Birthdate field under discussion also in Arch Linux

https://lemmy.ca/post/62271746

Birthdate field under discussion also in Arch Linux - Lemmy.ca

> Add a required birth date prompt (YYYY-MM-DD) to the user creation flow, stored as a systemd userdb JSON drop-in at /etc/userdb/<user>.user on the target system. > > Motivation > > Recent age verification laws in California (AB-1043), Colorado (SB26-051), Brazil (Lei 15.211/2025), etc. require platforms to verify user age. Collecting birth date at install time ensures Arch Linux is compliant with these regulations. The pull-request discussion thread has been locked, just like it happened for the similar thread in Systemd, owing to the amount of negative comments…

I thought that the law hasn’t even passed yet? Why are distros so eager to show legislators that they’re on board for being regulated?

The California bill was approved and signed into law back in October:

…legislature.ca.gov/…/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_i…

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

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

But hasn’t taken effect yet:

This bill, beginning January 1, 2027, would require, […]