AI policy
Packages which include the output of generative AI models (e.g. LLMs) is regulated in AlpineBSD. Any software whose code, documentation, binaries, or other assets include, in any part, the output of a generative AI tool such as an LLM, is considered “tainted” for our purposes.
Installation of tainted software
There are four package repositories in AlpineBSD, mainly distinguished by their tolerance for tainted packages:
| Repository | Support status | AI policy |
|---|---|---|
| base | Supported | Clean |
| main | Supported | Clean |
| tainted | Community support | Tainted |
| community | Community support | Clean and/or tainted dependencies |
Dependencies flow upwards on this table, so community can depend on tainted, but not vice-versa.
Managing your exposure
The most conservative installation of AlpineBSD only enables the “base” and
“main” repositories in /etc/apk/repositories, and is guaranteed to include no
tainted software.
If you want to use indirectly tainted software, you must enable the “tainted”
and “community” repositories. If you enable “tainted” with a tag, you can opt-in
to the installation of tainted software in /etc/apk/repositories, e.g.
@tainted https://mirror.alpinebsd.org/edge/tainted
Then when installing indirectly tainted software via apk add, an error will be
produced if a package depends (at runtime) on a tainted package, in which case
you can add it explicitly via e.g. apk add python3@tainted and attempt the
installation again.
Package search
AlpineBSD packages include metadata which describes their AI policy status.
Include the following in your apk search query to filter accordingly:
genai:clean: untainted softwaregenai:pinned: pinned to the last non-tainted versiongenai:indirect-build: indirectly tainted via build-time dependenciesgenai:indirect-runtime: indirectly tainted via runtime dependenciesgenai:indirect-check: indirectly tainted via test suite dependenciesgenai:tainted: package includes genAI output
Pinned software
A small amount of essential software is pinned to the last version which is not tainted. We pin software as a last resort, preferring to find alternatives or move the package into the tainted repository. The current list of pinned software in “base” and “main” is:
- binutils
- gcc
- gdb
- libffi
- perl
- xorriso
AlpineBSD contributions
No contribution to AlpineBSD’s own software, documentation, packaging recipies, and so on, or posts on the mailing lists, IRC, and so on, may utilize generative AI tools.