I checked with Gemini 3 Fast and it provided instructions on how to set up a Dev Container or VM. It recommended a Dev Container and gave step-by-step instructions. It also mentioned VMs like VirtualBox and VMWare and recommended best practices.
This is exactly what I would have expected from an expert. Is this not what you are getting?
My broader question is: if someone is asking for instructions for setting up a local agent system, wouldn't it be fair to assume that they should try using an LLM to get instructions? Can't we assume that they are already bought in to the viewpoint that LLMs are useful?
the llm will comment on the average case. when we ask a person for a favourite tool, we expect anecdotes about their own experience - I liked x, but when I tried to do y, it gave me z issues because y is an unusual requirement.
when the question is asked on an open forum, we expect to get n such answers and sometimes we'll recognise our own needs in one or two of them that wouldn't be covered by the median case.
I think you're focusing too much on the word 'favourite' and not enough on the fact that they didn't actually ask for a favourite tool. They asked for a favourite how-to for using the suggested options, a Dev Container or a VM. I think before asking this question, if a person is (demonstrably in this case) into LLMs, it should be reasonable for them to ask an LLM first. The options are already given. It's not difficult to form a prompt that can make a reasonable LLM give a reasonable answer.
There aren't that many ways to run a Dev Container or VM. Everyone is not special and different, just follow the recommended and common security best practices.
I checked with Gemini 3 Fast and it provided instructions on how to set up a Dev Container or VM. It recommended a Dev Container and gave step-by-step instructions. It also mentioned VMs like VirtualBox and VMWare and recommended best practices.
This is exactly what I would have expected from an expert. Is this not what you are getting?
My broader question is: if someone is asking for instructions for setting up a local agent system, wouldn't it be fair to assume that they should try using an LLM to get instructions? Can't we assume that they are already bought in to the viewpoint that LLMs are useful?
the llm will comment on the average case. when we ask a person for a favourite tool, we expect anecdotes about their own experience - I liked x, but when I tried to do y, it gave me z issues because y is an unusual requirement.
when the question is asked on an open forum, we expect to get n such answers and sometimes we'll recognise our own needs in one or two of them that wouldn't be covered by the median case.
does that make sense?
> when we ask a person for a favourite tool
I think you're focusing too much on the word 'favourite' and not enough on the fact that they didn't actually ask for a favourite tool. They asked for a favourite how-to for using the suggested options, a Dev Container or a VM. I think before asking this question, if a person is (demonstrably in this case) into LLMs, it should be reasonable for them to ask an LLM first. The options are already given. It's not difficult to form a prompt that can make a reasonable LLM give a reasonable answer.
There aren't that many ways to run a Dev Container or VM. Everyone is not special and different, just follow the recommended and common security best practices.
In 2026? It will be the tool from the vendor who spends the most ad dollars with Anthropic/Google/etc.