What are some "No AI" apps/companies/resources you know of?

• 76 What are some "No AI" apps/companies/resources you know of? ☶ ask authored by brn 2026-11-11 07:13:51 | 33 comments

What are some "No AI" apps/companies/resources you know of?

Hey everyone I'm wondering if there's any useful/helpful list of apps, companies, or resources in general that avoid AI (they don't have to be vocally or openly "anti", but at least explicitly avoid it) that you know of?

I'm not looking to start a discussion on what's good/bad or (un)worthy about AI, or who's for/against, just links and/or communities promoting this sentiment/position.

For example, https://www.rebeltechalliance.org would be one of those resources.

• 20 nate30480 2026-11-11 07:39:39 https://codeberg.org/ethical-foss/ai-free-foss-alternatives 24 henrycatalinismith 2026-11-11 09:14:23 It's such a shame that a list titled "AI-free FOSS Alternatives" ends up becoming the opposite of its stated goal, with the top level section being "Tainted Software" and occasional sporadic little notes listing alternatives. I like the steadfast anti-AI people even though I'm not really one of them, and I want them to thrive and carve out a lasting space online. Putting more focus on the positives of the anti-AI vision and way less on the rejection and refusal stuff would probably help with that, and I think this is a really clear example where the negative side of the message has stolen the show unnecessarily. The "tainted" list is inside baseball stuff and belongs in the equivalent of a Wikipedia talk page on there. 11 jzb 2026-11-11 13:05:19 Putting more focus on the positives of the anti-AI vision and way less on the rejection and refusal stuff would probably help with that, As a general rule, I think that "focus on the positives" is a good rule of thumb. As a blanket rule, it doesn't work. Sometimes it's really about the negatives. If you're trying to convince people, say, not to smoke or do heroin... really, "it's great not being addicted to things" is not as strong a message as "you'll get lung cancer if you smoke" or "this is what heroin addiction does to people". (Granted "just say no" was also terrible as a campaign, but for different reasons.) I'm not saying that AI usage is equivalent to heroin usage, exactly, but I'm not sure that "the positives of the anti-AI vision" is as persuasive as the arguments against generative AI. where the negative side of the message has stolen the show unnecessarily Again, I don't really agree with this. There are some things that it makes sense to be against. This is especially true in the case of generative AI in my opinion because of the way it spreads and has basically overrun the industry in a couple of years. For some of us, it's the black mold or asbestos of software. "Gee, having a house without black mold is so awesome" isn't really quite the same as "here's what black mold is going to do to you if it infests your house". 10 dkl 2026-11-11 09:55:14 I strongly agree that it is better to fight for something good rather than against something bad. However, I find the list a very useful starting point. Studying it led me to the (startling to me) conclusion that the GNU/FSF vision is a positive one that encompasses the rejection of AI. There are probably others as well, but starting with GNU is not starting from scratch at least. Flipping positions on GNU was not on my personal philosophy bingo card for this year. 10 sunshowers 2026-11-11 14:03:40 This list used to be called Open Slopware. I wrote about my personal relationship to it here: https://lobste.rs/s/unpaan/arborium_is_ai_slopware_should_not_be#c_twqzh3. 9 henrycatalinismith 2026-11-11 14:33:05 Mmmm not terribly surprising unfortunately. I think this is a common kind of unspoken ethical framework where if you're decently progressive and/or in any way marginalised then you're ontologically incapable of being abusive because your shitty behaviour is actually all just righteous anger and moral courage and any critique you receive is actually just so much privileged tone policing. I used to subscribe to this way of thinking too and have moved on from it but it's especially popular in the anti-AI activism sphere at the moment. Wrote down a few of my thoughts about it the other day actually. Being overtly nasty might make you feel alive for a moment but it’s in conflict with any meaningful real-world goals, and it’s so normalised in anti-AI spaces that I’ve come to the conclusion that the whole thing is more about venting collective grief about unwanted change than achieving anything concrete. ~ hsivonen 2026-11-12 01:10:03 I find it interesting that a number of folks who seem to like this list are upset if folks don’t use an LLM analog of “sent from my iPhone” ad/disclaimer to disclose LLM use, but then this list comes with this note: “This list is not a resource to be used for the harassment of other open-source developers. If you wish to advocate for a "No AI" Policy from another project, we ask that it be done respectfully and constructively (and do not mention this list).” ~ brn 2026-11-11 07:58:14 Thanks, I wasn't aware of this list, though it shows very few alternatives (and I'm not saying they exist, but it almost makes it seem more helpless). 9 nate30480 2026-11-11 08:12:45 It also links to other resources but I think https://noai.starlightnet.work/list.html could be mainly what you're looking for. ~ dkl 2026-11-11 09:50:31 I have been studying this list for the last few months. One of the main results is that I have gone back to Emacs. This is not my first go-round with it but I have found that nowadays it's much easier to get to a working IDE-like state than ever before. There are alternatives to most of the things I used to use within Emacs itself. I found that once I got over my initial reticence, it provides the kind of human-focused, malleable environment that I didn't realize I was missing. 8 jzb 2026-11-11 13:07:50 One of the main results is that I have gone back to Emacs. Oof. Do I have some bad news for you... ~ dkl 2026-11-11 15:49:51 I am having trouble understanding the article you linked, but I note that it links to a potential fork of Emacs that would satisfy my requirements, so I think you actually have good news for me. ~ hsivonen 2026-11-12 01:30:02 By listing the last “untainted” commit and listing forks, this list seems to encourage using versions that have known security vulnerabilities. Upstream is likely to have LLM-discovered disclosed sec bugs. Is there any vision for security other than running software with known vulnerabilities to accompany this list? ~ kolja 2026-11-12 02:46:22 Well, we didn't/couldn't really plan for this, right? Some projects are being forked, and are fixing bugs themselves, but there are just so many projects that are suddenly not available anymore for people wanting their software as ethically sourced as possible. Luckily, a lot of software simply runs locally, so if you only work on your own files you are pretty much safe from attacks and just have to live with a bug here or there. But it's heartbreaking. 18 dustyweb 2026-11-11 08:48:03 Well, I work there, but we are both a FOSS nonprofit and also have a firm no-gen-AI policy at the Spritely Institute, and do pretty cool decentralized network tech also 10 bsandro 2026-11-11 11:06:45 Recently made https://braincoded.software for this - it is not "anti", just "no". Not much there for now apart from IRC channel, but I'm working on tiny invite-only link aggregator + public git and cvs repositories for members. ~ stephenr 2026-11-11 15:27:19 Git and Cvs is certainly a choice. I understand offering alternatives to Git. I think mercurial deserves a lot more love than it gets. But why Cvs specifically, over any number of other non-Git alternatives? ~ bsandro 2026-11-11 15:57:59 I honestly always liked Mercurial better over git, but sort of gave up at some point and moved all my stuff to git, feels weird to use both now especially since hg doesn't give me any portability perks over git. CVS is for times and situations when you want to use the version control system from some older system, like old macintosh system7 or 9 (even though @jcs made a very nice tool for it - Amend and even amendhub.com!), or *DOS. 9 hoistbypetard 2026-11-11 11:35:48 A few of us who want to avoid it, or at least be very selective about when we talk about it have gathered at imtiredboss.org. We're collecting some lists and links, and have a couple of discussion spaces that are kept free of generative AI. 7 isagalaev 2026-11-11 12:23:09 Another one: https://codeberg.org/brib/slopfree-software-index ~ bbbhltz 2026-11-11 08:09:56 https://noailist.org/ ~ dsschnau 2026-11-11 08:11:42 The "No AI" Webring is related - https://baccyflap.com/noai/ ~ brn 2026-11-11 09:23:55 Thanks, my blog is a part of it! 😊 ~ sjamaan 2026-11-11 08:43:43 Similar to the rebel tech alliance, there's the trustworthy technology group. They have a Zulip chat you could join to discuss this further. ~ th0ma5 2026-11-11 13:19:55 This is an academic's collection of materials: https://olivia.science/ai/ ~ jakehamilton 2026-11-11 16:35:58 I'm putting together a software collective which is "anti-ai" as one of its core principles: https://conflagrate.software/ My idea is for it to be a safe, pleasant space for people to create and collaborate. ~ Zurga 2026-11-11 08:50:02 You are aware that the resource you link was made with a site builder that mentions an AI in the second sentence of their product hero? The resource was handmade, but not far away from AI. 5 brn 2026-11-11 08:54:45 Nice catch, but they used it before it was "AI-powered", which speaks a bit to the difficulty I'm facing trying to find alternatives to that. ~ Zurga 2026-11-11 09:18:41 Yes, sloppification is everywhere. Things that were once normal products now have an AI... ~ hwj 2026-11-12 01:11:11 Recently, I was shopping for an SQLite library for Go. It seems https://github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3/ doesn't use AI. ~ ItsFinishd 2026-11-11 17:01:41 Rather than avoiding AI, why not opt for responsible usage of AI? LLMs speed things up, but it comes at a cost of losing correctness, which I do not think one can easily guarantee because of the way LLMs operate - statistically matching rather than logic/intuitive proofs which is what humans are good at. To get the best of both worlds, you want to use AI for smaller, more easily reviewed tasks, then use those (also w/ or w/out AI) to build a more complicated product. I've no problem with not having to write out a bunch of code that can be written nearly identically by an AI. The QA and validation process is still a human endeavor and where you probably spend most of your time as a dev anyway. Actual coding amounts to no more than 20% of the time. Nixing a tool like LLM is IMHO a bad idea, if it can help us save time and increase quality of output, then so be it. 17 seb 2026-11-11 17:18:35 From the post you're commenting on: I'm not looking to start a discussion on what's good/bad or (un)worthy about AI, or who's for/against, just links and/or communities promoting this sentiment/position. Comments on posts about/for people who don't like and don't want to use AI which amount to "have you considered that AI isn't all bad actually?" are counterproductive and frankly really exhausting. 13 khairo 2026-11-11 17:05:29 I just don't want to use it. It doesn't interest me. I don't want to use things that used it either. I don't care if it "works better" or is "more efficient". It's okay to be a luddite.

• 20 nate30480 2026-11-11 07:39:39 https://codeberg.org/ethical-foss/ai-free-foss-alternatives 24 henrycatalinismith 2026-11-11 09:14:23 It's such a shame that a list titled "AI-free FOSS Alternatives" ends up becoming the opposite of its stated goal, with the top level section being "Tainted Software" and occasional sporadic little notes listing alternatives. I like the steadfast anti-AI people even though I'm not really one of them, and I want them to thrive and carve out a lasting space online. Putting more focus on the positives of the anti-AI vision and way less on the rejection and refusal stuff would probably help with that, and I think this is a really clear example where the negative side of the message has stolen the show unnecessarily. The "tainted" list is inside baseball stuff and belongs in the equivalent of a Wikipedia talk page on there. 11 jzb 2026-11-11 13:05:19 Putting more focus on the positives of the anti-AI vision and way less on the rejection and refusal stuff would probably help with that, As a general rule, I think that "focus on the positives" is a good rule of thumb. As a blanket rule, it doesn't work. Sometimes it's really about the negatives. If you're trying to convince people, say, not to smoke or do heroin... really, "it's great not being addicted to things" is not as strong a message as "you'll get lung cancer if you smoke" or "this is what heroin addiction does to people". (Granted "just say no" was also terrible as a campaign, but for different reasons.) I'm not saying that AI usage is equivalent to heroin usage, exactly, but I'm not sure that "the positives of the anti-AI vision" is as persuasive as the arguments against generative AI. where the negative side of the message has stolen the show unnecessarily Again, I don't really agree with this. There are some things that it makes sense to be against. This is especially true in the case of generative AI in my opinion because of the way it spreads and has basically overrun the industry in a couple of years. For some of us, it's the black mold or asbestos of software. "Gee, having a house without black mold is so awesome" isn't really quite the same as "here's what black mold is going to do to you if it infests your house". 10 dkl 2026-11-11 09:55:14 I strongly agree that it is better to fight for something good rather than against something bad. However, I find the list a very useful starting point. Studying it led me to the (startling to me) conclusion that the GNU/FSF vision is a positive one that encompasses the rejection of AI. There are probably others as well, but starting with GNU is not starting from scratch at least. Flipping positions on GNU was not on my personal philosophy bingo card for this year. 10 sunshowers 2026-11-11 14:03:40 This list used to be called Open Slopware. I wrote about my personal relationship to it here: https://lobste.rs/s/unpaan/arborium_is_ai_slopware_should_not_be#c_twqzh3. 9 henrycatalinismith 2026-11-11 14:33:05 Mmmm not terribly surprising unfortunately. I think this is a common kind of unspoken ethical framework where if you're decently progressive and/or in any way marginalised then you're ontologically incapable of being abusive because your shitty behaviour is actually all just righteous anger and moral courage and any critique you receive is actually just so much privileged tone policing. I used to subscribe to this way of thinking too and have moved on from it but it's especially popular in the anti-AI activism sphere at the moment. Wrote down a few of my thoughts about it the other day actually. Being overtly nasty might make you feel alive for a moment but it’s in conflict with any meaningful real-world goals, and it’s so normalised in anti-AI spaces that I’ve come to the conclusion that the whole thing is more about venting collective grief about unwanted change than achieving anything concrete. ~ hsivonen 2026-11-12 01:10:03 I find it interesting that a number of folks who seem to like this list are upset if folks don’t use an LLM analog of “sent from my iPhone” ad/disclaimer to disclose LLM use, but then this list comes with this note: “This list is not a resource to be used for the harassment of other open-source developers. If you wish to advocate for a "No AI" Policy from another project, we ask that it be done respectfully and constructively (and do not mention this list).” ~ brn 2026-11-11 07:58:14 Thanks, I wasn't aware of this list, though it shows very few alternatives (and I'm not saying they exist, but it almost makes it seem more helpless). 9 nate30480 2026-11-11 08:12:45 It also links to other resources but I think https://noai.starlightnet.work/list.html could be mainly what you're looking for. ~ dkl 2026-11-11 09:50:31 I have been studying this list for the last few months. One of the main results is that I have gone back to Emacs. This is not my first go-round with it but I have found that nowadays it's much easier to get to a working IDE-like state than ever before. There are alternatives to most of the things I used to use within Emacs itself. I found that once I got over my initial reticence, it provides the kind of human-focused, malleable environment that I didn't realize I was missing. 8 jzb 2026-11-11 13:07:50 One of the main results is that I have gone back to Emacs. Oof. Do I have some bad news for you... ~ dkl 2026-11-11 15:49:51 I am having trouble understanding the article you linked, but I note that it links to a potential fork of Emacs that would satisfy my requirements, so I think you actually have good news for me. ~ hsivonen 2026-11-12 01:30:02 By listing the last “untainted” commit and listing forks, this list seems to encourage using versions that have known security vulnerabilities. Upstream is likely to have LLM-discovered disclosed sec bugs. Is there any vision for security other than running software with known vulnerabilities to accompany this list? ~ kolja 2026-11-12 02:46:22 Well, we didn't/couldn't really plan for this, right? Some projects are being forked, and are fixing bugs themselves, but there are just so many projects that are suddenly not available anymore for people wanting their software as ethically sourced as possible. Luckily, a lot of software simply runs locally, so if you only work on your own files you are pretty much safe from attacks and just have to live with a bug here or there. But it's heartbreaking.

https://codeberg.org/ethical-foss/ai-free-foss-alternatives

• 24 henrycatalinismith 2026-11-11 09:14:23 It's such a shame that a list titled "AI-free FOSS Alternatives" ends up becoming the opposite of its stated goal, with the top level section being "Tainted Software" and occasional sporadic little notes listing alternatives. I like the steadfast anti-AI people even though I'm not really one of them, and I want them to thrive and carve out a lasting space online. Putting more focus on the positives of the anti-AI vision and way less on the rejection and refusal stuff would probably help with that, and I think this is a really clear example where the negative side of the message has stolen the show unnecessarily. The "tainted" list is inside baseball stuff and belongs in the equivalent of a Wikipedia talk page on there. 11 jzb 2026-11-11 13:05:19 Putting more focus on the positives of the anti-AI vision and way less on the rejection and refusal stuff would probably help with that, As a general rule, I think that "focus on the positives" is a good rule of thumb. As a blanket rule, it doesn't work. Sometimes it's really about the negatives. If you're trying to convince people, say, not to smoke or do heroin... really, "it's great not being addicted to things" is not as strong a message as "you'll get lung cancer if you smoke" or "this is what heroin addiction does to people". (Granted "just say no" was also terrible as a campaign, but for different reasons.) I'm not saying that AI usage is equivalent to heroin usage, exactly, but I'm not sure that "the positives of the anti-AI vision" is as persuasive as the arguments against generative AI. where the negative side of the message has stolen the show unnecessarily Again, I don't really agree with this. There are some things that it makes sense to be against. This is especially true in the case of generative AI in my opinion because of the way it spreads and has basically overrun the industry in a couple of years. For some of us, it's the black mold or asbestos of software. "Gee, having a house without black mold is so awesome" isn't really quite the same as "here's what black mold is going to do to you if it infests your house". 10 dkl 2026-11-11 09:55:14 I strongly agree that it is better to fight for something good rather than against something bad. However, I find the list a very useful starting point. Studying it led me to the (startling to me) conclusion that the GNU/FSF vision is a positive one that encompasses the rejection of AI. There are probably others as well, but starting with GNU is not starting from scratch at least. Flipping positions on GNU was not on my personal philosophy bingo card for this year. 10 sunshowers 2026-11-11 14:03:40 This list used to be called Open Slopware. I wrote about my personal relationship to it here: https://lobste.rs/s/unpaan/arborium_is_ai_slopware_should_not_be#c_twqzh3. 9 henrycatalinismith 2026-11-11 14:33:05 Mmmm not terribly surprising unfortunately. I think this is a common kind of unspoken ethical framework where if you're decently progressive and/or in any way marginalised then you're ontologically incapable of being abusive because your shitty behaviour is actually all just righteous anger and moral courage and any critique you receive is actually just so much privileged tone policing. I used to subscribe to this way of thinking too and have moved on from it but it's especially popular in the anti-AI activism sphere at the moment. Wrote down a few of my thoughts about it the other day actually. Being overtly nasty might make you feel alive for a moment but it’s in conflict with any meaningful real-world goals, and it’s so normalised in anti-AI spaces that I’ve come to the conclusion that the whole thing is more about venting collective grief about unwanted change than achieving anything concrete. ~ hsivonen 2026-11-12 01:10:03 I find it interesting that a number of folks who seem to like this list are upset if folks don’t use an LLM analog of “sent from my iPhone” ad/disclaimer to disclose LLM use, but then this list comes with this note: “This list is not a resource to be used for the harassment of other open-source developers. If you wish to advocate for a "No AI" Policy from another project, we ask that it be done respectfully and constructively (and do not mention this list).”

It's such a shame that a list titled "AI-free FOSS Alternatives" ends up becoming the opposite of its stated goal, with the top level section being "Tainted Software" and occasional sporadic little notes listing alternatives.

I like the steadfast anti-AI people even though I'm not really one of them, and I want them to thrive and carve out a lasting space online. Putting more focus on the positives of the anti-AI vision and way less on the rejection and refusal stuff would probably help with that, and I think this is a really clear example where the negative side of the message has stolen the show unnecessarily. The "tainted" list is inside baseball stuff and belongs in the equivalent of a Wikipedia talk page on there.

• 11 jzb 2026-11-11 13:05:19 Putting more focus on the positives of the anti-AI vision and way less on the rejection and refusal stuff would probably help with that, As a general rule, I think that "focus on the positives" is a good rule of thumb. As a blanket rule, it doesn't work. Sometimes it's really about the negatives. If you're trying to convince people, say, not to smoke or do heroin... really, "it's great not being addicted to things" is not as strong a message as "you'll get lung cancer if you smoke" or "this is what heroin addiction does to people". (Granted "just say no" was also terrible as a campaign, but for different reasons.) I'm not saying that AI usage is equivalent to heroin usage, exactly, but I'm not sure that "the positives of the anti-AI vision" is as persuasive as the arguments against generative AI. where the negative side of the message has stolen the show unnecessarily Again, I don't really agree with this. There are some things that it makes sense to be against. This is especially true in the case of generative AI in my opinion because of the way it spreads and has basically overrun the industry in a couple of years. For some of us, it's the black mold or asbestos of software. "Gee, having a house without black mold is so awesome" isn't really quite the same as "here's what black mold is going to do to you if it infests your house".

Putting more focus on the positives of the anti-AI vision and way less on the rejection and refusal stuff would probably help with that,

As a general rule, I think that "focus on the positives" is a good rule of thumb.

As a blanket rule, it doesn't work. Sometimes it's really about the negatives. If you're trying to convince people, say, not to smoke or do heroin... really, "it's great not being addicted to things" is not as strong a message as "you'll get lung cancer if you smoke" or "this is what heroin addiction does to people". (Granted "just say no" was also terrible as a campaign, but for different reasons.)

I'm not saying that AI usage is equivalent to heroin usage, exactly, but I'm not sure that "the positives of the anti-AI vision" is as persuasive as the arguments against generative AI.

where the negative side of the message has stolen the show unnecessarily

Again, I don't really agree with this. There are some things that it makes sense to be against. This is especially true in the case of generative AI in my opinion because of the way it spreads and has basically overrun the industry in a couple of years. For some of us, it's the black mold or asbestos of software. "Gee, having a house without black mold is so awesome" isn't really quite the same as "here's what black mold is going to do to you if it infests your house".

• 10 dkl 2026-11-11 09:55:14 I strongly agree that it is better to fight for something good rather than against something bad. However, I find the list a very useful starting point. Studying it led me to the (startling to me) conclusion that the GNU/FSF vision is a positive one that encompasses the rejection of AI. There are probably others as well, but starting with GNU is not starting from scratch at least. Flipping positions on GNU was not on my personal philosophy bingo card for this year.

I strongly agree that it is better to fight for something good rather than against something bad. However, I find the list a very useful starting point. Studying it led me to the (startling to me) conclusion that the GNU/FSF vision is a positive one that encompasses the rejection of AI. There are probably others as well, but starting with GNU is not starting from scratch at least. Flipping positions on GNU was not on my personal philosophy bingo card for this year.

• 10 sunshowers 2026-11-11 14:03:40 This list used to be called Open Slopware. I wrote about my personal relationship to it here: https://lobste.rs/s/unpaan/arborium_is_ai_slopware_should_not_be#c_twqzh3. 9 henrycatalinismith 2026-11-11 14:33:05 Mmmm not terribly surprising unfortunately. I think this is a common kind of unspoken ethical framework where if you're decently progressive and/or in any way marginalised then you're ontologically incapable of being abusive because your shitty behaviour is actually all just righteous anger and moral courage and any critique you receive is actually just so much privileged tone policing. I used to subscribe to this way of thinking too and have moved on from it but it's especially popular in the anti-AI activism sphere at the moment. Wrote down a few of my thoughts about it the other day actually. Being overtly nasty might make you feel alive for a moment but it’s in conflict with any meaningful real-world goals, and it’s so normalised in anti-AI spaces that I’ve come to the conclusion that the whole thing is more about venting collective grief about unwanted change than achieving anything concrete. ~ hsivonen 2026-11-12 01:10:03 I find it interesting that a number of folks who seem to like this list are upset if folks don’t use an LLM analog of “sent from my iPhone” ad/disclaimer to disclose LLM use, but then this list comes with this note: “This list is not a resource to be used for the harassment of other open-source developers. If you wish to advocate for a "No AI" Policy from another project, we ask that it be done respectfully and constructively (and do not mention this list).”

This list used to be called Open Slopware. I wrote about my personal relationship to it here: https://lobste.rs/s/unpaan/arborium_is_ai_slopware_should_not_be#c_twqzh3.

• 9 henrycatalinismith 2026-11-11 14:33:05 Mmmm not terribly surprising unfortunately. I think this is a common kind of unspoken ethical framework where if you're decently progressive and/or in any way marginalised then you're ontologically incapable of being abusive because your shitty behaviour is actually all just righteous anger and moral courage and any critique you receive is actually just so much privileged tone policing. I used to subscribe to this way of thinking too and have moved on from it but it's especially popular in the anti-AI activism sphere at the moment. Wrote down a few of my thoughts about it the other day actually. Being overtly nasty might make you feel alive for a moment but it’s in conflict with any meaningful real-world goals, and it’s so normalised in anti-AI spaces that I’ve come to the conclusion that the whole thing is more about venting collective grief about unwanted change than achieving anything concrete.

Mmmm not terribly surprising unfortunately.

I think this is a common kind of unspoken ethical framework where if you're decently progressive and/or in any way marginalised then you're ontologically incapable of being abusive because your shitty behaviour is actually all just righteous anger and moral courage and any critique you receive is actually just so much privileged tone policing. I used to subscribe to this way of thinking too and have moved on from it but it's especially popular in the anti-AI activism sphere at the moment.

Wrote down a few of my thoughts about it the other day actually.

Being overtly nasty might make you feel alive for a moment but it’s in conflict with any meaningful real-world goals, and it’s so normalised in anti-AI spaces that I’ve come to the conclusion that the whole thing is more about venting collective grief about unwanted change than achieving anything concrete.

• ~ hsivonen 2026-11-12 01:10:03 I find it interesting that a number of folks who seem to like this list are upset if folks don’t use an LLM analog of “sent from my iPhone” ad/disclaimer to disclose LLM use, but then this list comes with this note: “This list is not a resource to be used for the harassment of other open-source developers. If you wish to advocate for a "No AI" Policy from another project, we ask that it be done respectfully and constructively (and do not mention this list).”

I find it interesting that a number of folks who seem to like this list are upset if folks don’t use an LLM analog of “sent from my iPhone” ad/disclaimer to disclose LLM use, but then this list comes with this note: “This list is not a resource to be used for the harassment of other open-source developers. If you wish to advocate for a "No AI" Policy from another project, we ask that it be done respectfully and constructively (and do not mention this list).”

• ~ brn 2026-11-11 07:58:14 Thanks, I wasn't aware of this list, though it shows very few alternatives (and I'm not saying they exist, but it almost makes it seem more helpless). 9 nate30480 2026-11-11 08:12:45 It also links to other resources but I think https://noai.starlightnet.work/list.html could be mainly what you're looking for. ~ dkl 2026-11-11 09:50:31 I have been studying this list for the last few months. One of the main results is that I have gone back to Emacs. This is not my first go-round with it but I have found that nowadays it's much easier to get to a working IDE-like state than ever before. There are alternatives to most of the things I used to use within Emacs itself. I found that once I got over my initial reticence, it provides the kind of human-focused, malleable environment that I didn't realize I was missing. 8 jzb 2026-11-11 13:07:50 One of the main results is that I have gone back to Emacs. Oof. Do I have some bad news for you... ~ dkl 2026-11-11 15:49:51 I am having trouble understanding the article you linked, but I note that it links to a potential fork of Emacs that would satisfy my requirements, so I think you actually have good news for me.

Thanks, I wasn't aware of this list, though it shows very few alternatives (and I'm not saying they exist, but it almost makes it seem more helpless).

• 9 nate30480 2026-11-11 08:12:45 It also links to other resources but I think https://noai.starlightnet.work/list.html could be mainly what you're looking for.

It also links to other resources but I think https://noai.starlightnet.work/list.html could be mainly what you're looking for.

• ~ dkl 2026-11-11 09:50:31 I have been studying this list for the last few months. One of the main results is that I have gone back to Emacs. This is not my first go-round with it but I have found that nowadays it's much easier to get to a working IDE-like state than ever before. There are alternatives to most of the things I used to use within Emacs itself. I found that once I got over my initial reticence, it provides the kind of human-focused, malleable environment that I didn't realize I was missing. 8 jzb 2026-11-11 13:07:50 One of the main results is that I have gone back to Emacs. Oof. Do I have some bad news for you... ~ dkl 2026-11-11 15:49:51 I am having trouble understanding the article you linked, but I note that it links to a potential fork of Emacs that would satisfy my requirements, so I think you actually have good news for me.

I have been studying this list for the last few months. One of the main results is that I have gone back to Emacs. This is not my first go-round with it but I have found that nowadays it's much easier to get to a working IDE-like state than ever before. There are alternatives to most of the things I used to use within Emacs itself. I found that once I got over my initial reticence, it provides the kind of human-focused, malleable environment that I didn't realize I was missing.

• 8 jzb 2026-11-11 13:07:50 One of the main results is that I have gone back to Emacs. Oof. Do I have some bad news for you... ~ dkl 2026-11-11 15:49:51 I am having trouble understanding the article you linked, but I note that it links to a potential fork of Emacs that would satisfy my requirements, so I think you actually have good news for me.

One of the main results is that I have gone back to Emacs.

Oof. Do I have some bad news for you...

• ~ dkl 2026-11-11 15:49:51 I am having trouble understanding the article you linked, but I note that it links to a potential fork of Emacs that would satisfy my requirements, so I think you actually have good news for me.

I am having trouble understanding the article you linked, but I note that it links to a potential fork of Emacs that would satisfy my requirements, so I think you actually have good news for me.

• ~ hsivonen 2026-11-12 01:30:02 By listing the last “untainted” commit and listing forks, this list seems to encourage using versions that have known security vulnerabilities. Upstream is likely to have LLM-discovered disclosed sec bugs. Is there any vision for security other than running software with known vulnerabilities to accompany this list? ~ kolja 2026-11-12 02:46:22 Well, we didn't/couldn't really plan for this, right? Some projects are being forked, and are fixing bugs themselves, but there are just so many projects that are suddenly not available anymore for people wanting their software as ethically sourced as possible. Luckily, a lot of software simply runs locally, so if you only work on your own files you are pretty much safe from attacks and just have to live with a bug here or there. But it's heartbreaking.

By listing the last “untainted” commit and listing forks, this list seems to encourage using versions that have known security vulnerabilities. Upstream is likely to have LLM-discovered disclosed sec bugs. Is there any vision for security other than running software with known vulnerabilities to accompany this list?

• ~ kolja 2026-11-12 02:46:22 Well, we didn't/couldn't really plan for this, right? Some projects are being forked, and are fixing bugs themselves, but there are just so many projects that are suddenly not available anymore for people wanting their software as ethically sourced as possible. Luckily, a lot of software simply runs locally, so if you only work on your own files you are pretty much safe from attacks and just have to live with a bug here or there. But it's heartbreaking.

Well, we didn't/couldn't really plan for this, right? Some projects are being forked, and are fixing bugs themselves, but there are just so many projects that are suddenly not available anymore for people wanting their software as ethically sourced as possible. Luckily, a lot of software simply runs locally, so if you only work on your own files you are pretty much safe from attacks and just have to live with a bug here or there. But it's heartbreaking.

• 18 dustyweb 2026-11-11 08:48:03 Well, I work there, but we are both a FOSS nonprofit and also have a firm no-gen-AI policy at the Spritely Institute, and do pretty cool decentralized network tech also

Well, I work there, but we are both a FOSS nonprofit and also have a firm no-gen-AI policy at the Spritely Institute, and do pretty cool decentralized network tech also

• 10 bsandro 2026-11-11 11:06:45 Recently made https://braincoded.software for this - it is not "anti", just "no". Not much there for now apart from IRC channel, but I'm working on tiny invite-only link aggregator + public git and cvs repositories for members. ~ stephenr 2026-11-11 15:27:19 Git and Cvs is certainly a choice. I understand offering alternatives to Git. I think mercurial deserves a lot more love than it gets. But why Cvs specifically, over any number of other non-Git alternatives? ~ bsandro 2026-11-11 15:57:59 I honestly always liked Mercurial better over git, but sort of gave up at some point and moved all my stuff to git, feels weird to use both now especially since hg doesn't give me any portability perks over git. CVS is for times and situations when you want to use the version control system from some older system, like old macintosh system7 or 9 (even though @jcs made a very nice tool for it - Amend and even amendhub.com!), or *DOS.

Recently made https://braincoded.software for this - it is not "anti", just "no".

Not much there for now apart from IRC channel, but I'm working on tiny invite-only link aggregator + public git and cvs repositories for members.

• ~ stephenr 2026-11-11 15:27:19 Git and Cvs is certainly a choice. I understand offering alternatives to Git. I think mercurial deserves a lot more love than it gets. But why Cvs specifically, over any number of other non-Git alternatives? ~ bsandro 2026-11-11 15:57:59 I honestly always liked Mercurial better over git, but sort of gave up at some point and moved all my stuff to git, feels weird to use both now especially since hg doesn't give me any portability perks over git. CVS is for times and situations when you want to use the version control system from some older system, like old macintosh system7 or 9 (even though @jcs made a very nice tool for it - Amend and even amendhub.com!), or *DOS.

Git and Cvs is certainly a choice.

I understand offering alternatives to Git. I think mercurial deserves a lot more love than it gets.

But why Cvs specifically, over any number of other non-Git alternatives?

• ~ bsandro 2026-11-11 15:57:59 I honestly always liked Mercurial better over git, but sort of gave up at some point and moved all my stuff to git, feels weird to use both now especially since hg doesn't give me any portability perks over git. CVS is for times and situations when you want to use the version control system from some older system, like old macintosh system7 or 9 (even though @jcs made a very nice tool for it - Amend and even amendhub.com!), or *DOS.

I honestly always liked Mercurial better over git, but sort of gave up at some point and moved all my stuff to git, feels weird to use both now especially since hg doesn't give me any portability perks over git.

CVS is for times and situations when you want to use the version control system from some older system, like old macintosh system7 or 9 (even though @jcs made a very nice tool for it - Amend and even amendhub.com!), or *DOS.

• 9 hoistbypetard 2026-11-11 11:35:48 A few of us who want to avoid it, or at least be very selective about when we talk about it have gathered at imtiredboss.org. We're collecting some lists and links, and have a couple of discussion spaces that are kept free of generative AI.

A few of us who want to avoid it, or at least be very selective about when we talk about it have gathered at imtiredboss.org. We're collecting some lists and links, and have a couple of discussion spaces that are kept free of generative AI.

• 7 isagalaev 2026-11-11 12:23:09 Another one: https://codeberg.org/brib/slopfree-software-index

Another one: https://codeberg.org/brib/slopfree-software-index

• ~ bbbhltz 2026-11-11 08:09:56 https://noailist.org/

https://noailist.org/

• ~ dsschnau 2026-11-11 08:11:42 The "No AI" Webring is related - https://baccyflap.com/noai/ ~ brn 2026-11-11 09:23:55 Thanks, my blog is a part of it! 😊

The "No AI" Webring is related - https://baccyflap.com/noai/

• ~ brn 2026-11-11 09:23:55 Thanks, my blog is a part of it! 😊

Thanks, my blog is a part of it! 😊

• ~ sjamaan 2026-11-11 08:43:43 Similar to the rebel tech alliance, there's the trustworthy technology group. They have a Zulip chat you could join to discuss this further.

Similar to the rebel tech alliance, there's the trustworthy technology group. They have a Zulip chat you could join to discuss this further.

• ~ th0ma5 2026-11-11 13:19:55 This is an academic's collection of materials: https://olivia.science/ai/

This is an academic's collection of materials: https://olivia.science/ai/

• ~ jakehamilton 2026-11-11 16:35:58 I'm putting together a software collective which is "anti-ai" as one of its core principles: https://conflagrate.software/ My idea is for it to be a safe, pleasant space for people to create and collaborate.

I'm putting together a software collective which is "anti-ai" as one of its core principles: https://conflagrate.software/

My idea is for it to be a safe, pleasant space for people to create and collaborate.

• ~ Zurga 2026-11-11 08:50:02 You are aware that the resource you link was made with a site builder that mentions an AI in the second sentence of their product hero? The resource was handmade, but not far away from AI. 5 brn 2026-11-11 08:54:45 Nice catch, but they used it before it was "AI-powered", which speaks a bit to the difficulty I'm facing trying to find alternatives to that. ~ Zurga 2026-11-11 09:18:41 Yes, sloppification is everywhere. Things that were once normal products now have an AI...

You are aware that the resource you link was made with a site builder that mentions an AI in the second sentence of their product hero? The resource was handmade, but not far away from AI.

• 5 brn 2026-11-11 08:54:45 Nice catch, but they used it before it was "AI-powered", which speaks a bit to the difficulty I'm facing trying to find alternatives to that. ~ Zurga 2026-11-11 09:18:41 Yes, sloppification is everywhere. Things that were once normal products now have an AI...

Nice catch, but they used it before it was "AI-powered", which speaks a bit to the difficulty I'm facing trying to find alternatives to that.

• ~ Zurga 2026-11-11 09:18:41 Yes, sloppification is everywhere. Things that were once normal products now have an AI...

Yes, sloppification is everywhere. Things that were once normal products now have an AI...

• ~ hwj 2026-11-12 01:11:11 Recently, I was shopping for an SQLite library for Go. It seems https://github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3/ doesn't use AI.

Recently, I was shopping for an SQLite library for Go. It seems https://github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3/ doesn't use AI.

• ~ ItsFinishd 2026-11-11 17:01:41 Rather than avoiding AI, why not opt for responsible usage of AI? LLMs speed things up, but it comes at a cost of losing correctness, which I do not think one can easily guarantee because of the way LLMs operate - statistically matching rather than logic/intuitive proofs which is what humans are good at. To get the best of both worlds, you want to use AI for smaller, more easily reviewed tasks, then use those (also w/ or w/out AI) to build a more complicated product. I've no problem with not having to write out a bunch of code that can be written nearly identically by an AI. The QA and validation process is still a human endeavor and where you probably spend most of your time as a dev anyway. Actual coding amounts to no more than 20% of the time. Nixing a tool like LLM is IMHO a bad idea, if it can help us save time and increase quality of output, then so be it. 17 seb 2026-11-11 17:18:35 From the post you're commenting on: I'm not looking to start a discussion on what's good/bad or (un)worthy about AI, or who's for/against, just links and/or communities promoting this sentiment/position. Comments on posts about/for people who don't like and don't want to use AI which amount to "have you considered that AI isn't all bad actually?" are counterproductive and frankly really exhausting. 13 khairo 2026-11-11 17:05:29 I just don't want to use it. It doesn't interest me. I don't want to use things that used it either. I don't care if it "works better" or is "more efficient". It's okay to be a luddite.

Rather than avoiding AI, why not opt for responsible usage of AI? LLMs speed things up, but it comes at a cost of losing correctness, which I do not think one can easily guarantee because of the way LLMs operate - statistically matching rather than logic/intuitive proofs which is what humans are good at. To get the best of both worlds, you want to use AI for smaller, more easily reviewed tasks, then use those (also w/ or w/out AI) to build a more complicated product.

I've no problem with not having to write out a bunch of code that can be written nearly identically by an AI. The QA and validation process is still a human endeavor and where you probably spend most of your time as a dev anyway. Actual coding amounts to no more than 20% of the time.

Nixing a tool like LLM is IMHO a bad idea, if it can help us save time and increase quality of output, then so be it.

• 17 seb 2026-11-11 17:18:35 From the post you're commenting on: I'm not looking to start a discussion on what's good/bad or (un)worthy about AI, or who's for/against, just links and/or communities promoting this sentiment/position. Comments on posts about/for people who don't like and don't want to use AI which amount to "have you considered that AI isn't all bad actually?" are counterproductive and frankly really exhausting.

From the post you're commenting on:

I'm not looking to start a discussion on what's good/bad or (un)worthy about AI, or who's for/against, just links and/or communities promoting this sentiment/position.

Comments on posts about/for people who don't like and don't want to use AI which amount to "have you considered that AI isn't all bad actually?" are counterproductive and frankly really exhausting.

• 13 khairo 2026-11-11 17:05:29 I just don't want to use it. It doesn't interest me. I don't want to use things that used it either. I don't care if it "works better" or is "more efficient". It's okay to be a luddite.

I just don't want to use it. It doesn't interest me. I don't want to use things that used it either. I don't care if it "works better" or is "more efficient". It's okay to be a luddite.