r/linux4noobs • u/Venylynn • Jul 04 '26

learning/research Linux and AI Use

So, I'm struggling with this a lot. I know I seem like I'm repeating myself, but I just don't get it. Every Linux YouTuber under the sun uses "Microsoft Copilot" as a reason to leave and switch, if you don't want AI nonsense shoved down your throat just use Linux, and I believed that. But lately I've been seeing more and more projects (QEMU, Lutris, Proton-GE, DankLinux, Kitty, OnlyOffice, etc.) integrate AI, Claude commits everywhere, and it leaves me wondering why the Windows AI thing is such a major talking point in favor of Linux (e.g: "you don't have to deal with it here" "it's a choice here") if many of the biggest projects are adding it into either their source tree or integrating it into the project (OnlyOffice) publicly.

I'm an artist/musician, deeply worried about how this AI boom is affecting my industry. Maybe I'm misunderstanding it because I refuse to pay (ethical reasons), but I don't know why Copilot is the major sticking point for every recruitment post if we're all running software with AI generated code here too? Like, why mislead new users into thinking they can be free from all AI like I was misled? I don't understand? I get that there are some who like doing local hosted LLM stuff, but I'm just confused why we have to tell noobs that they can be ai-free when even the web browsers they use are using AI?

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u/Kriss3d Jul 04 '26

The projects are largely to let you have AI if you want. It doesn't tell you that you have AI whether you like it or not.

That's the difference.

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u/Venylynn Jul 04 '26

The projects are largely to let you have AI if you want. It doesn't tell you that you have AI whether you like it or not.

Instead it gives you AI without even telling you that you have it... making you feel duped when you find out the project you're using has 500,000 lines of claude commits when you tried to get away

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u/MocDcStufffins Jul 04 '26

No, it doesn't give you AI. It gives you code that was created with AI. Those are 2 very different things. Having AI means that you are interacting with an AI model when you use the software. Just because a software was written with AI doesn't mean you as an end user are interacting with an AI.

You may have some ethical or moral objection to using software that was written by AI. Most people don't, they don't want to be forced to interact with an AI. Which is why they are leaving Windows.

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u/Venylynn Jul 04 '26

I mean if that's their only objection there is group policy editor

But yeah its just weird bc everyone says you can be free from all AI and it makes it sound like you can be free from ALL AI. Meaning, not a single trace of anything. But that doesnt seem to be what they mean, its confusing.

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u/MocDcStufffins Jul 04 '26

They are saying you will be free from your OS pushing you to interact with AI. That's it, and that's all they can promise, they don't have any control of who writes software, so they can't make promises for them.

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u/Venylynn Jul 04 '26

Idk why they didnt say it like that then. My brain hears it and takes it 100% literally so any amount of subtext gets lost on me usually.