comments (10)

  • Excellent. From now on all kids will become linux natives. The decade of the linux desktop is coming!

    cm2187

  • We got into this mess because people wanted Facebook to have age verification, and MZ decided to push the responsibility on to OSes.

    The result looks to me like Facebook will ban access from non-approved OSes like Linux. Android will still be allowed, GrapheneOS probably not.

    red_admiral

  • 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

    huimang

  • Hope you all are excited for the most important parts of the internet to be completely unusable by default on Linux in a few years.

    some_random

  • Rest of the headline: "software distributed under the GPL, MIT, BSD, and Apache licenses are exempt"

    And then further into the text it's clarified that there also isn't a specific list of open licenses, as the terrible headline would have you believe, but instead a description of what is considered open

    With the caveat that I haven't read the actual legal text, this seems to be an eminently sensible law (it'd be better if it weren't needed, but here we are).

    In summary: not a Linux exemption, and not an exemption for a specific list of licenses either.

    gspr

  • This is a silly idea since California's law was actually well-thought-out. This will actually force social media to ban Linux clients, since the social media can't be compliant in that case. The operating system won't provide an age signal and the social media isn't allowed to ask for one on its own.

    I also want a permanent ban for anyone who calls the California law "age verification". It does not verify age. Period.

    inigyou

  • nobody is worried about about the arbitrarian aspects?

    What if you are interested in developing your own OS (a task that would have been monumental but may become trivial with LLMs in the future)?

    Why is the proper level the OS? Why not the browser or the hypervisor?

    Or perhaps manufacturer should remember your age? What if hardware is resold? We would need a hardware cadastre! A global hardware cadastre would unite all jurisdictions in a power bloc eventually. It starts with daily computer/laptop, then domotics, then digital door locks, and before you know it the bloc-global hardware cadastre becomes authoritative, and the reference for property ownership.

    Is there even a proper level?

    DoctorOetker

  • this bill fixes nothing. if you wanted to prevent harm from the internet you would start with proper privacy laws. but we all know why that will never happen

    rbbydotdev

  • So someone said something I think sarcastically that deserves a fresh comment.

    "From now on all kids will become linux natives. The decade of the linux desktop is coming!"

    I teach technology K-8. So I have a front row seat to observing how the next generation navigates this new digital wasteland. Due to the aggressive censorship and locked nature of their computing experience at school, think Go Guardian, they have become experts at using Google workspace to make art, comics, communicate with one another in class etc.

    My point, the next generation really will become adept at using Linux IF the system is so locked down that it's all that's available. Humans adapt to their environment, no matter how harsh.

    techteach00

  • Can someone the exemption for browser extensions and other contained software? My best guess is that the OS > Browser are reporting the age already, and the browser extensions will also use that "signal". Is this close enough?

    " third carve-out excludes storefronts distributing extensions or add-ons that run exclusively inside a host application, which takes browser extension stores out of scope."

    catlikesshrimp