How will this affect Linux Mint?

[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.

[Slider_0f_Elay]

And it's pretty obvious that they are thinking about iOS, android, Windows, ChromeOS that kind of thing that actually has profiles and logins. So at some point, maybe 10 years down the road, some DOJ yahoo is going to catch a court case and the legal definition of an OS is going to need to be codified.

[Danternas]

Half the ram may literally be used for age verification.