Michael BrazdaMar 8

California basically made Linux Illegal.

California quietly passed a law that requires every operating system — including Linux, FreeBSD, and SteamOS — to implement mandatory age verification at account setup, with a real-time API that broadcasts your age bracket to every app that asks. The fines? Up to $7,500 per affected child per violation. For solo developers and open-source maintainers, that's not a slap on the wrist — that's a death sentence.

Assembly Bill 1043

https://youtu.be/mQLdDR-hJpc?si=Ki_xc-AnyBc3mZ20

A State Government Tried to Regulate Linux; It Went Exactly How You'd Expect.

YouTube
Show threadSkewray Research (ZF¬C)Mar 8
@omnipotens Clearly, you have not read the law. The law puts no requirements on the OS. It puts requirements on the OS *provider*.
Show threadMichael Brazda
@skewray I just heard about it and going off what she said in the video. That and what she read of the law. So what is a OS provider? Arch, Ubuntu, redhat, freebsd?
Mar 8 at 1:38amWeb
Show threadSkewray Research (ZF¬C)Mar 8
@omnipotens The law doesn't define it. Maybe Redhat? Debian and Canonical don't do business in California.
Show threadMichael BrazdaMar 8
@skewray No but the OS is used in California.
Show threadSkewray Research (ZF¬C)Mar 8
@omnipotens So? The law specifies what the provider must do, and the provider is not in California. If the provider doesn't follow the law, then the courts can ban the provider from doing business in California. Maybe they can even ban the sale of Debian? The horror!
Show threadMichael BrazdaMar 8
@skewray Oh I am sure they do. I know Canonical does. They sale support and other services and pretty sure they have customers in California.
Show threadSkewray Research (ZF¬C)Mar 8

@omnipotens Then maybe no more Ubuntu for me!

I suspect that the fascistaware will be a package the we can just block.

Show threadMichael BrazdaMar 8
@skewray probably more like the installer will ask if your in California then either install it or what would be better if a prompt saying you cannot install it and end the installation.