[ryan29]

> Wouldn't you say the same thing for most of the people? Most of the people suck at verifying truth and reasoning. Even "intelligent" people make mistakes based on their biases.

I think there's a huge difference because individuals can be reasoned with, convinced they're wrong, and have the ability to verify they're wrong and change their position. If I can convince one person they're wrong about something, they convince others. It has an exponential effect and it's a good way of eliminating common errors.

I don't understand how LLMs will do that. If everyone stops learning and starts relying on LLMs to tell them how to do everything, who will discover the mistakes?

Here's a specific example. I'll pick on LinuxServer since they're big [1], but almost every 'docker-compose.yml' stack you see online will have a database service defined like this:

    services:
      app:
        # ...
        environment:
          - 'DB_HOST=mysql:3306'
        # ...
      mariadb:
        image: linuxserver/mariadb
        container_name: mariadb
        environment:
          - PUID=1000
          - PGID=1000
          - MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=ROOT_ACCESS_PASSWORD
          - TZ=Europe/London
        volumes:
          - /home/user/appdata/mariadb:/config
        ports:
          - 3306:3306
        restart: unless-stopped

Assuming the database is dedicated to that app, and it typically is, publishing port 3306 for the database isn't necessary and is a bad practice because it unnecessarily exposes it to your entire local network. You don't need to publish it because it's already accessible to other containers in the same stack.

Another Docker related example would be a Dockerfile using 'apt[-get]' without the '--error-on=any' switch. Pay attention to Docker build files and you'll realize almost no one uses that switch. Failing to do so allows silent failures of the 'update' command and it's possible to build containers with stale package versions if you have a transient error that affects the 'update' command, but succeeds on a subsequent 'install' command.

There are tons of misunderstandings like that which end up being so common that no one realizes they're doing things wrong. For people, I can do something as simple as posting on HN and others can see my suggestion, verify it's correct, and repeat the solution. Eventually, the misconception is corrected and those paying attention know to ignore the mistakes in all of the old internet posts that will never be updated.

How do you convince ChatGPT the above is correct and that it's a million posts on the internet that are wrong?

1. https://docs.linuxserver.io/general/docker-compose/#multiple...

[vanviegen]

I asked ChatGPT 4o if there's anything that can be improved in your docker-compose file. Among other (seemingly sensible) suggestions, it offered:

## Restrict Host Ports for Security

If app and mariadb are only communicating internally, you can remove 3306:3306 to avoid exposing the port to the host machine:

```yaml ports: - 3306:3306 # Remove this unless external access is required. ```

So, apparently, ChatGPT doesn't need any more convincing.

[BeefWellington]

Here GPT is saying the port is only exposed to the host machine (e.g.: localhost), rather than the full local network.

[ryan29]

Wow. I can honestly say I'm surprised it makes that suggestion. That's great!

I don't understand how it gets there though. How does it "know" that's the right thing to suggest when the majority of the online documentation all gets it wrong?

I know how I do it. I read the Docker docs, I see that I don't think publishing that port is needed, I spin up a test, and I verify my theory. AFAIK, ChatGPT isn't testing to verify assumptions like that, so I wonder how it determines correct from incorrect.