Comment on NutriTrace v1.0.0-rc.42 released: self-hosted nutrition tracker

StrawberryPigtails@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

• TraceApps@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Thanks for asking. Reception of this app has actually been positive overall since my first post here, with upvotes well ahead of downvotes.

  Last week I posted about my newer app LiftTrace, which I also build with AI assistance. Once folks realized AI was part of how I work, “AI slop” became the read on that post and the downvotes came fast. I assume some of this week’s downvotes here are coming from the same crowd reacting to a familiar name, which is fair. Everyone is entitled to their opinon and I respect that.

  I’ve never hidden the AI involvement, and from what I can tell on the NutriTrace GitHub page real users are getting value out of it: stars are steadily climbing and issues and enhancement requests are coming in. I’ll keep posting these updates because I think the apps are genuinely useful, I use them every day myself, and I wouldn’t share them if I didn’t believe they could help someone with their own health or fitness journey.

  Happy to answer any other questions folks have.

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  • shads@lemy.lol ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I wasn’t actually going to say anything about this but it might be received ok (or at least balanced considering how much I despise the spicy auto-correct).

    I looked at your App and it looked like it had potential, I even asked a question that apparently led to a change in how onboarding works.

    However I prefer not to use LLM generated code. Especially not when it’s for something that will no doubt entail years of use. But my qualms and scruples are not your problem so I just shut my mouth and moved on. You’re building this, it’s to scratch your itch and you get to call the shots.

    Me being uncomfortable with how you do it is immaterial, as a user I can and have made the choice to seek other solutions and so downvoting or trash talking you would be petty at best.

    I hope as a community we can start to just say “No thank you” when we are offered something that’s done in a way we don’t like, after all, we have the opportunity to do it differently and make “No LLMs” a key part of our projects, anyone who is not doing that needs to analyse why they feel entitled to shit on someone else’s project.

    At least that’s my $0.05.

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    • irmadlad@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      But my qualms and scruples are not your problem

      Me being uncomfortable with how you do it is immaterial

      I hope as a community we can start to just say “No thank you” when we are offered something that’s done in a way we don’t like

      anyone who is not doing that needs to analyse why they feel entitled to shit on someone else’s project.

      We goin’ to church today. Preach it my brother! Can I get an amen?

      I’m the one who has to die when it’s time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to. ~ Jimi Hendrix

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    • TraceApps@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Thanks for taking the time to write this out and thank you for the feedback that helped improve the onboarding process.

      I completely respect your preference (as well as the community’s). LLMs definitely have their flaws, and they aren’t for everyone. For me, AI acts as a thoroughly tested extension of my workflow rather than a shortcut, but I know that doesn’t fit every project’s philosophy.

      I really appreciate your mature approach to the “No thank you” mindset. I hope you find a solution that works perfectly for your needs and aligns with your principles!

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  • irmadlad@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Don’t let 'em give you shit about your ponytail bro.

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  • StrawberryPigtails@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Meh. Reminds me a bit of the kerflufel when SystemD came out and largely replaced the V init system that came before. A whole bunch of religious adjacent arguments, at high volume with not much intelligence or understanding. It’ll pass.

    All I need to know is does it solve a problem I have, does it work, is it stable, and is it secure.

    Only warning I’ll give is that you should probably not get too used to your off site LLM models (Claude, GPT or whatever you’re using). Pricing seems unsustainable and the hype makes it feel like a bubble similar to the dot com bubble.

    Might want to devote some time to trying to bring your LLM usage in-house. There is no telling who will survive the crash and it’s not always the “best” one.

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    • Natanox@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I don’t agree with your take on AI and the comparison at all, however if you want to use them and stay independent in the future it’s probably best to use Mistral. Their models are available for download and (mostly) licensed under Apache 2.0. You only have to pay for commercial use. Also they’re basically the only big EU-company in that space and the only I know of where the web interface isn’t infested with trackers and shit. However they are also involved in the military (guess which edge models are running on those semi-autonomous drones in Ukraine).

      All I need to know is does it solve a problem I have, does it work, is it stable, and is it secure.

      You have to be aware that

      • LLMs are recreating licensed code without telling you, which WILL fuck you over eventually
      • They do not produce secure code on their own. Keys end up client-side, in widely opened S3 buckets, encryption falsely implemented etc. Widely known, no link needed.
      • It is not faster, in fact you’re slower while merely feeling faster. By now even the techbros themselves just recently finally admitted that.
      • There’s no point to mention the immorality of the tech, everyone should know by now.

      So yeah, your choice how much you use it. But it’s pretty obvious why nobody trusts vibe-coded stuff, and the metric ton of low-quality projects even forcing the de-facto App Store of a whole ecosystem to completely ban AI code reeeally doesn’t help.

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