Age checks creep into Linux as systemd gets a DOB field

https://lemmy.nz/post/35765225

Age checks creep into Linux as systemd gets a DOB field - Lemmy NZ

Lemmy

An init system does not need to know my personal details; it’s for starting programs in a specific order just fuck off with this shit. You don’t even have to capitulate to this stuff and these freaks are out here doing it preemptively like they expect a fucking pat on the head for being first in line to dive tongue first on to that boot.
tell me you have only a passing understanding of how modern linux is architected without telling me you have only a passing understanding of how modern linux is architected
Enlighten us then. Why would an operating system management tool need to know the age of its user?

because whilst systemd-initd is the part that everyone is generally aware of, that’s linked to systemd-logind so that processes can be started as different users… process init, session management, and user management are intertwined

they don’t have to be for sure - sysv init proves that - but in modern linux, they are and that comes with a load of benefits

deepwiki.com/…/6-user-and-session-management

User and Session Management | systemd/systemd | DeepWiki

This document covers systemd's user and session management system, implemented primarily through `systemd-logind`. This system manages user login sessions, tracks user state, handles seat assignments,

DeepWiki
I get that systemd also manages user data. I still fail to see how it needs that DoB.

because theyre being pragmatic… laws are starting to be introduced around the globe for parental controls - whatever that means in each jurisdiction. given that, there needs to be options available to people wanting to, or required to comply with said laws… the best place to do that is in a user record, as an optional field… extensible user records, in modern linux, are stored in systemd

it needs it in a similar manner to how it needs location, email, real name, etc: it doesn’t functionally need it, but it’s a place to store the metadata associated with a user such that other applications can use it

Honestly idk why people are so mad at the wrong people. They are doing this for concern of following the laws that are being passed in many jurisdictions. Some of which required “operating systems” to store date of birth that apps can access. What that means and what even is an OS is heavily up to debate.

Either way people need to call their lawmakers and be mad at those passing these laws.

If they’re pragmatic, they’d wait to confirm the requirement. Currently, they’re more on the proactively bootlicking side than pragmatic.

Location is needed to set timezone. As for real name and email, they’re both tied to history.

waiting for california would be us-centrism… california isn’t the only place in the world that exists; it was just the trigger