Thomas KumlehnMar 6
nixCraft ๐Ÿง
Damn ๐Ÿ˜ฑ imaging not being able to download your OS because of where you live right now ...
Mar 6 at 8:25amWeb
Show threadKlaus FrankMar 6

@nixCraft

And this bullshit is because of #ageverification garbage regulation too...

Show threadPenguinTrinity Mar 6

@agowa338
Thats basically legislator's and attorney generals seeking to control human behaviour. The #butthechildren argument is just a skape goat to implement the necessary legislature to collect the necessary data.

Its always a question of data, legislation, cost and time.

This is the cost-effective way of collecting the necessary data in a relatively short amount of time. Later its just a question of extending the legislation.
@nixCraft

Show threadKlaus FrankMar 6

@penguintrinity @nixCraft

We know, you're preaching to the choir.

Show threadHenrik, Love ProMar 6

@nixCraft

And there are all sorts of operating systems, ranging from desktops to doorbells, so how is that even possible. ๐Ÿ˜„

Show threadTor Iver WilhelmsenMar 6
@henrik @nixCraft Imagine if every user of an ATM or a parking payment machine had to enter their birthdate, or have to scan their IDโ€ฆ
Show threadpunIssuerMar 6
@toriver @henrik @nixCraft afaik you can't access the internet with these
Show threadTor Iver WilhelmsenMar 6
@punissuer @henrik @nixCraft Well, if that restriction is in the law, and it is less broad than it sounded at firstโ€ฆ
Show threadpunIssuerMar 6
@toriver @henrik @nixCraft I haven't read the law, but it the point is to block inappropriate content, then what's the point is you can't access anything at all? And the ATM already knows *who* you are
Show threadWind (Vฤ“jลก)Mar 6
@henrik @nixCraft I was thinking the same thing. I bet every californian has OS in every home appliance.
Show threadpunIssuerMar 6
@WindOfChange @henrik @nixCraft at least devices that let you access the internet, eg. smart TVs
Show threadNAMar 6
@henrik @nixCraft Wait, can we sue Amazon for not complying!?
Show threadProstorova Anomalija Mar 6
@nixCraft
Dystopian California.
I hope Californians know how to use torrents.
Show threadAroop RoelofsMar 6

@Sekerias inb4 the use of torrent clients will come with age verification too.
Cus ya know, gotta protect those innocent children from torrenting pr0n...

@nixCraft

Show threadProstorova Anomalija Mar 6

@finlaydag33k

The more cannibals are in power, the more they want to protect children.
The best protection for children is put a bullet in the head of those creatures who write these laws and eat children on their private islands.

@nixCraft

Show threadFreekyMageMar 6
@nixCraft watched this video yesterday on how different distros are responding. https://youtu.be/bfj0wzclY0M
Linux Distros Respond to Age Verification..

YouTube
Show threadBoloMKXXVIIIMar 6
@freekymage @nixCraft
How would "live" distros be affected? If the OS is running off of a flash drive, not installed, and no user account is created, are they exempt? If so, it blows a big hole in the effectiveness of this law. Little Billy can just boot off a flash drive and watch his p0rn.
Show threadFreekyMageMar 6
@BoloMKXXVIII @nixCraft that question is exactly why lawyers are getting involved. Don't forget that different places will have variations on this law, so even if your loophole works in 1 place it might not work in another.
Show threadpunIssuerMar 6
@BoloMKXXVIII @freekymage @nixCraft IANAL, but I think exactly the same as any os that doesn't care about age verification (yet).
"Evidence" of wrongdoing would probably primarily be server logs either way - no one is stopping you from reinstalling or restoring an earlier snapshot of an installed os
Show threadSimranMar 6
@nixCraft "We couldn't deliver your parcel because the driver failed the age verification at the doorbell" ๐Ÿ˜†
Show threadShaadraMar 6

@nixCraft

This is horrendous.

Show threadHenrik PauliMar 6
@nixCraft The world has gone completely nuts.
Show threadKerplunkMar 6

@nixCraft https://

Another prime example of

What the liars, bullshitters and maga call land of the free.....

files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/181/268/637/769/310/original/82d1d9cbd44824de.png

Show threadFeng GaoMar 6
@nixCraft VPN
Show threadGryMar 6
@nixCraft it's important to protect kids from open source!
Show threadBenoit PouletMar 6

@nixCraft

US people are so funny ๐Ÿ˜‚

Show threadcontrasocialMar 6

@poulet_benoit @nixCraft

True, but the EU and UK are attempting to do the same bs. People in general are pretty stupid.

Show threadAngieMar 6

@nixCraft

And California of all places.

Show threadMelroy van den BergMar 6
@nixCraft fk age verification
Show threadlil5 ๐Ÿšฒ ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ โ˜ญMar 6
@nixCraft @janvlug โ€œcheck out FOSS torrentsโ€ ๐Ÿ˜‚ Torrent is the best way to download Linux ISOโ€™s
Show threadBart Veldhuizen ๐Ÿš€Mar 6
@nixCraft That's not 100% accurate - they're showing a warning but I don't think they're actively blocking anything? So it's more like the typical American legal bullcrap.
Show threadElena Rossini โ‚Mar 6
@nixCraft is this real? ๐Ÿ˜ณ๐Ÿ˜ฑ
Show threadJackMar 6
@nixCraft@mastodon.social Looks like: https://natlawreview.com/article/california-introduces-new-age-verification-requirements-software-applications
California Introduces New Age Verification Requirements for Software Applications

On October 13, 2025, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law the Digital Age Assurance Act (AB-1043) (the โ€œActโ€), which introduces new re

National Law Review
Show threadElena Rossini โ‚Mar 6
@knapjack ๐Ÿ˜ฑ
Show threadcontrasocialMar 6

@knapjack @_elena @nixCraft

And Newsom actually thinks he's going to be president in 2028, such a deluded fool.

Show threadElena Rossini โ‚Mar 6
@contrasocial @knapjack @nixCraft it's never gonna happen, given his shenanigans of the past few years, sigh
Show threadSpiritMar 6
@knapjack @_elena @nixCraft we are so fucked.
Show threadGerrit ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡บ๐ŸŒ๐Ÿ‰๐Ÿ”ปMar 6

@_elena @nixCraft

Yep. It is real. ๐Ÿ˜ž๐Ÿ˜ž๐Ÿ˜ž

https://www.tomshardware.com/software/operating-systems/california-introduces-age-verification-law

California introduces age verification law for all operating systems, including Linux and SteamOS โ€” user age verified during OS account setup

AB 1043 also requires OS providers to pipe a real-time age checker to every app developer who requests it.

Tom's Hardware
Show threadGerrit ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡บ๐ŸŒ๐Ÿ‰๐Ÿ”ปMar 6

@_elena @nixCraft

And this is going to get progressively worse. "Democratic" governments the world over, who are rapidly losing the confidence of their populations, are discovering age-gating as the dreamed of prybar to insert authoritarian control into every nook and cranny of all the devices and networks we use to communicate with each other.

Because, think of the kids! Yeah, well, if you really want to think about kids then maybe the world's adults should make some better life decisions.

Show threadLuca SironiMar 6

@_elena @nixCraft

Theoretically yes, that's exactly what that stupid California law says.

Windows, macOS, Linuxโ€”all operating systems.

It'll be interesting to see how they think this could ever be implemented in practice.

After smartphones, they're trying to screw up computers too.

Better to take care of our hardware

Show threadElena Rossini โ‚Mar 6
@luca Im shocked this is coming from California! Texas or Alabama or Georgia, ok, but California?!? Nothing more dystopian than this
Show threadLuca SironiMar 6

@_elena

I have an idea to protect kids too.
You must prove your age to use the microwave oven, that's a dangerous tool

(Grazie commodore 64, ti ho voluto bene)

Show threadRaptor Mar 6
@_elena @luca I'm not, Silicon Valley has loads of money for lobbying, this is straight up a gift to them they pushed through while there was so much going on nobody would be looking. CA (especially LA county) may be pretty left leaning but the leadership is pretty much always centrist/corporatist dem, companies like Disney/Google/Apple/etc pretty much always get what they ask for. The only reason texas didn't do it first is because the companies that will make money from this aren't HQ there
Show threadThe DoctorMar 6
@raptor85 @_elena @luca Great way to kick F/OSS in the nads. They already harvested code to train LLMs, so why not burn what's left?
Show threadOld Fucking PunkMar 6
@_elena @luca Former POTUS Reagan came out of California, and he was the match that lit this fascist fire. California has a long history of right wing bullshit, which is why the Dead Kennedys wrote the song, California Uber Alles.
#DumbAllOver
Show threadLudwig VielfrassMar 6
@luca @_elena @nixCraft More controls on your operating system, AI businesses gobbling up hardware to make it extraordinarily expensive, age verification laws...it's hard to not equate this to a war on general computing for the masses that doesn't get rented from cloud companies, thoroughly penetrated by the surveillance state.
Show threadElena Rossini โ‚Mar 6
@lerxst @luca @nixCraft absolutely ๐Ÿ˜ญ
Show threadalephoto85    Mar 6
@_elena @nixCraft

https://www.midnightbsd.org/download/

Yes ๐Ÿ˜ข
MidnightBSD Download

Show threadMx. Alba Mar 6
@nixCraft

Actually, I think this provides a nice little loophole.

The states in question oblige vendors to implement ID checks in their product. They don't oblige users to use an OS that has built-in ID check...

So with this move, a resident of these states who downloads and installs MidnightBSD is not breaking their state's laws, they're only breaking MidnightBSD's Ts&Cs. And MidnightBSD isn't breaking those states' laws either, because it specifically excluded use in those states in their Ts&Cs.
Show threadJoshua LeungMar 6
@MxAlba @nixCraft
Even more tangential reading:
The legal notice on the download page serves as the age gate: "Do not download if you're a Valley Kid" ๐Ÿ˜œ
Show threadgwentlarryMar 6

@nixCraft

VPN?

Show threadslayer256Mar 6
@nixCraft This will blow over like all the covid laws and be deemed unlawful sooner rather than later if no one just jumps on board. Use a virtual machine to access social if you use em. For anything open source any programmer worth a lil salt can setup a fake age system and we all know kids learn fast
Show threadLudwig VielfrassMar 6
@slayer256 @nixCraft the point of these laws isn't to enforce them. It's something to add to your charges when they already want to target you. So feel free to ignore them, but if/when some LE agency decides you're next, that's just one more thing they'll tack on.
Show threadThe DoctorMar 6
@lerxst @slayer256 @nixCraft Or as a pretext law: We saw this, probable cause, used it to get a warrant.
Show threadslayer256Mar 7
@lerxst @nixCraft im def not a legal rep in anyway but the law reads that it has to harm a minor in order to get a fine so by that pretext wouldn't that void any charge or other wise if the user isn't a minor and has never let one use the system?