![[object Object]](https://media.mas.to/accounts/avatars/109/287/758/133/964/366/original/0f3099c0adfb36a0.png "[object Object]")
welp, so much for @gamingonlinux I guess https://mastodon.social/@ThePlant/117190091502208519
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@zzt had it still open and did a print to pdf.... thought it might be neat to have the whole thread... idk.. in case some asshat claims he was attacked or something...
2 media files
![Liam S-H
@ThePlant@mastodon.social
As much as I dislike generative AI for music and artwork - I can see the uses for certain types of programming busy-work.
I think calling every single thing that uses even a tiny bit of AI to look over something as "slop" actively harmful, and takes attention away from the real issues.
Aug 31, 2026, 02:21 PM
Liam S-H
@ThePlant
1h
I've never been fully against AI. I don't like actual real "slop" like someone generating a stupid image or
crappy music, but there's lots of real-world decent uses for it.
The training data being a problematic one, as is the rise of all the data centres, hardware pricing and so
on...
[object Object]
@zzt@mas.to
1h
@ThePlant liam, I enjoy your work
it’s very obvious your work isn’t programming, or thinking about the impact of LLMs
you don’t need to have a bad take on a topic you have no expertise in
from professional and personal experience, it’s all actual real slop and the outcome is always bad
Liam S-H
@ThePlant
1h
@zzt i literally wrote the code that runs the entirety of @gamingonlinux
[object Object]
@zzt@mas.to
1h
@ThePlant @gamingonlinux you literally wrote the code that runs the entirety of a website? just one?
you’re extremely out of your depth on this topic, and I’m really not trying to fight you on this
you don’t need to have a bad take](https://media.hachyderm.io/media_attachments/files/117/190/547/652/755/289/original/38e90650156a8233.png)
![Liam S-H
@ThePlant
1h
@zzt @gamingonlinux oh so we're at the idiotic stage of "you're not enough of a programmer, you dum
dum!"
You have absolutely no idea what my experience is, stop being a dickhead or get blocked
[object Object]
@zzt@mas.to
@ThePlant @gamingonlinux oh no
the use of LLMs is a labor dispute in a field you’re not a part of, at all
if you consider yourself a responsible journalist you need to realize when you’re out of your depth
but I can see how that’s going
Liam S-H
@ThePlant
1h
@zzt @gamingonlinux again, you have no idea what my actual technical expertise is, you're just assuming
and being a dick about it - bore off
[object Object]
@zzt@mas.to
1h
@ThePlant @gamingonlinux I know what you told me, that you wrote a website, and that you have a real
bad take about an issue in my professional field
I can’t assume much else, I don’t know you and I don’t care to look you up](https://media.hachyderm.io/media_attachments/files/117/190/549/298/180/260/original/d348434510af5d77.png)
@janet_catcus @zzt there are multiple screenshots of the thread showing up now that OP has deleted/locked
its legendary qualities may have been obvious at first sight
@davidgerard @janet_catcus @zzt The Streisand effect in action once again! When will people learn!?
Oh right. People don't freakin' learn anymore. Quite the opposite in fact. I need a drink.
@zzt@mas.to I'm gonna be a petty bitch and bring up that IIRC Liam got into some mess when he said the backlash against Hogwarts Legacy was going too far.
Curious correlation.
@zzt @gamingonlinux wild that this many years into this bubble we still have people going "Yeah LLMs are bad at the things I'm familiar with but they can be pretty great at the things I have only dabbled in"
this uhh sucks, cause gamingonlinux was a good site. I got some good game recommendations from it.
slop isn’t the kind of word we can afford to give any ground on. there’s no reason why graphical art and music can be slop and code can’t, and from my experience in my industry, any use of LLMs results in a codebase that’s measurably worse (but outside of recent research, nobody’s been measuring)
the things also cause environmental and mental damage, and are built on plagiarism. liam tried to gloss over that as a lot of people in the linux space have done lately, and that’s horrible.
@zzt I followed gamingonlinux for a little while (via RSS feed), but cut them loose a couple months ago, as I started to catch the rancid scent of a slop boy wafting over the posts. I think it was the article headline that described Torvald's defence of AI as "putting his foot down" that broke the camel's back.
@TorontoWill @zzt this is like the Austin Powers totally my bag scene
I am not trying to be elitist. “programmer” isn’t a high title. but it is my profession, and I am a worker.
codebases rapidly becoming slop, coworkers suffering cognitive decline, and the constant threat of losing your job unless you use the machines causing all of this more, are constant threats. the job I previously loved is now so stressful I’ve physically hurt myself doing it. I had to work through those injuries because my labor is actively under threat, and I no longer have the luxury of being able to take care of myself.
I don’t think I’m better than liam. I wish I could subsist on the work he does. some of my friends (yo @davidgerard) are tech journalists who subsist on the work. I would love to do that.
but liam’s profession is not my profession. mine has dangers and stressors his doesn’t, and vice versa.
if you’re a journalist and a laborer is telling you you’re misrepresenting their field, you should listen.
@zzt "subsist" is right, yes
@davidgerard “I worked on a website” is not significant professional expertise. I don’t know liam’s full expertise, but that’s the expertise he gave.
I work on many systems as part of my profession, and I have for decades. most of the people reading these words have used the systems I’ve worked on. I apologize that most of the systems are terrible; this isn’t work I did under my own power, and I almost never get to implement anything I designed myself.
and again, I’m not saying this to be elitist. the work I’m proud of is the work I do under my own power, and that includes a website I run.
but the stressors are much different. I’ve never hurt myself and had to push through injury to work on my own projects. I’ve never had to worry about starving unless I complied with an unreasonable demand.
I love the work I do for myself, but it doesn’t put bread on my table. I wish it did.
@zzt
i'm running my own snac instance but i do not call myself a sysadmin for it
@davidgerard
