Post #4872452 · Elektrine

2026-09-27 17:20 UTC

You know, I've been reading the terms #NoSlop and #NeverSlop as pretty interchangeably so far, but I think my brain just clicked on the difference between them, which is clarifying my goals to someday run an explicitly and completely Never Slop software stack on my machines. The key word is "yet" - no slop *yet.* It's easier right now to run a fully No Slop system, because it's more permissive - it allows you to include software that doesn't have a policy about LLMs, or has a policy that permits LLM contributions but doesn't yet incorporate any in practice, or unmaintained pre-slop software. This would be a huge step in the right direction from my current daily driver. But the problem with mere No Slop is that a lot of your dependencies are time bombs, and you don't know which. I fundamentally want to get out of this experience where I have to keep changing my workflow because of upstream dumbassery. I want to get to a place where I only use software explicitly committed to never, in the future, slop out.

Replies (1)

@MaddieM4@raphus.social 2026-09-27 17:27

And while I'm just one person, LLMs are very very unpopular. It is an attempt to industrially incept a grim future into our imaginations and realities, and most people want nothing to do with it, it's just hard to avoid right now. I think a lot of people will jive with my goals here. Now contrast this with the open source maintainer motivation to have a userbase. Yes, a userbase is annoying - an unpaid burden of care where a lot of your dependents show up to your issue tracker with their most entitled asshole shirt on. It is known, it has been known. And yet that impact is validating. People react to your name with reverence. "Oh, you're the Foo developer! Holy shit, I can't believe I met you in person!" You get invited to conferences. People care what you have to say. There can be serious downsides to this slice of human nature, but it's not my goal to go to war with it, like Caligula vs The Sea. Rather, it's leverage for an ultimatum. You want an audience? That will increasingly require zero-LLM policy.

Open ##4872451