this post was submitted on 20 Mar 2026
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I'm pissed that systemd has made a change that paves the way for age verification, and is unwilling to go back on it. The change they added may not do much on its own, but I worry about future consequences.
Since it's rare for large organizations and projects to go back on things like this, I'm considering moving my systems over to non-systemd distros. At the very least, I hope a fork without the userdb birthDate variable hits the AUR.
Honestly, it's kind of a big nothing burger. As long as the distro that you use doesn't actively enforce the age verification, it's just a field that is there and that is really inconsequential.
That's the way I see it as well. Some distros are going to want to or be forced to comply with the laws, so offering the option seems sensible on systemd's part.
Systemd is not forcing distros that don't want to comply to use the field.
Slippery slope of compliance, magat