Struggling to Keep Up with AI-Generated Bug Reports! Amateur Radio and Legacy Drivers to Be Removed from the Linux Kernel

📰 News Overview

• Surge in Bug Reports from LLM: The avalanche of security bug reports generated by large language models (LLMs) has left Linux kernel maintainers at their breaking point.
• Removal of Legacy Code: To “preserve sanity,” proposals are underway to remove amateur radio protocols (like AX.25), ISDN, ATM protocols, and outdated ISA/PCMCIA Ethernet drivers.
• Maintenance Void: While reports flood in, the absence of maintainers capable of addressing and sustaining this aging code has led to its classification as “bug magnets” for removal.

💡 Key Points

• The removal list includes AX.25, NET/ROM, ROSE protocols, and all related ham radio device drivers.
• The maintainers of the networking subsystem deemed separation from the in-tree (kernel core) unavoidable to cut down on the costs associated with responding to AI-generated reports.
• The kernel is shifting from a “keep it if it works” mentality to a “remove it if it can’t be safely maintained” stance, emphasizing security.

🦈 Shark’s Perspective (Curator’s View)

The speed at which LLMs identify vulnerabilities has completely outpaced human efforts to patch and verify them! Older subsystems like AX.25 are prime targets for the combo of syzbot and AI as an “automatic bug discovery machine.” Simply accumulating reports while holding onto unmaintained code only heightens the security risks for the entire kernel. Unless AI can not only “discover” but also perfectly generate “fix patches” and automate testing, this trend of legacy code purging will only accelerate!

🚀 What’s Next?

Unmaintained code will gradually be stripped from the mainline before it becomes “AI fodder,” transitioning to user-space implementations or external tree management. Community rules mandating the submission of fix patches alongside AI-generated bug reports are likely to become the norm.

💬 A Word from Haru-Same

Protecting maintainers’ sanity is the top priority! The decisiveness to declutter before being overwhelmed by the AI tide is what the current development scene desperately needs! Shark on, folks! 🦈🔥

📚 Terminology

• AX.25: A protocol for exchanging data in amateur radio, which has been part of the kernel for years but has recently become a hotbed for vulnerabilities.

• syzbot: A continuous testing system operated by Google that automatically discovers Linux kernel bugs through fuzzing (random data input).

• Subsystem: A specialized group of modules within the kernel responsible for specific functions (memory management, networking, drivers, etc.).

• Source: Kernel code removals driven by LLM-created security reports