Looking into systemd complying in advance with fascism ("age verification"), I was curious who is employing Lennart Poettering these days.

[be@floss.social]

Hackers in the 1990s:
We will write code so powerful that no government will be able to stop it! They can't outlaw code if it's printed in a book!

Hackers in 2026:
Some fascists in some parts of the world are making moves towards maybe threatening us, though nobody knows how their laws are supposed to work, let alone how to comply with their conflicting requirements. Anyway let's bend over backwards to comply in advance and lock threads so we don't have to be held accountable for our cowardice.

[willow@social.translunar.academy]

@be what are they supposed to do? let Linux be illegal in California? /notmad

[be@floss.social]

Kudos to System76 for seemingly being the only responsible ones trying to change the laws instead of complying in advance.

On the unfortunate need for an "age verification" API for legal compliance reasons in some U.S. states

(lists.freedesktop.org)

[delafin@climatejustice.social]

@be I'm only hustling for my own wind-down company. Sales are down, naps are up!

[be@floss.social]

@delafin Wasn't there someone who sold their sleep on the internet once upon a time?

[delafin@climatejustice.social]

@be commodification of sleep? sounds like the opposite of winding-down to me.

[ratsnakegames@mastodon.social]

@delafin @be look, buddy, i'm doing it anyway, if someone pays me for it, that's a win-win situation

[ratsnakegames@mastodon.social]

@delafin @be if you can't take your own naps, store bought is fine

[einsiedlerspiel@todon.nl]

@Willow @be unironically yes

[be@floss.social]

@einsiedlerspiel @Willow https://floss.social/@be/116257900057126266

[einsiedlerspiel@todon.nl]

@be @Willow

also this

Ageless Linux — Software for Humans of Indeterminate Age

(agelesslinux.org)

[be@floss.social]

Ageless Linux is actively resisting and tracking these laws, the companies lobbying for them, and how distros are responding:
https://agelesslinux.org

[be@floss.social]

@einsiedlerspiel @Willow oh this is great, thanks for sharing

[be@floss.social]

I am skeptical of Ageless Linux's argument that the motivation behind these laws is to make it impossible/expensive for FOSS operating systems to comply. I think the real motivation is to get ahead of the discourse about how Big Tech harms children. They want to claim that they're doing their part to protect children. That would be a great smokescreen to distract from efforts for regulations to make them change their tech to make it not harmful to anyone, regardless of age.

[be@floss.social]

https://tboteproject.com/ is tracking the dark money from Meta and the Heritage Foundation behind the age verification law astroturfing campaign.

[be@floss.social]

WARNING: This operating system contains GAY known to the State of California to trans the kids.

[be@floss.social]

@amillefolium Yep, the companies pushing these laws make their money by associating data produced by how people use the device to their identity. Making it illegal to be anonymous on the internet is very helpful for their surveillance, and thus profits.

[cryogenicice9@mastodon.online]

@Willow @be Yes, and then call for a raid on Meta's/X's/Google's datacentres to confirm they aren't running illegal OSes.

[fionasboots@lgbtqia.space]

@be Yeah fuck that! Am so glad I run a Linux system (on several devices in fact) that doesn't use systemd at all. Complying with fascism aside, WTAF why is an init system getting involved in this. Worse still, there did seem to be polite review comments suggesting this was premature ... then comments were turned off ... then Claude did a review and shortly after the thing got merged. Yeah, whole host of reasons not to use systemd then!

[octonion@tech.lgbt]

@be And the icing on the cake