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- Can you even license AI-generated code?
Can you even license AI-generated code?
An AI-generated artwork won a contest, then got denied copyright entirely, and that same logic could reach your vibe-coded project. This week we're breaking down what that means for licensing, why more than 230 repositories were created every minute last year and what actually separates the ones people trust, how Jay The Linux Guy's decade-tested automation applies 300+ changes to a fresh server in minutes, and why Conventional Commits are worth the discipline
On the podcast, a 14-year contributor argues developers don't get paid for what you'd think, fixes a bug maintainers had given up on, and shares a take on AI replacing developers that might surprise you. This is edition #75 of the We ❤️ Open Source newsletter. Made and curated by Jason & Todd.🙂
This week we'll look at...
50 Free Tickets to RenderATL
Join the tech community in ATL next week!
Our good friend Justin Samuels at RenderATL is making 50 free tickets available to the We Love Open Source community! RenderATL takes place next week, August 12 & 13 in Atlanta and will feature world-class technology speakers, an AI Expo, and it’s part of Atlanta Tech Week! If you’re in the area or can travel and make it, register today!
Articles
 | More than 230 new repositories were created every minute last year. Anyone can ship working software now. The barrier is no longer the code, it's whether a stranger trusts your project enough to spend their time on it. Sammy makes the case that trust is the next competitive advantage. WHY WE ❤️ IT: The technical finish line is gone. Sammy explains what replaced it and why every builder should care. |
 | An AI-generated artwork won an art contest, then got denied copyright entirely. Courts ruled the human "author" only wrote a prompt, and that's not enough. If the same logic applies to your vibe-coded project, you might not actually be able to license it as open source. Here's a legal breakdown. WHY WE ❤️ IT: If you vibe code, this is the one license read you shouldn't skip. |
 | Most people think deployment is clicking buttons. Learn Linux TV reveals Jay's decade-tested automation system that applies 300+ configuration changes automatically. Discover Ansible pull, CI/CD testing, deployment groups, and the design philosophies that let automation scale without breaking production systems. WHY WE ❤️ IT: Watch a fresh server configure itself in 14 minutes, then see 300+ changes transform a desktop live. |
What's in your technology toolbox?
Conventional Commits take discipline to adopt. Jasmine started with a side project after an ATO talk and ended up using them across a full Power BI migration. Every time a stakeholder asked what changed and why, she had the answer. Here's how she got there.
WHY WE ❤️ IT: Jasmine turned a conference talk into a workflow decision that paid off across a real production migration.
From the We ❤️ Open Source Podcast
 | Eighty percent of open source projects eventually go quiet. One 14-year contributor thinks agentic AI can change that math, and he's got the receipts, including a six-month-old bug he fixed himself. His take on AI replacing developers might surprise you. WHY WE ❤️ IT: He fixed a bug maintainers gave up on, then explained why AI still can't do his job. |
Featured podcast shorts
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Wrap Up
If you've made it this far (thank you!), check out everything we do, our YouTube channel with 1000's of open source talks, the many meetups we host around the southeast and NYC, the All Things AI spring event we co-host, and of course All Things Open, the largest open source tech conference on the US east coast.
We hope you learn something new this weekend!
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