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iTerm2 removes AI feature from core, creates separate plugin

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Re: iTerm2 removes AI feature from core, creates separate plugin

#131

Post by michaelcampbell »

Cu3PO42 wrote: post #22

I feel really sorry for the developer. I've only been a casual observer, but from my view point the community's reaction was... not great, to put it lightly. I get that a lot of us are tired of 'AI' being shoved down our throat at every possible turn. I get that a lot of us have privacy concerns. I get that maybe you don't want it in your terminal emulator. But iTerm is a free (both as in gratis and as in libre) open…

> community's reaction was... not great, to put it lightly.

Perhaps, but it was IMO 100% predictable. You don't go walking in a crime ridden area of a big city waving around a bunch of cash and then be shocked when you get mugged, even when it's legally still not your fault.

Re: iTerm2 removes AI feature from core, creates separate plugin

#132

Post by munksbeer »

Cu3PO42 wrote: post #22

I feel really sorry for the developer. I've only been a casual observer, but from my view point the community's reaction was... not great, to put it lightly. I get that a lot of us are tired of 'AI' being shoved down our throat at every possible turn. I get that a lot of us have privacy concerns. I get that maybe you don't want it in your terminal emulator. But iTerm is a free (both as in gratis and as in libre) open…

I echo your sentiments.

I should not be surprised really, but it is amazing how vehemently anti-AI some people are becoming. It is interesting that it is already creating such divides and rifts. Almost as if all those sci-fi writers predicting the upcoming AI schisms were surprisingly accurate.

Re: iTerm2 removes AI feature from core, creates separate plugin

#133

Post by munksbeer »

jaredcwhite wrote: post #122
Cu3PO42 wrote: post #22

I feel really sorry for the developer. I've only been a casual observer, but from my view point the community's reaction was... not great, to put it lightly. I get that a lot of us are tired of 'AI' being shoved down our throat at every possible turn. I get that a lot of us have privacy concerns. I get that maybe you don't want it in your terminal emulator. But iTerm is a free (both as in gratis and as in libre) open…

> I think this is a good change, if only to pacify the masses It has nothing to do with "pacifying the masses" and everything to do it with being the right product decision to make. It should never have been added to core and should have been offered as a 100% optional add-on in the first place. People had every right to be deeply upset. We run into this problem constantly with cloud software where we have zero contr…

> It has nothing to do with "pacifying the masses" and everything to do it with being the right product decision to make. It should never have been added to core and should have been offered as a 100% optional add-on in the first place. People had every right to be deeply upset.

Why do you get to decide that?

Re: iTerm2 removes AI feature from core, creates separate plugin

#134

Post by stnmtn »

mhurron wrote: post #105
stnmtn wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You still have to take the action to enable the AI features even if you just have a " " character in that field, no? It doesn't send anything to openAI until you open the prompt for it to do so.

At the moment it appears that way, but that is still the wrong action. An unconfigured field is not a disabled function and there is no way in iTerm to disable the functionality. Also, the 'prompt to use OpenAI' is not OpenAI specific, it is a new button in a previous function that you could use in earlier versions for completely non-openai purposes. There isn't a OpenAI specific prompt area. If you leave the field e…

You can accidentally click on this checkbox you're talking about, then accidentally click on the UI element that opens up the AI prompting mechanism, then accidentally type something in and send it as well. I don't understand this

Re: iTerm2 removes AI feature from core, creates separate plugin

#135

Post by notatoad »

Suzuran wrote: post #129
soraminazuki wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, people are saying, don't use the feature if you're not interested. It isn't hard. Don't input an API key. Don't do multiple clicks to show the "Codecierge" toolbox. Don't type in a question for the AI. In future versions, don't install the optional AI plugin. And crucially, don't act the way people did in this saga and be civil. Follow any of that, and you're fine. People aren't demanding you anything. You are.

You missed the point, or I failed to adequately explain it. I know full well (now, without the intentional disinformation that was being spread earlier) that the feature is entirely disabled without an API key present. I understand that, as things stand right now, the decision of whether or not to engage with OpenAI through iTerm2 is entirely mine. My point is that I believe the reason people are still repulsed by it…

>but that they are repulsed by the idea of even accidentally engaging with the OpenAI corporation

and this is not a reasonable complaint, or a justifiable reason to demand the removal of features. if you have an emotional reaction to the existence of openAI, that's an issue for you to address yourself, not a reason to demand that other people make changes to free apps you've decided use.

Re: iTerm2 removes AI feature from core, creates separate plugin

#136

Post by adamomada »

moomoo11 wrote: post #69
Cu3PO42 wrote: post #22

I feel really sorry for the developer. I've only been a casual observer, but from my view point the community's reaction was... not great, to put it lightly. I get that a lot of us are tired of 'AI' being shoved down our throat at every possible turn. I get that a lot of us have privacy concerns. I get that maybe you don't want it in your terminal emulator. But iTerm is a free (both as in gratis and as in libre) open…

There was a highly upvoted article on here yesterday. Honestly I agree with their sentiments. iTerm should be a terminal app. Any of this stuff should be an extension/plugin, and not a core feature.

Ca. 2006 iTerm added a feature to perform a google search based on text selection

You could see how this is even more dangerous than a completely separate window to an API

The only difference is: in 2006 people online in general weren’t absolute shitheads

Re: iTerm2 removes AI feature from core, creates separate plugin

#137

Post by adamomada »

Suzuran wrote: post #129
soraminazuki wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, people are saying, don't use the feature if you're not interested. It isn't hard. Don't input an API key. Don't do multiple clicks to show the "Codecierge" toolbox. Don't type in a question for the AI. In future versions, don't install the optional AI plugin. And crucially, don't act the way people did in this saga and be civil. Follow any of that, and you're fine. People aren't demanding you anything. You are.

You missed the point, or I failed to adequately explain it. I know full well (now, without the intentional disinformation that was being spread earlier) that the feature is entirely disabled without an API key present. I understand that, as things stand right now, the decision of whether or not to engage with OpenAI through iTerm2 is entirely mine. My point is that I believe the reason people are still repulsed by it…

Lol ignorance is now intentional disinformation

Re: iTerm2 removes AI feature from core, creates separate plugin

#138

Post by int_19h »

ecjhdnc2025 wrote: post #119
int_19h wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> start shoehorning in LLM APIs to gain a bit of contemporary relevance This claim implies that there's no utilitarian reason for this integration, but I don't think that is true. Shell scripting is notoriously arcane, and conversely LMs are pretty decent at unraveling that. You might notice that there are quite a few comments on the issue where users specifically state that they are using the feature and find it hel…

I think your reading is fair considering what I actually wrote! It's just not quite what I had in mind. But what I wrote is still quite scrappy; that line is missing at least an "in general" to broaden that point out beyond iTerm 2 specifically. I need to slow down a bit more. I don't really agree with you on the LLM side of the equation, and I am bothered by the idea that this is where we're all headed. But where I…

iTerm is a "kitchen sink" type of app in general. That is, it is definitely a terminal emulator, but it has lots of features, and I doubt that most users use even half of that. So in that sense, if you're using it, you're already at least tacitly accepting that philosophy as valid. So optional LLM integration is not really out of place there in the sense that it would be in a truly minimalist terminal emulator, IMO.

With regard to LLMs, for what it's worth, I'm not suggesting that people use them to routinely drive their shell. This is the kind of stuff that you use very occasionally, when it is time to use that one command that is immensely useful for very specialized things, and which you can never in your life remember the syntax for precisely because it's not something you do every day. The canonical examples there are ffmpeg, ImageMagick, and similar tools.

Remember https://linux.die.net/man/1/cdecl? This is basically like that, just based on tech that allows it to be better generalized.

Re: iTerm2 removes AI feature from core, creates separate plugin

#139

Post by adamomada »

wpm wrote: post #126
galad87 wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iTerm AI feature was off by default and you had to manually insert a valid key, but it seems it was still an issue.

The change notes nor the UI do not imply this. All this needs was a single checkbox “Disable OpenAI Integration” or codecierge or whatever it’s called. A single, unequivocal “this is not enabled” signal to the user who does not want or cannot what this feature enabled.

But how is that different from a UI which is the equivalent of a “enable openai integration” checkbox??

You needed the word “Disable” in there?

Re: iTerm2 removes AI feature from core, creates separate plugin

#140

Post by adamomada »

kjksf wrote: post #39
rottencupcakes wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

I actually worked with George and he is about the nicest person there is. This is not sarcasm or double speak. He really was a great guy to work with. Now he's spending his free time working almost daily on free, open source gift that is iTerm. The issue here really is the hysteria of people who complain about it. It's something you had to configure by entering an API key and it wouldn't do anything if you didn't. Di…

I really feel bad for the guy but I sincerely doubt it’s the first time he’s learned that “no good deed goes unpunished”.
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