Re: [NonGNU ELPA] New package: llm

[Richard Stallman]

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  > > As for LLMs that run on servers, they are a different issue entirely.
  > > They are all SaaSS (Service as a Software Substitute), and SaaSS is
  > > always unjust.
  > >
  > > See https://gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.html
  > > for explanation.

  > I do not fully agree here. A number of more powerful LLMs have very
  > limiting hardware requirements. For example, some LLMs require 64+Gbs of
  > RAM to run:

That is true, and it is unfortunate.  There may be no practical way
to run a certain model except for SaaSS.

That does not alter the injustice of SaaSS.  So we should not silence
our criticism of SaaSS in those cases,

If a user decides to run that model as SaaSS, given this situation,
that is per responsibility.  We will not try to prevent per from
doing so,  But we should inform per of the injustice so perse can
make that decision aware of the injustice.  This is very important.

  > In such scenario, the base assumption you make in
  > https://gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.html may no
  > longer hold for most users:

  >     "Suppose that any software tasks you might need for the job are
  >     implemented in free software, and you have copies, and you have whatever
  >     data you might need, as well as computers of whatever speed,
  >     functionality and capacity might be required."

  > Thus, for many users (owning less powerful computers) LLMs as a service
  > are going to be SaaS, not SaaSS. (Given that the SaaS LLM has free
  > licence and users who choose to buy the necessary hardware retain their
  > freedom to run the same LLM on their hardware.)

I think that is a misunderstanding.  The text quoted from the page says

    you have whatever
    data you might need, as well as computers of whatever speed,
    functionality and capacity might be required.

Whether that is feasible for usual usersion in some real case is not
part of the question.  This question is part of the thought
experiment.

This is meant to clarify the concept of "SaaSS".  It is not part of
the DEFINITION of SaaSS.  It is not intended to say that any service
that needs so much resources that you could not run it yourself _is
not_ SaaSS.

I don't think that practical details about what other choices are
feasible for a user affect whether use of a certain service is SaaSS.
In principle, those should be independent questions.

I will take a look at clarifying that page.

-- 
Dr Richard Stallman (https://stallman.org)
Chief GNUisance of the GNU Project (https://gnu.org)
Founder, Free Software Foundation (https://fsf.org)
Internet Hall-of-Famer (https://internethalloffame.org)