The way I expect this to go down is that Android/iOS/etc. will roll out an age bracket API call in the near future and tie that API call to some set of foundational permissions (e.g. internet access / file access / etc) - they have done this in the past, notably for API deprecation.

A minimally invasive implementation of this will likely only restrict apps running if the OS itself is being run in a kids-mode .

(But that isn't what the laws actually require)

It's a very, very short jump from "the law requires you to call this API to know a users age" to "the law requires you to call this API to backdoor the rng"

The precedent of the former makes me very uneasy.

I cannot in good conscious support software on any platform subject to a jurisdiction that mandates such calls.

(I also think making the existence of parental controls settings on an OS as mandatory is also a little iffy, but in a less catastrophic way)

Where I think this will end up:

Most commercial providers has been to slowly merge their mobile & desktop operating systems.

Android / ChromeOS are blending together
Mac / iOS are blending together

Both are very app store focused.

I suspect that eventually both platforms will at some point make the age bracket API call a global mandatory requirement.

Windows and Linux distros will likely trend towards a restricted mode for under-18 users, where such an API is available but not required.

@sarahjamielewis I share your concerns.

I doubt the GNU+Linux platform, overall, will comply unless every regional authority goes this way as well, and even then only distros with the means to actually do this will.

Now, it may effectively kill numerous distros, and I definitely view that as a bad thing.

All I can truly say with certainty, and I say this as a multi-decadal technology enthusiast, is that the world of technology isn't the fun, happy-go-lucky enthusiast space it used to be.