanently available to me.
In fact NixOS + LLMs feels like the full promise of open source software is finally available to me. Everything is within reach. If you don’t like something, patch it out. If you want to change a default, patch that in.
No need to know the language, the weird build process, or the custom tooling. Idea to working binary in minutes. I love it so much.
Yes, the idea that you can meaningfully modify the program for your own purposes (one of Stallman's four freedoms) was quite unrealistic except for the most skilled and invested among users. LLMs change this. I mean, as long as you use open models. I fear that in the future, corporate models may start to refuse building software like this that is inconvenient for them. Like possible future-Gemini saying, "oh I see you're patching chromium to continue working with adblockers, this is harmful activity, I cannot help you and reported your account to Google. Cease and desist from these plans or you lose your Gmail!"
Today is the honeymoon phase, enshittification will come later when the pie stops growing and the aspect of control comes more into focus.
It's just too good to be true. Most people still don't know that you can now do what you just described. Once people in the suits understand this, the propaganda will start about how unsafe this all is and that platforms must be locked down at the hardware level, subscriptions cut off if building unapproved software etc.