JdeBPMar 1

#CaliforniaLaw is written by people who are either very ignorant or very incompetent.

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1043

They have assumed that all operating systems are like Microsoft Windows 11, Android, or iOS; and have written legislation for operating systems where people download glorified WWW client 'apps', from 'stores', which use 'accounts' that they have with vendors or Microsoft/Google/Apple.

But the legislation *as worded* *also* covers everything from #Debian and #Ubuntu through #Arch Linux and #MobaXTerm to #FreeBSD and #NetBSD and #OpenBSD; where users anonymously use package managers or ports systems to install applications, written by developers, on operating systems, from 'publicly available internet website' repositories.

There is no age field in the GECOS data in master.passwd(5) of course, and the reality is that no BSD or Linux-based operating system has this concept of apps/stores/accounts.

#MidnightBSD #FreeSoftware #Unix #California #USLaw #AgeVerification #GDPR

Bill Status - AB-1043 Age verification signals: software applications and online services.

AB 1043 Age verification signals: software applications and online services.

Show thread🇨🇦 Todd Bee <🖕🍊>Mar 1
@JdeBP Or, someone does know what they're doing, and they're trying to tear open Source *nix operating systems out of the hands of regular people so that "regulated" OSes will be the only ones that are legal to run and the masses will be monitored and controlled.
Show threadReallyCanadianFly

@toddalio @JdeBP

I was wondering if there might be an attempt to quash OSs like Linux as Win 11 keeps pushing away users. I don't know if this is it. It sounds like idiots who don't understand technology making policy again. However, we know corporate interests love to quash competition.

Mar 1 at 10:10pmWeb
Show threadJdeBPMar 2

@reallyflygreg @toddalio

I'm inclined to believe that it is indeed the people who don't understand technology (specifically: they think that everything works like their smart 'phone or Microsoft Windows 11 PC do) making policy; or that they did understand the technology and were just crap at drafting legislation such that it could distinguish the Microsoft Store, Google Play, the Apple App Store, et al. from #Ubuntu's package repository and #OpenBSD's ports tree.

And that distinguishing criterion is not #FreeSoftware. Given the aims, the #California legislators would want #FDroid to be required to hand over #AgeVerification data to free-software apps that F-Droid allows, that themselves want to impose age restrictions (on, say, showing certain content to minors) via the route of getting the account holder's age (bracket) information from the operating system via a 'signal' from the 'store'.

https://monitor.f-droid.org/anti-features

#FreeBSD #NetBSD #Debian #CaliforniaLaw #USLaw

anti-features - F-Droid Monitor