Dries Buytaert

Years ago, in the early Drupal days, you would see a mantra everywhere: "Don't hack core".

It showed up in issue queues, conference talks, support channels, stickers, and even on T-shirts. It was short and memorable, and it solved a real problem: too many people were modifying Drupal Core instead of extending it properly.

Over time the mantra worked. The ecosystem matured. Not just the software itself, but also the habits and expectations around it. Today you rarely hear people say "Don't hack core".

With AI changing how code gets written, we may need a new mantra.

In Open Source, all code needs to be understood and reviewed before it can be merged. That responsibility belongs to both contributors and maintainers. AI is changing how code gets written, but it does not change that responsibility. In fact, it may make it easier to forget.

Code you don't understand becomes someone else's problem. In Open Source, that someone is often the maintainer reviewing your patch.

Offloading bad code onto maintainers slows down reviews for everyone. Plus, you miss the chance to learn from the code and grow as a developer.

It shouldn't matter what tools you use. But if you submit code, you should be able to explain what it does, why it works, and how it interacts with the rest of the code.

Everyone starts somewhere. Even today's top contributors submitted imperfect patches early on. You are welcome here, with or without AI tools. Perfection isn't required, but understanding your code is. Own your code.

Maybe it's time for some new stickers and T-shirts.

Never submit code you don't understand.

Thanks to Natalie Cainaru, Jeremy Andrews and Gábor Hojtsy for reviewing my draft.