So my systems recently updated to rsync 3.4.3, and as soon as that happened my backup system - which does incremental backups using multiple --compare-dest= arguments - started to fail on anything but a full backup.
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@JeremiahFieldhaven I don't understand how anyone trusts the output of these things.
Yes, you can ask for small examples of things, of you are too lazy to open man pages, etc.
But putting any trust in the code these things spew out without thoroughly reading and understanding every line is incomprehensible to me. And when i do this, i tend to find I'd have been much better off just sitting it myself.
Well it's simple, you just don't look at it and pretend because you got AN output it is correct cause "the AI" told you so.
People see "AI" as an authority figure and therefore assume it is correct without checking...
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@JeremiahFieldhaven the amount of crap that’s broken after 3.4.1 is just wow
https://github.com/RsyncProject/rsync/issues@byte @JeremiahFieldhaven Did anyone fork it yet?
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So my systems recently updated to rsync 3.4.3, and as soon as that happened my backup system - which does incremental backups using multiple --compare-dest= arguments - started to fail on anything but a full backup.
Revert to 3.4.1 and it works.
So I go look at the source in GitHub to see what might have changed, because there doesn't seem to be anything relevant in the changelog.
Since 3.4.1, 36 commits by "tridge and claude"
Oh for fuck's sakes.
@JeremiahFieldhaven oh ffs. This is exactly why I've been worried about updating this laptop!
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@JeremiahFieldhaven Some of these commits are repairing defective generated code with other generated code.....
🫣@Ferdi_Scholten @JeremiahFieldhaven
seriously? are we at that stage now?
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@glassresistor @distractal @sinbad @JeremiahFieldhaven I must not know what any of that means, or I wouldn't have said it. You remind me of my brother, who compared my computer use with his gambling addiction. I'm sure those things are the same thing.
@chris Just like I'm sure that saying cognitive surrender is not something a person can "fight" and saying that fighting depression with a chatbot is likely to make the depression worse in the long term is the same as comparing using a computer to gambling.
Jesus Christ, get over yourself.
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So my systems recently updated to rsync 3.4.3, and as soon as that happened my backup system - which does incremental backups using multiple --compare-dest= arguments - started to fail on anything but a full backup.
Revert to 3.4.1 and it works.
So I go look at the source in GitHub to see what might have changed, because there doesn't seem to be anything relevant in the changelog.
Since 3.4.1, 36 commits by "tridge and claude"
Oh for fuck's sakes.
@JeremiahFieldhaven cc @gryphonmyers for the list
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@glassresistor @distractal @sinbad @JeremiahFieldhaven I must not know what any of that means, or I wouldn't have said it. You remind me of my brother, who compared my computer use with his gambling addiction. I'm sure those things are the same thing.
@chris @glassresistor @distractal @sinbad @JeremiahFieldhaven yeah, they literally are the same thing. The "hooked" loop. https://pivot-to-ai.com/2025/06/05/generative-ai-runs-on-gambling-addiction-just-one-more-prompt-bro/
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So my systems recently updated to rsync 3.4.3, and as soon as that happened my backup system - which does incremental backups using multiple --compare-dest= arguments - started to fail on anything but a full backup.
Revert to 3.4.1 and it works.
So I go look at the source in GitHub to see what might have changed, because there doesn't seem to be anything relevant in the changelog.
Since 3.4.1, 36 commits by "tridge and claude"
Oh for fuck's sakes.
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@byte @JeremiahFieldhaven Did anyone fork it yet?
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So my systems recently updated to rsync 3.4.3, and as soon as that happened my backup system - which does incremental backups using multiple --compare-dest= arguments - started to fail on anything but a full backup.
Revert to 3.4.1 and it works.
So I go look at the source in GitHub to see what might have changed, because there doesn't seem to be anything relevant in the changelog.
Since 3.4.1, 36 commits by "tridge and claude"
Oh for fuck's sakes.
@JeremiahFieldhaven The alternative from stapelberg seems reasonable https://michael.stapelberg.ch/posts/2026-05-24-minimal-memory-safe-go-rsync-vulns/
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@JeremiahFieldhaven Christ if it’s coming for rsync of all things software is clearly done
@sinbad @JeremiahFieldhaven
It's in `curl` also, see https://codeberg.org/small-hack/open-slopware#networking. Not that I fully agree with the sentiment of that list, but it is useful to keep track of such things -
So my systems recently updated to rsync 3.4.3, and as soon as that happened my backup system - which does incremental backups using multiple --compare-dest= arguments - started to fail on anything but a full backup.
Revert to 3.4.1 and it works.
So I go look at the source in GitHub to see what might have changed, because there doesn't seem to be anything relevant in the changelog.
Since 3.4.1, 36 commits by "tridge and claude"
Oh for fuck's sakes.
@JeremiahFieldhaven I've seen the post on linkedin announcing a few rsync fixes, which didn't mention using Claude. Devs are sometimes very disappointing.
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@JeremiahFieldhaven Tridge is using AI? LOL, that's damn funny to be honest. Also I thought he only worked on core Samba code. Maybe he should only work on core Samba code.
@me @JeremiahFieldhaven he's the original author of rsync so I guess he still has some things to say about its development. Sad to see this tbh.
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So my systems recently updated to rsync 3.4.3, and as soon as that happened my backup system - which does incremental backups using multiple --compare-dest= arguments - started to fail on anything but a full backup.
Revert to 3.4.1 and it works.
So I go look at the source in GitHub to see what might have changed, because there doesn't seem to be anything relevant in the changelog.
Since 3.4.1, 36 commits by "tridge and claude"
Oh for fuck's sakes.
@JeremiahFieldhaven You might want to check openrsync:
https://www.freshports.org/net/openrsync -
Well it's simple, you just don't look at it and pretend because you got AN output it is correct cause "the AI" told you so.
People see "AI" as an authority figure and therefore assume it is correct without checking...
@agowa338 @JeremiahFieldhaven one of the first, and to this day, best, analogies I've ever heard of asking an LLM something is that people pray to it to solve whatever issue they are having
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@chris @distractal @sinbad @JeremiahFieldhaven could you define cognitive surrender?
@glassresistor Nope! I don't know in the slightest what it means, and I can't guess either. I also have to consult a dictionary to define pretty much anything in a reasonable fashion, so I guess I have no firm grasp of the English language, either.
I bet like most of the people I've run into on this network of servers, that you probably have a doctorate on the subject, though. Everyone I know seems to have a doctorate on something, while I, the lowly slacker, never aspired to finish public school and took the GED to get the hell out of structured education. Discipline is not for me. More like being constantly disciplined.
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So my systems recently updated to rsync 3.4.3, and as soon as that happened my backup system - which does incremental backups using multiple --compare-dest= arguments - started to fail on anything but a full backup.
Revert to 3.4.1 and it works.
So I go look at the source in GitHub to see what might have changed, because there doesn't seem to be anything relevant in the changelog.
Since 3.4.1, 36 commits by "tridge and claude"
Oh for fuck's sakes.
@JeremiahFieldhaven All I can imagine is the original maintainers are gone, and someone else must be maintaining it now. Cause rsync is not new, nor is it "sexy". It is a tool that many of us have used our entire careers.
I worry if this is happening to things like rsync, what it means across the board. Who will continue to maintain the repos I have once I leave, retire, die, etc?
It does highlight the same thing we bring up over-and-over: we need to find ways to compensate experienced software developers to maintain open source software. Otherwise, script kiddies and LLMs will stomp all over it before long.
