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Open Source as We Know It Is Dead

jross.me86 points55 comments
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Commenters argued that the rise of AI-generated contributions has hollowed out the social fabric of open source. FlowingRiver described maintainers drowning in unreviewable code with no community to converse with; r0m4n0 and sentinel1909 said engineers are increasingly removed from craftsmanship, outsourcing reviews and code generation to agents. injidup and SequoiaHope linked this to a broader decline in cooperative contribution and poor integration of automated tools, while MattyRad and others warned of ethical and quality erosion. Several practical reactions were reported: jcupitt and kijin described banning or closing AI-driven or external PRs, ternaus disabled external PRs, and johnnyanmac suggested strict PR-size limits to force oversight.

Others countered that openness has always been about code rather than open contributor access and that the situation is an intensification, not a death. Barrin92 and verdverm argued projects can adapt and even benefit from more contributions, while shingoshoji predicted AI will improve and reduce “slop.” phlakaton and kayashaolu2 proposed a comeback for community discussion (mailing lists) or a shift toward prose/prompt-focused collaboration. Opinions split between those who see open source “as we know it” ending and those who believe gating, cultural norms, or evolving tooling will preserve or reinvent its core values.

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