they’re simply requiring any code submitted by AI be tagged as such so that the human using the agent is ultimately responsible for any infringing code, instead of allowing that code go undisclosed
This makes zero sense, because the article says that this new tagging will replace the legally binding “Signed-off-by” tag. Wouldn’t that old tag already put that responsibility on the person submitting the code.
Also - what will holding the submitter responsible even achieve? If an infringement is detected, the Linux maintainers won’t be able to just pass all the blame to the submitter of that code while keeping it in the codebase - they’ll have to remove the infringing code regardless of who’s responsible for putting it in.
Kinda, but they’re specifically saying the the AI agent cannot itself tag the contribution with the sign-off - like, someone using Claude Code to submit PRs on their behalf. The developer must add the tag themselves, indicating that they at least reviewed and submitted it themselves, and it wasn’t just an agent going off-prompt or some other shit and submitting it without the developer’s knowledge. This is saying ‘the dog ate my homework’ is not a valid excuse.
The developer can use AI, but they must review the code themselves, and the agent can’t “sign-off” on the code for them.
Also - what will holding the submitter responsible even achieve?
What does holding any individual responsible on a development team do? The Linux project is still responsible for anything they put out in the kernel just like any other project, but individual developers can be removed from the contributing team if they break the rules and put it at risk.
This makes zero sense, because the article says that this new tagging will replace the legally binding “Signed-off-by” tag. Wouldn’t that old tag already put that responsibility on the person submitting the code.
Also - what will holding the submitter responsible even achieve? If an infringement is detected, the Linux maintainers won’t be able to just pass all the blame to the submitter of that code while keeping it in the codebase - they’ll have to remove the infringing code regardless of who’s responsible for putting it in.
Kinda, but they’re specifically saying the the AI agent cannot itself tag the contribution with the sign-off - like, someone using Claude Code to submit PRs on their behalf. The developer must add the tag themselves, indicating that they at least reviewed and submitted it themselves, and it wasn’t just an agent going off-prompt or some other shit and submitting it without the developer’s knowledge. This is saying ‘the dog ate my homework’ is not a valid excuse.
The developer can use AI, but they must review the code themselves, and the agent can’t “sign-off” on the code for them.
What does holding any individual responsible on a development team do? The Linux project is still responsible for anything they put out in the kernel just like any other project, but individual developers can be removed from the contributing team if they break the rules and put it at risk.
The new rule simply makes the expectations clear.