Devtools Must Be Open Source
Anthropic
OpenAI
Simon Willison argues that LLMs have made the open source dream more feasible, enabling programmers to examine and modify code with minimal effort. He describes using AI coding agents to clone, build, and explore codebases, reducing friction that previously discouraged such work.
Simon Willison discusses how LLMs have transformed the feasibility of open source software for end-users, particularly programmers. Traditionally, the freedom to examine and modify code was more about relying on others due to the time commitment involved. However, with LLMs, he frequently prompts Claude chat to clone repositories and explain how they work. The friction of getting software to compile and build has been reduced to a near-zero time investment, as he uses tools like Codex and Claude Code to checkout and build projects, then reviews the results. While he hasn't habitually modified software yet, this new capability opens a path that didn't exist a year or so ago.
Source: Simon Willison —
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