LLM policy for drivers/staging/ going forward

[Greg KH <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>]

Hi all,

Given the recent "onslaught" of LLM-generated kernel patches for the
drivers/staging/ subsystem, I'd like to clarify my position going forward with
regards to taking patches made with these tools.

First off, drivers/staging/ exists PRIMARILY as a place for new kernel
developers to learn how to get involved in kernel development.  It contains
loads of "low hanging fruit" with regards to code cleanups and api changes,
perfect for new developers to learn the process in a safe and friendly way,
with no pressure as no one _should_ be relying on the code in these directories
(as proof of the TAINT_CRAP flag that gets set if you ever actually load any of
this code into your kernel tree.)

We don't just take "fix all the coding style issues in this file!" type of
patches that are generated by tools, as that would defeat the whole purpose of
drivers/staging in the first place.  We could do that tomorrow if we actually
_cared_ about the code in here, but rather, we live with the issues just
because this is where people can start out and learn and grow from.

So this mean that anyone attempting to use a LLM to cleanup or "fix" any code
in drivers/staging/ is EXPLICITLY defeating the whole purpose of it existing in
the first place.  Because of this, going forward I am going to automatically
reject any patches generated with a LLM for the drivers/staging/ subsystem,
with one exception noted below.

And yes, it is VERY obvious when people submit LLM-generated patches, so don't
think that just not disclosing the use of them will allow you to "get away"
with anything here.  The goal is for people to be able to learn, not to try to
"trick" a maintainer.  If anyone is determined to have deliberately "tricked"
us, well, consider this your warning ahead of time...

Note, LLMs are very good at finding suspect "security issues" in kernel code
these days.  But even with the best of the current and next generation tools,
at least 1/3 of the results they generate are flat out wrong or harmful.  So,
if you think your LLM-found/fixed issue in a drivers/staging/ file is really
valid, it's fine to submit it BUT you must have first tested it on the actual
hardware for the driver, and described how you have done so, in order for us to
be willing to take the change.  This testing process should _hopefully_ weed
out the 1/3 wrong reports, but that isn't always the case, so you MUST be
willing to defend your submission and prove that it really is correct in fixing
a bug that a user can actually hit.

In other words, drivers/staging/ here is a "gym" that is here to learn and grow
your skills with.  A LLM is turning into a reasonable tool to do "heavy
lifting" for some things but that should only be done by those that have
already properly trained their skills to know what type of lifting can be done,
and in what way.  See this great essay by Bruce Schneier for where he explains
this in much better detail:
	https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2026/07/should-you-use-ai-for-a-task-heres-a-simple-way-to-decide.html


thanks,

greg k-h