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As a programmer today, it's basically a given I will use LLMs both (1) to write 'new' code and (2) to make the programs I write make further requests to LLM service (API) providers. Starting to seem like I have a moral prerogative to choose the less evil provider, wherever possible

As a programmer today, no it isn't. You absolutely do not need to use LLMs for literally anything, nor should you if you want your code to actually do what you intend for it to do.

You don't have to knit your own clothes either. Homemade clothes are probably much higher quality too. They're not very popular tho

I'd rather knit my own clothes than use the loom that randomly weaves in warm spaghetti, but maybe that's just me. I'm not concerned with popularity, I'm concerned with knowing my code and knowing it works.

I respect that. Some things should absolutely not be vibe-coded. I believe skilled programmers (can) make much better "prompt engineers" similar to how good programmers (can) make better engineering managers: It helps to be able to tell when your "team" (LLM) isn't producing to your standards