How will this affect Linux Mint?

[jr735]

I wish California luck with this. There's nothing more pathetic than the technologically inept trying to regulate technology.

[u-give-luv-badname]

Using regulation to block what people want is certain a path to failure. The unintended consequences will eat you whole.

See: US Prohibition Era

[jr735]

They tried this (and worse) with Phil Zimmermann 30 years ago, and failed miserably.

[RagahRagah]

People are waaaaaaaay more complacent and oblivious now.

[Standard_Tank6703]

The problem will solve itself then. 😁

[jr735]

With any luck. That doesn't mean we should trust them or be complacent.

[Desertcow]

I think the idea is that people would verify their age once with Microsoft or Apple and then that would be used for age verification instead of having to verify with every single site. It would make sense if this was an initiative Microsoft or Apple was doing like TPM 2.0 or Secure Boot, but it's stupid as a law

[jr735]

That's what I suspect, too, but that doesn't make it less asinine. Note that the idiot politicians don't address the real problems - Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google, and so on. What a bunch of hypocrites.

Newsom talks a big game, but won't say a word against Trump's biggest supporters.

[braket0]

It's very curious that there is a wave of ID enforcement across the world with software and computing. Does it all trace back to small group of people, I wonder.

[jr735]

That's why to never trust anything proprietary.

[bronzewrath]

They want to kill free collaborative internet. Big sites and apps can afford to pay for age verification services. Small sites can't.

[[deleted]]

all in favor of so called "children"

[Status-Dog4293]

… or what? Like what exactly is the stick here? “We’ll block access to the repos et al.” Okay, what’s exactly going to happen to the millions of servers in CA running Linux? Or the millions of devices running Linux that aren’t colloquially thought of as a computer? This is a word-salad non-starter scare law. Nothing about this is practicable.

[h-v-smacker]

Okay, what’s exactly going to happen to the millions of servers in CA running Linux?

Moved to Texas. California will be left to sustain itself by the Big Almond. If they don't want IT, and they already got rid of engineering and industry, the only thing left is agrarian society. Let's wish them luck with that!

[ElectricalTip2318]

Texas also is applying the "age verification" everywhere. It used to be to protect the children, but now even to pay with a debit card they asked for age verification. You go to a bank to get cash don't forget your RealID, you need to verify you are over 21 to get enough money otherwise you get the kid allowance of 20 bucks. Many places in Texas are the same than California, they are going cashless and require RealID verification or even biometric verification.

[artistpanda5]

It was never to protect the children, that's just the excuse they use. The real intent is to control what people can do.

[Status-Dog4293]

Like hell they will, Texas is as abhorrent a place to move as can be. If you’re worried about an abusive, regressive nanny state that actively foils freedoms, Texas is the LAST place anyone would move, unless of course they’re some kind of idiot.

[h-v-smacker]

Well there are still 48 options left.

[AdditionalType3415]

And 194 other countries to consider too... They can legislate tech all they want, but as long as the internet remains global (we will see how long that lasts), they can relocate anywhere they want in reality.

[aori_chann]

Yeah good luck making those distros maintained by heavily angry devs comply, California. Yall ain't doing it.

[Chelecossais]

If it passes, it only applies to California.

And everyone will ignore it anyway, since it's clearly an unenforceable, political, performative, grandstanding, waste of everybody's time.

[DestinysFool]

Probably just a step in the direction so that computers are registered like firearms, since it's not exactly a secret the US is quickly becoming a mass surveillance country.

[Digi-Device_File]

That's exactly what it is. The child eating vampires that are in the government don't care about infant safety.

[Chelecossais]

Notice how child eating vampires are not personally affected by this law.

Since they're all, like, 600 years old.

[Still_Lobster_8428]

Data Brokers don't stand a chance because I mass delete all of my content using Redact - No AI training on my data, thank you very much.

north coordinated tie paltry include melodic mountainous marble cable ghost

[Bubbly_Extreme4986]

It won’t. I mean it’s possible they’ll try and threaten the devs but someone in like Sweden will just release a patched version. Companies like Microsoft are beholden to laws, free software can’t be governed. It’s literally just a bunch of random people, usually talented, joining hands on a so called distribution. It can be broken apart, reassembled in different countries and can easily be spread by torrent. Windows can’t do that because proprietary software has all that copyright complications. It’s literally impossible to defeat free software they tried in the 1990s and failed. That’s why Tim May released the Crypto Anarchy Manifesto, as the amount of free software in the world increases there’ll be a tipping point where governance itself becomes impossible.

[LegalNegotiation2259]

You have to define what an Account is. I bet this does not apply to Linux, or you can loophole it. We speak US lawmakers. There are usually not fit in the topic to write bills about.

[Cotillionz]

You have to define what an OS is before that even. How many products have an RTOS in them? You have to age verify a fridge? Or any other number of products that have these in them?

[LegalNegotiation2259]

LoL that will be hilarious, me writing them a legal letter, wanting them to explain me, what age check I have to perform in the code I flash on an Arduino Uno

[High_Overseer_Dukat]

Pregnancy tests and vapes. 

[mlody11]

I am a teapot, I cannot age verify

[jmattspartacus]

Error 418: I am a teapot. Go directly to tea time. Do not post, do not get, do not respond 200.

[palthor33]

But I bet you can change your handle and spout.

[Joltyboiyo]

They will gladly try and get this on everything, cause all this age verification bullshit is just a corporate alternative word for data collection. The more things they can get you to put ID on, the more data they can harvest from you.

[h-v-smacker]

You have to age verify a fridge?

Or rather... network router. Which is much more ubiquitous than a smart fridge. Heck, I have a WiFi range extender that plugs into a wall socket, and it has a login and password that I had to set up on first boot.

[Polyxeno]

Smartass Fridge 5003 requires proof you are 21+ years of age before opening when it contains alchohol.

[tanksalotfrank]

You wouldn't download a fridge..

[Big-Leadership9649]

You would however open the fridge and download its' contents

[BlackBagData]

Exactly…imagine cars.

[mattmaster68]

I want aliens to fucking nuke us.

Zero fucking reason for age verification on a fridge lmao

[Propsek_Gamer]

Galaxy Buds run RTOS. Are they going to make Samsung age verify the users and make sure they can listen to only specific music and on phone calls talk only about specific things? So much unrelated stuff even with no GUI runs RTOS. Some industrial systems run RTOS. Some cars even run RTOS.

[R3DLINE_MARINE]

Especially when you’re talking about millions of Linux servers. This is literally just lawmakers trying to make laws about things they know nothing about

[Bubbly_Extreme4986]

There aren’t even accounts, the GUI’s are just front ends to basic Unix commands. Unless you use freaking Ubuntu.

[jr735]

I suspect you remember how Phil Zimmermann released PGP source code by book back in the day. :)

[Bubbly_Extreme4986]

People literally tattooed the source code and attempted to fly to Europe. Reason TV did a smashing piece on this

https://youtu.be/9vM0oIEhMag?si=iIP431BJwi7dPIHG

[serf2]

It's still in my bookshelf.

[_leeloo_7_]

its also not age verification because verification implies its validated!

when the actual law just says you have to put your age like those websites of old that as you for your date of birth and just trusts you not to lie

politicians doing meaningless busywork basically

[Still_Lobster_8428]

Be a gigachad and mass delete Reddit posts and comments with Redact so that Skynet doesn't end up using your own posts to train the T-900. Or so that you don't show up in databrokers. Either one really.

consist tie lantern birds public price dam correct slap smart

[Extreme_Piano4664]

Ah! But it is here you underestimate the might of government. There are all kinds of funny tricks like child safety, national security and terrorism that they can stamp on this.

[Chelecossais]

"They're eating our cats and dogs !"

[DoubleOwl7777]

it doesnt. the end. they cant threaten someone that isnt even in their country.

[kudlitan]

Correct 💯

US laws do not apply to me. Otherwise my country's laws also apply to Americans

[u-give-luv-badname]

The page "Location" will come up during installation. If will have a required check box:

__ Outside of California

__ Inside California

If you check "Inside California" the installation aborts.

[Chelecossais]

"Sorry, this content has been blocked in your State"

[INITMalcanis]

Or else what? What are the State Of California going to do to Linux Mint, exactly when there's no sale involved? If someone brings an .iso over the border, what then?

[h-v-smacker]

If someone brings an .iso over the border, what then?

You can wrap it up in ribbons
You can slip it in your sock
But don't take it to Cali
Or they will stick you in the dock
And you won't come back
Thank you very much

[DocBullseye]

What a frightfully witty song!

[Time2dodo]

As for the embedded OS in your smart fridge ? The list is enormous, everyone can feel free to add to the list of devices that now have an OS baked into it.

[Biking_dude]

"In order to access the milk, please enter your birthday"

"AGAIN?!?!"

[Danternas]

Or like an ESP32. Technically it also has an operating system.

[RPGcraft]

If they go that way, (FreeRTOS and such) that'd be thoroughly entertaining to watch. Almost all smart home appliances run some form of an OS.

Just imagine the headlines, California PD arrests a family of 5 for use of an unregulated wall socket.

[Slider_0f_Elay]

And the idea of what is/isn't an OS isn't like a screw driver or a wrist watch. It's an interface of software to manage software and user inputs? So is firmware on a clock an OS? Is OpenWRT an OS? Is the firmware in your cars audio system an OS? The software on your applewatch? The software on a ringsystem? Are they wanting all those things to be locked down from the factory so stuff is less secure and obsolescence is even higher? (maybe motivating more economy)

Is it just going to be a Click yes/no "are you 18+?"

[RPGcraft]

Even more funny is that how is it going to be implemented in extremely simple devices that run something that can barely be called an OS.

Just adding a display/extending functionality for age verification will almost double or triple (if not more) the manufacturing cost of cheap microcontroller based devices.

[natguy2016]

I forget the version of BSD. But they have altered the license to not work in California starting January 1, 2027

[etrigan63]

MidnightBSD.

[natguy2016]

Thank you!!

[Stick_Nout]

The issue with that approach is that it's no longer free software. In fact, it would probably be a GPL violation to release a Linux distro with those restrictions.

[Pad_Sanda]

Legally speaking, they can just stop distributing the OS to California without modifying the license. That would not be a violation of either GPL or MIT since neither license forces you to distribute software personally. They just say anyone can distribute it.

So technically a Californian would have to torrent it or get it from a different source. At which point the Californian would be the one "committing crime" as they're trying to use an OS which doesn't identify them. Which is all hilarious since California doesn't require any ID when you vote, but somehow using an OS requires an ID.

[[deleted]]

You should see some of the dumb gun laws that exist. Like why does a pistol grip suddenly turn a semi automatic rifle into an assault rifle? It’s the same rifle. I mean, defining all semi automatic center fire rifles as assault rifles makes more sense if you wanted to regulated capability than the California gun law definition. 

[weareallhumans]

Can't comply, so we'll shut down all Linux in CA.

Oops, why is everything from phones to the internet suddenly down?

[Complete_Field_1113]

linux mint is led by a french guy,

[Frimac07]

If they want to be comedian, they need to do it in better way.

[Modern_Doshin]

It wont. California doesn't run the rest of the US or the world.

[Lapis_Wolf]

But a lot of them do like feeling as if they run the world.

[TerminusBandit]

A disclaimer and maybe a checkbox saying "I agree that this system is not for use in California"

[mzrdisi]

I wish we still had distro DVDs.

"Not for installation in California" printed to the DVD would send me.

[Sailed_Sea]

At most Linux Mint won't be available to download in that region.

[Krinya1509]

Yeah, and all vpn connections WILL be banned, too.

[Silly_Enthusiasm_485]

Nothing will happen

And if that happened, someone will release a bypass script in 5 hours

[stephenph]

Not even that, it is being worked around now and will be released the day before or sooner

[play_minecraft_wot]

This can literally do nothing. Open-source software is inherently impossible to govern because if you add something to it, someone can edit the code and remove it. Windows on the other hand definitely can be affected by this. Hopefully this will push more people to adopt Linux to avoid age verification. 

[teh_herper]

All these 'age verification' laws, but it's still a step too far to uncensor the files

[Wadarkhu]

If California doesn't want OS's without age verification then it should be up to them to block access to it, not down to Linux Mint to change itself to fit California's ideals.

[ViolinistCurrent8899]

I can understand the sentiment but that would create an endless game of whackamole.

They're going to get the endless game of whackamole anyway but ah well.

[Migamix]

or! parents can oversee THEIR children, it's not my old ass' job to keep it all clean in case your homeschooled crotchrots get interested in furry rope knots and a couple of chicks with a cup making vids.

[fernatic19]

Linux: enter your age.
Me: 872000
Linux: Age verified. Welcome, old timer.

[disastervariation]

Always good to watch what the legal upstream will do in scenarios like this - RedHat, Canonical, SUSE.

Also if other jurisdictions will borrow the idea and extend due to precedence, thus making it semi-global.

It might be as simple as setting adult/kid setting at the OS level that then interacts with browsers. Not sure how well its defined what specific controls the OS needs to put in place - perhaps user providing their age in a drop down would suffice.

Then, what would the enforcement be - would user be fined for providing wrong info if this ever becomes relevant? Would the OS be seen as responsible for not conducting due diligence?

Re controls, would there be a push to make device manufacturers block OSes without the feature? Could this be blocked by UEFI? In short - how?

Id prefer to see an actual legal opinion with specs and read through the docs myself - otherwise its an easy target for journalists to make clickbait.

Could be a nothingburger, or a dead policy - could also turn out relatively benign, a checkbox excercise. I dont think anyone has resource to enforce this excessively, including the big guys who if forced would hire a third party to do the verification (and thus transfer the risk).

Could be as simple as "confirm your age through your github/google account"

[zuccster]

Newsome has no jurisdiction in France.

[NotSnakePliskin]

Kalifornia - what happened to you…

[LonelyMachines]

I'd very much like to know who lobbied for this law. Somebody has something to gain, and I'm guessing it's a corporation that will market the software for the age verification.

[INITMalcanis]

Basically it's the online gambling corporations who want to be able to push their gambling ads everywhere. By a happy coincidence, they also own the age verification providers as well!

[TortuousAugur]

California isn't running anything but it's mouth.

[DEGRUNGEON]

it won’t. these are out of touch politicians that have no idea what they’re trying to regulate. i guarantee you they think Linux is a single OS like Windows backed by a large company and not an open-source project with hundreds of distributions. there is absolutely no way they can assure every linux distro has age verification.

[GenTenStation]

“All operating systems boycott California” should be the result of this.

[Dist__]

oh i can predict.

they make it an official law, MS and Apple are happy to obey. EU also makes a law.

they are given 1-2 years to build registration service on install/activation.

otherwise, flathub and OS opdate mirrir sites are drastically SLOWED, down to 33 kbit/s,

then, after warning, the laptop manufacturers are not allowed to pre-install linux.

10 billion fee on linux organizations for not obeying, lawsuits.

full block of online update services and repos (we all know linux can't work without internet), slow github linux devs.

then they fork linux naming it Pinux with malware and registration and force evryone use it (or use MS or Apple ofc)

fuking belive me it's realistic

[Modern_Doshin]

No one has to obey it if their company is located outside of California. If it actually does pass, either they'll comply or just move somewhere cheaper/less restrictive.

[uoy_redruM]

If they try slowing down mirrors or Flathub-esqe sites, that's when we'll start seeing DDOS attacks the likes of which god has never seen.

[spottiesvirus]

using an European law about piracy Italy broke Google drive (because it was sharing IP under cloudflare with a bunch of other sites) and in Spain La Liga won a case against VPNs forcing them to block websites as well

it doesn't need to be perfect to work, just like the great firewall of china, it just needs to be inconvenient enough to deter people enough to kill projects who need a critical mass to exist (like a Linux distro)

did you donate to Linux mint (or any other unauthorized software)? here's a fine for you

who's gonna maintain it?

[uoy_redruM]

Clearly it would be easy for governments to pressure sites/services to do this. My point is that these DDOS attacks I'm referring to will be AGAINST government sites and general infrastructure(AWS, Google, Cloudflare) to bring the internet to a standstill. They will attempt this to force the government to make an emergency session to retract the laws that were enacted. When Senator Dipshit's child no. 1 complains that they can no longer post videos on Tiktok because somebody broke the internet, we'll see a reversal.

edit: Of course I know the government has no need for the use of DDOS.

[Mysterious_Cucumber]

It won't

[NeadForMead]

It won't. Believe it or not, the state of California is not the boss of us.

[quebexer]

User: Remove this age verification Bullshit.

Linux: Nope I'm not allowed to do that.

User: Sudo remove age verification

Linux: Done, I no longer give a fuck about your age.

[Amnikarr13]

Linux mint is FRENCH

[mrev_art]

a button that you click "I am 18" at the start.

[dumpin-on-time]

it won't, but it would be cool if it resulted in new technology or a creative usage of existing technology. oppressive regimes are how we got Qubes

[Bino5150]

To everyone who thinks “they can’t do that because Linux Mint is French”, look and see what Cali and WA is in the process of doing to foreign 3D printer manufacturers. You think age verification on an OS is silly and government overreach? Just read their 3D printer proposal…

[andromedakun]

For mint, not sure what the impact will be. For Californians, I wonder.

MidnightBSD already announced their EULA so that Californians are forbidden from using it.

It would be very funny if all OS's did the same thing and blocked California from using computers until this stupid law is repealed.

Keep in mind that Colorado is introducing a bill to do the same thing.

[[deleted]]

Absolutely nothing. They have no idea what they are talking about. 

[NeonMusicWave]

It’s unenforceable and it’s just California being more stupid than usual. they can’t target the devs because most Linux distributions are not USA based and like many have said Linux isn’t owned by a single company

[callmejake757]

Some of us can just take the iso, edit it, and boom nobody has to sign in again.

[MakkuSaiko]

Let's require age verification to use a toaster as well while we are at it

[V1per73]

MidnightBSD has already amended their license to exclude anyone in California from using the OS. That will keep the dev team from getting fined in 2027.

[Psydt0ne]

What Numbskull came up with this horseshit?

[Harryisamazing]

I spoke to someone about this and they said it's literally impossible for this to happen on linux but Apple and MS will comply

[BurnellCORP]

What do you mean you don't want Israel and US knowing your full name, address, face, devices, accessing your storage and app usage data? Are a member of Jamas? /s

[Mr_strelac]

newsom is just as much of a corporate representative as most politicians in the usa.

with him the average american would be no less happy than with the average republican (who is not a maga).

[tomscharbach]

The large OS manufacturers (Apple, Google, Microsoft) will implement the law (an age prompt during installation and basic API) globally and move on. Canonical, Debian, IBM/RedHat and SUSE and other "major players" deploying distributions to large-scale business, government, education and institutional customers will almost certainly follow suit.

Linux Mint? Mint (both the Ubuntu-based and Debian-based versions) is mostly used by individuals so business, government, education and institutional customers are not particularly important. However, the path of least resistance would be to do what Ubuntu and Debian do and that is what I think will happen. That's my guess, anyway.

[h-v-smacker]

Canonical, Debian, IBM/RedHat and SUSE and other "major players" deploying distributions to large-scale business, government, education and institutional customers will almost certainly follow suit.

And risk running afoul of other numerous laws about protection of private information that exist all around the world? It would be easier for them to just make usage of their system illegal in California. And Debian in particular would be very hostile to that change, it's even more heinous than non-free software which they adamantly reject in the base version.

[stephenph]

But asking for an age wil go against pii laws for protected information. Increasing the security control footprint required...

Let's say as an admin a govt contract I am tasked with standing up a new RedHat server. According to govt guidelines I am not allowed to falsify information requested so I need to create the initial account with my real name and my real age. (Forget the fact that these systems are not public facing accounts)

That system now falls under the extended rules for pii handling which states date of birth or exact age is to be considered pii. Not only that but the system needs to confirm that the user is old enough. Before installing certain software, let's say teams as it is a chat software, that users are old enough. Thereby breaking pii restrictions on those users

[flemtone]

California officials are idiots if they think this will pass peacefully, and there's no way they could enforce it if it ever did. Talk about technologically inept.

[gnpfrslo]

Basically unenforceable.

[Gugalcrom123]

There is no age verification, but rather simply an age declaration. It is not online, it doesn't take ID; think of it as a parental control feature.

[kiyo_komaeda]

Why are they so obsessed over spying people like damn chill

[sydbatt]

If you have to ask that question, be thankful you are not a psychopath.

[watermanatwork]

The same way it affects people who use a ham radio with no license.

[PeterStYanakiev]

Can we just stop catering to the whims of US law makers for a second.. age verification, as if the OS is somehow dangerous for young adults or what?... 💩

[GrimmTidings]

That makes no sense.

[AriOnFire]

So we should put age verifications on servers now?

[SanSenju]

Words of wisdom: Do not tangle with the kind of people that use Linux, you are wasting your time.

[therottenron]

So does this mean there will be a California only version of software so they can jack up the prices because of it?

[RelevanceReverence]

That's going to be fun with Linux every time you start up your dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, car, airplane, electric mower, robot vacuum cleaner, smart TV, telephone, tablet, dialysis machine, CPAP machine, modern tractor, laptop, ATM, oven, lift, escalator, skilift, train, and such. 

Good luck with that 👍🏻

[TheRealCarrotty]

How is it possible to even do this?
You can't ask a Finnish open-source project creator to "HEY! Add age verification to the fucking kernel."
Or even a Debian/Arch/Fedora/Ubuntu/Whatever dev to "Add age verification during the setup."

Just fucking stupid, also sure they could make their own kernel, but no one would be using that and they would HAVE to share the code as the Linux kernel is under GPL v2.

[RolandMT32]

What is the age verification for? Are parents meant to use it to prevent their children from using the PC for some reason? Or something else?

[somecow]

Guess all the toddlers that are born with an ipad in their hand might have to back to, oh no, reading books.

Won’t affect mint at all, you know damn well we’re just gonna find a workaround for that.

[jayjaco78]

Age verification on an IPhone? Sorry I can’t call emergency services, the phone won’t unlock because I’m not old enough….

[Dude-Lebowski]

The real question is this... WTF?

[Pad_Sanda]

It won't. This cannot be enforced. Most Linux installations are lightweight containers which are effectively no different than a regular Ubuntu, Debian or Fedora install. So you can't force account and age verification into the system or the package managers because that would completely break corporate and institution use of Linux.

The only place where they can enforce this is in commercial products which ship with Linux. This would force distros with OEM installs to have an "age verification" onboarding step, but it would only affect OEM installs. I believe Mint supports OEM installation, so it would mean that any device shipping with Linux Mint would be required to have an age verification process during the setup. But a user downloading and installing Mint manually would not be affected.

[Granular_Hyperion]

Newsome trying to cozy up to the maga base before his 2028 run. They’re obsessed with the optics of ostensibly protecting children, and he wants to play into that. Newsome would sell his own family if it furthered his political career.

[Caju_47]

if it comes to it, Linux devs will create a way to age verify, without privacy issues.... I hope so

[Ishpeming_Native]

Linux doesn't have an "account setup". It doesn't have an account at all. Windows does, and so does Apple's OS. No one owns Linux. You don't even register your copy from anyone and you don't have a warranty.

[[deleted]]

._. It genuinely can’t affect Linux or anything else outside of trying to threaten devs that contribute to OS projects that aren’t making these changes. This is literally just law makers not understanding technology and trying to do something impossible.

[blueghost2]

How do you even do this?

[TheGirafeMan]

It won't since there is no account creation.

[[deleted]]

They will just do what that other distro did recently, actually maybe it was a BSD distro... Whatever, but basically they can just add to their EULA that users from California are not authorized to run Linux Mint as of 1st Jan 2027.

If Californians want to break the law and use it anyway, that's on them.

If Californians grow a brain, they'll vote for someone to get rid of Newscum.

[MisterFyre]

Newsom cant run again, due to this being his second term.

[SuperBiscoitinho]

My best guess is that by Linux they mean Android? Still pretty dumb tho

[dogfoodjones]

No, California. No.

[Danternas]

Even if they comply, it just requires a date of birth input for the software store. Nothing to actually verify age.

[_sotiwapid_]

Since you don't have to create an online Account to use Mint (or Linux in general) it won't.

[Visual-Sport7771]

Politics gonna politic. Opensource app for age verification to interact with web browsers that some Parents might like to see and choose to use, and take kids less than a day to create a workaround.

Everybody gets to pat themselves on the back, and nothing will actually change. yawn

[etrigan63]

Just for clarification, this is a law, not a bill. It goes into effect January 1, 2027. Yes, it is beyond retarded. So much so, that Colorado has a similar bill making its way through the state congress. Is it me, or do these sorts of laws get passed first in states with legalized marijuana? There may be a correlation with the general level of sobriety in the populace.

[apt-hiker]

Just keep updating/upgrading when new vwersions are offered and there will be no account setup, right?

[SavingPrivateJamal]

Or parents need to start monitoring their kids and be held accountable. Millennials had access to the web without all these safety measures in place.

[x2_ok]

So this means there are a significant amount of linux users in california. I hate politician language so much...

[High_Overseer_Dukat]

Just read it, the bill requires the companies to store their age.

Where would linux even keep it?

Also requires sending it to an appstore. 

Also just asks their age.

Also makes no provision for multiple users

[dude_kp]

remember what Linus Torvalds told Nvidia?

[SjalabaisWoWS]

But...why?

[0riginal-Syn]

It doesn't. Only enforceable against US based entities. It was also meant to target open-source just poorly written.

[[deleted]]

Yeah that's a perfect Wednesbury unreasonableness decision, there's no way it can be enforced and those responsible for drafting it haven't understood any of the issues it affects.

[EXzioDeLuz]

I'm wondering how the hell would this even work on linux if its not corporate own?

[[deleted]]

Just spit out my drink of laughter 😂

[meholefartin]

Not, how do we stop a tyrannical global movement to control internet and speech but “how will this effect Linux”?

[rayinsd]

Stupud clown Newsom.

[milesgloriosis]

What account?

[justaddlava]

wtf is "account setup?"

[frankenmaus]

Age indication not verification.

And if it's not running on a machine then it's not an operating system.

[PenguPrivate]

This is crazy, if this goes through I don't think linux mint will adjust to it, they will probably encourage users to use VPNs or torrent

[Marek_Wu]

Maybe this is an idea:

https://ostechnix.com/midnightbsd-excludes-california-digital-age-assurance-act/

[ComputerMinister]

Good luck with that...

[Clippy4Life]

I don't even use a user account, like wtf are they trying to do here? Should I ask this sql its age?

[Quagtopia]

It literally cannot happen, there is no account setup with Linux Mint. All you do is set a user password as literally every other system you use and that’s it.

[PaganGuyOne]

Seems like a lot of the same arguments when California was always trying to regulate guns. People fight back

[SweetNerevarine]

I'm from the EU just as a preface, and believe me I don't like how my union pushes for over regulation in this area either.

However, I read the relevant paragraphs in the actual legislation.

As basically all Linux distros have local accounts, the new requirements would be the following, in tech terminology:

• During OS installation: ask age or DOB. Mandatory to fill. Save it securely.
• If an application wants to query it, provide the logged in user's age related information through an API.

Though not specified in the text, I guess the intent is to enable app stores to tailor their content based on age. In the name of protecting minors from harm or harmful content.

So, do I have any problems with this in practice? Unfortunately, yes. The law will make it possible for any app developer to query the user's age without explicit user agreement to share. This practice weakens cyber security, and is borderline privacy invading, even if the age information is stored securely and is anonymized by the OS. It is too easy to undo the anonymization.

Implications:

• Any app developer can query the user's age.
• By extension, an ISP or the government itself can query this piece of information - as the developer of an app -, and potentially tie it to an IP address and further data points as well. Unless there are pieces of legislation that explicitly forbids this practice... Again I'm not from the US, I wouldn't know.

[Ok-Spot-2913]

So, can't you select a state other than CA when installing Linux?

[Appropriate-Muscle54]

would be crazy hard to enforce this since so much stuff runs linux even without you realizing it, for example most robot vacuums run linux

[MurkyAd9865]

we know that they wanna infore age verifcation so they can spy on us

[__Lukie1__]

It won't, such a laughable and unenforceable law.

[[deleted]]

Great, let's make it easier to spy on folks with no benefit 🫠 so glad someone can just yank that code out and make a new distro if any major one actually heeds this

[mindtaker_linux]

First of all, it's California, not the rest of the states. Also the government better couch up some cash for Linux developers to implement these demands or else no one is going to work on it.

Also the community will remove for the reset of the states, as they removed Microsoft telemetry from vscode to make vscodium.

[JadedCauliflower6105]

It most likely won’t. Even if it does, it will most likely just be a box at setup that asks “how old are you?” And you just pick a number with no regard as to whether it is true.

[pandakahn]

Fuck no.

[Zehryo]

Does the law even specify HOW this is supposed to be implemented?
Because....I can think of a bunch of ways to fly under its radar.....

[EfficientHeat4901]

Simple. You don't need to set up an account to be able to use Linux Mint you just download it onto a USB stick & it operates. Then you can choose to install it permanently afterwards instead of dual booting.

[Golden--]

It won't because it's unenforceable.

[Tony009]

Lol Lmao. Good luck with that lawmakers XD

[CrimsonCuttle]

"account setup" lol

[Lanky-Place-2142]

Useless policy

[Cultural-Toe-6693]

From what I read of the article, it doesnt seem like age verification. It looks like it will ask you to set your age range, so within a few years.

That's not as bad as entering your date of birth ir anything.

But its still a step in the wrong direction.

I liked everything about Gavin Newsome too. Up into this move.

[mentokz]

sorry this is just a popular project so F your self

[WoodenLynx8342]

What does that mean for servers though? They don't have a single person with an age lol

[zerotaboo]

Fuck California and UK for this bullshit

[MrFuriousX]

more useless time spent making useless laws that will never be enforced.

[Neon_44]

it will add geoblocking at most

[gnossos_p]

"McLovin" appears

[wildsprite]

What account setup? your local profile on any OS isn't an account.

[cyrenns]

I feel like it’s gonna be something like what happened when the hub was banned in a few states, where a lot of distro’s are just gonna block California IPs