Mastodawn

Jordan Petridis 3d ago

@atoponce Being able to store the birthday of the user is useful metadata for the system to have in general. This is something that is needed to have regardless of any regulations. There are already other PII stored. Additionally there isn't any "Verification" mechanism in the PR you linked or proposed at all.

Jesus Christ read before spreading further misinformation. You also clearly haven't read the California legislation you are so worried about.

Travis E. Jones 3d ago

@alatiera @atoponce

Honest question from a non-programmer (although I did learn BASIC in high school and Pascal in college), how would the age of the user be useful metadata for the operating system? The reason I ask is that I view the OS as serving my interests as a user, and I can't think of a way I would benefit from having my birthdate stored by systemd. Thanks!

Aaron Toponce ⚛️

3d ago

@travisejones @alatiera It's likely in place so future software that requires a birthday from the system can retrieve it.

For example, some mature video game with adult elements could ask systemd for the birthday before letting the user play the game.

AFAIK, there are no hooks in place that verify that the supplied birth date matches their birth certificate, government issued ID, etc. So there's nothing stopping you from lying about your age to get around the video game rating.

3d ago

@atoponce @travisejones @alatiera "letting the user".
Right there is the entire fucking problem. I bought the machine. I am the owner. There is no "let" in this situation. There is only "fuck you, computer does whatever the fuck I tell it to do!". Anyone sticking "let" in to my computer can go fuck all the way off!

requiem 🦫3d ago

@hellomiakoda also, fuck that term "user".
@atoponce @alatiera

3d ago

@requiem @atoponce @alatiera "User" is whomever I let use my computer. I, on the other hand, am sudo. I am the computer's owner, and it shall bow before me, for I am it's god. That is how I feel about my machines with very few exceptions.

aloe 2d ago

i mean, you can say this about your car too, but you still have to share the road with other people

2d ago

@aloe @requiem @atoponce @alatiera Yes. That does not negate my point at all. I take a knife out of my kitchen drawer, I can cook you a nice meal with it, or I could stab you. Either way, the knife doesn't stop me or demand I verify anything. Not sure what sharing space with others have has to do with it. Who gets hurt and what consequences I face are entirely dependant on what I do with my things.

aloe 2d ago

well sure but roads have things like speed limits and traffic lights, most consumer passenger cars have their speed artificially capped below what the engine is capable of i think. im just saying i think an online computer will always have some socially imposed limitations, it's just a matter of who and how is constructing and implementing them

aloe 2d ago

like, there are social consequences if you do a murder with the knife. i think separating that from "limiting the capabilities of the tool" is mostly academic/semantic for this conversation. you could just rip this field out of your local systemd or never update past this version if your computer wasnt going online

@aloe @requiem @atoponce @alatiera You do realize the goals are A) make sure you never escape data collection and advertising, and B) prevent you from freely discussing our dictator(s), especially with large numbers of people... Right? Or are you oblivious to this?

"You could just" comply with fascism and not get jailed.

@aloe @requiem @atoponce @alatiera Before you claim I'm being hyperbolic or whatever...
Remember that horrid people never announce they are horrible. They spend a long time convincing you to accept little things that make it easier for them to do horrible things. They thrive on "you could just".

aloe 1d ago

i guess i wasnt clear enough before but im done with this convo :) youre arguing with stuff i didnt say and it has moved past the point of good faith and productivity, again tho no worries its tough doing this stuff on socmed, all the best to you

@aloe @requiem @atoponce @alatiera
"You could just" not update... till it's too outdated to use, or your PC broke and needs a reinstall or replacement, or someone not tech saavy enough needs to speak online, or you need to use a computer you're not in charge of, or updates become mandatory and automatic.

That's the important part. Bad law isn't alone. "You could just"... till the next bad law builds off that one and you can no longer "just".

@aloe @requiem @atoponce @alatiera What happens when a kid is being abused, but the computer or phone won't let them look up info about getting help and won't let them post about it because the computer knows they are 12, and sex and social media are no-nos?