Re: [NonGNU ELPA] New package: llm

[Ihor Radchenko <yantar92@posteo.net>]

Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org> writes:

> 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:
https://github.com/ggerganov/llama.cpp#memorydisk-requirements.
Not every PC is able to handle it, even if both the engine and the
neural network weights are free.

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.)

-- 
Ihor Radchenko // yantar92,
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