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Comment by huimang | original | California lawmakers unanimously pass Linux exemption from age-verification law
[−]huimang · 2026-08-30 Sun 08:02 UTC · link
So is anyone going to revert the commits that jumped the gun on this?

E.g. systemd's birthdate field https://github.com/systemd/systemd/pull/40954

[−]sega_sai · 2026-08-30 Sun 08:06 UTC · link
The PR mentions not just California but other states and countries, so I dont think California's exemption alone changes the situation
[−]maccard · 2026-08-30 Sun 08:22 UTC · link
Man that PR is a complete mess.
[−]methyl · 2026-08-30 Sun 10:21 UTC · link
why?
[−]maccard · 2026-08-30 Sun 15:33 UTC · link
It’s 150 comments of back and forth on a change which doesn’t have a concrete reason, the maintainers aren’t in agreement on what the right approach is wrt the field’s behaviour, and the person who submitted it is bouncing between saying he’s keeping it on topic and then adding scope where he believes it should be added.

I also personally disagree with the change, I think the OP has gone ahead and implemented what they wanted but not considered the actual ways it will be used. The PR shouldn’t be merged until the laws have made a bit more progress and it’s clear what they’re _actually_ implementing.

[−]IshKebab · 2026-08-30 Sun 09:36 UTC · link
I have no problem with that as long as it's not the government controlling the age verification. It should be a parent. And as a parent I want the ability to properly control my children's devices - the fact that Apple, and especially Google pretty much ignored this feature until now is a big part of why we have these dumb laws in the first place.

Think about it - if every phone you got asked you at first config "are you over 18? If not ask a parent to set up this device" then everyone would know about that capability and "think of the children" would be met with "parents can just click a button"...

[−]noir_lord · 2026-08-30 Sun 10:52 UTC · link
> And as a parent I want the ability to properly control my children's devices

    * https://www.apple.com/uk/child-safety/
    * https://families.google/familylink/
    * https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-365/family-safety
You already have the ability, all parents do, that some (or most) haven't is why this crap gets proposed in the first place and used as a justification for invading everyone's privacy.

If (some) parents actually parented instead of abdicating that role to the state/education system then this tripe would get far less traction - though cynically they'd just switch to the other argument they always trot out.

[−]phoghed · 2026-08-30 Sun 11:11 UTC · link
Yes, if everyone did everything correctly every time in perpetuity, we wouldn’t need laws. Very astute observation.

Unfortunately, things haven’t worked out that way so far.

[−]Plont · 2026-08-30 Sun 12:08 UTC · link
Oh no, some people are terrible at cooking. Better ban cooking without a license. Giving your neighbor a home baked pie is now a crime unless you're a licensed pastry chef.
[−]phoghed · 2026-08-30 Sun 12:28 UTC · link
That’s correct. We only need one law. Restaurant food poisoned you? NAP violation.

Even that might be too much. As you’ve insightfully illustrated, 1 law is a slippery slope to infinite laws. Next thing you know we need a license to toast bread in our own damn toasters.

[−]cyanydeez · 2026-08-30 Sun 13:06 UTC · link
i mean, we know people are terrible at driving, so we give them license.

We know poeople are terrible with guns so we...um..try to protect their freedom to be terrible.

These arguments are about values not control gates.

[−]gblargg · 2026-08-30 Sun 12:22 UTC · link
We don't need most laws.
[−]torginus · 2026-08-30 Sun 14:00 UTC · link
I thank my concerned parents for locking down my computer as a young teen, for giving me motivation to study computer security in detail :)
[−]lloydatkinson · 2026-08-30 Sun 09:38 UTC · link
Probably not, given there is a specific sect of OSS that embraces authoritarianism.
[−]shevy-java · 2026-08-30 Sun 09:53 UTC · link
Which part of "OSS"? The clown developers who work for Big Business? How do they represent any of the Average Joe here?
[−]lloydatkinson · 2026-08-30 Sun 15:12 UTC · link
The people making PRs like this. Clearly,
[−]shevy-java · 2026-08-30 Sun 09:52 UTC · link
Systemd is paid for by Big Business, so they will retain user-identification information in the long run of course. Poettering will never revert what he is paid for by the TechBros.
[−]SideQuark · 2026-08-30 Sun 10:18 UTC · link
The vast majority of all commits to Linux were paid for by big business (around 85% last year, prev years similar). Intel, Google, AMD, IBM, Meta….

https://commandlinux.com/statistics/linux-kernel-contributor...

[−]enoint · 2026-08-30 Sun 10:23 UTC · link
For WSL, there will still need to be a passthrough.
[−]seany · 2026-08-30 Sun 12:36 UTC · link
Why not just have it be one of the 85 million reasons to not use systemd? Is always been awful.
[−]teddyh · 2026-08-30 Sun 12:37 UTC · link
That commit message mentions laws from California, Colorado, and Brazil. Today’s article is only about how the Californian law is inapplicable. It seems to me that the feature is still valid.
[−]cyanydeez · 2026-08-30 Sun 13:00 UTC · link
also, it's a complete stub that does zero of interest.
[−]huimang · 2026-08-30 Sun 13:09 UTC · link
Stub code that doesn't do anything sounds like a great candidate for removal.
[−]stephenlf · 2026-08-30 Sun 15:13 UTC · link
This IS systemd we’re talking about.
[−]Grombobulous · 2026-08-30 Sun 14:51 UTC · link
Correct. For example, Illinois’ draft law has no open source exception.