I disagree. While I totally understand that it is an optional feature that can enabled and enforced only by others, I am not happy that the developers of systemd rushed to include it into the JSON file with the user info. I would expect the developers to be a bit more resistant to requests by two US states and Brazil. Why are they making it so easy? I guess we will see a resurgence of systemd-free dirstros.
this post was submitted on 20 Mar 2026
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ohh now theyve gone and done it.
normies are gonna start hating on systremd for this. which will upset the og systemd haters for hating systemd for the wrong reasons, thereby frustrating the og systemd haters and helping them achieve new yet unmet levels of hate for systemd.
just a guess
Of all terrible proposals coming up in this period, I'm still more-or-less ok with this system because the administrator is still in full control to set whatever date they want, and the field is entirely optional.
They call it "age verification" in the aricle, but there's no 3rd party "verification" whatsoever. It's just a field for the user birth date saved in the user metadata. This is IMHO acceptable because it doesn't force anybody to provide IDs or personal information to some random shady company.
I think calling it "age verification" is a bit confusing and will make people unhappy by default, but might be a smart move to make it compliant with the new laws coming out in this period (the user age was "verified" by the system administrator, after all).
Yep. Its honestly mild as hell.
Essentially legislation that says:
- app stores have to have age categories to silo children, teens, and adults.
- OSes have to have a field to collect this data from users when they set up their login, so it can be sent to app stores via API.
Its just a standardized system that should have been done ages ago, but was not a priority for standards orgs, so none stepped up - so legislation appeared.
I strongly argue that it should only apply to commercial OSes and app stores though - as they're the ones that primarily cause issues these laws intent to address.
Linux and FOSS have been caught in the crossfire in a privacy and personal data battle they were not involved in.
The boiling pot goes up 1C, then another 1C
The legislation is entirely to allow Facebook to get away with harming minors, so I wouldn’t call it mild in any sense of the word.
Good points. It's like websites with an age-gate: technically they're trying to keep out users under a certain age (usually minors), but there's no verification.
But we all need to remember that "protecting the children" and clutching our pearls is still not a good reason to let world governments and giant corporations create laws, demand our papers, keep massive databases of our data, and tie our real-world identities to our online ones. It would be the end of anonymity online, it will get hacked, and they will use it for evil...
They don't call the systemd change "age verification" in the article.
In fact, they specifically make the point that it isn't.
They do use it in the title though (the title on this post was auto-generated from the article, I didn't pick it out.)
I agree with OP, it's not really age verification in the sense we've been seeing in the news, but it IS a step in the direction of following the letter of the law without intrusiveness.
Whatever the old farts will come with their stupid laws, SURPRISE MOTHERFUCKERS, it's Linux. It's always a sudo away from doing (or not) exactly what you (don't) want. I know. This is beyond their comprehension. Adding a field here is ok to me. Because if it ends up being used:
- I can not set it
- I can set it wrong
- I can be 1000y old
- I can have a different age for every request
- I can prevent the shit accessing it from accessing it
- I can uninstall the shit that is trying to access it
The only thing that will hurt from this are companies in CA, CO and wherever.
The average Linux user will not give a single fuck. I know I don't.
A lot of people born January the first, 1970.
SURPRISE MOTHERFUCKERS, it's Linux was my band in high school.
I need to ear it now
I like the idea of a system add-on that randomizes all user age responses with a different date that equals like 25-99years old (assuming 25 years meets the highest age for the applicable standards).
Not too dissimilar from a random MAC address generating feature.
And really, when was the last time some megacorp tried to access userdb on any machine?
And in a twisted way, this may be good. For instance, Microslop will probably spent millions to please their pedos overlords. They will require PC vendors to add cryptographic chips to ensure you cannot change your age, that has been verified after a background check required to buy Windows... We all know how product managers think (if you don't you're lucky, stay the fuck away)
The probable result: more and more people will switch to Linux, where they can be a 3000y old tree.
All of that is true, at least for now. But if you look at the work the systemd developers have been doing with remote attestation and end to end verification of computers, it starts to paint a grim picture. Web based integrity might not be that far off. But I really hope it doesn't get that bad
its age attestation, not age verification (saying it vs proving it). also, dont give systemd shit about this bc they are just covering their asses in case more restrictive laws go through.
I am kinda giving them shit for when someone pointed out that they're essentially storing PII completely unsecured and their response was "you should use app isolation anyway". That is not a good security model.
They're not even really covering their asses. They don't make an OS, they make a small but important art of many distros. They're providing a clean, standardized way for Linux distros from RedHat to Ageless to comply with the law if they choose to. Some distros will comply with the law to the letter, others will not comply out of spite. At least the ones that comply will do it in a standard way.
How to get age verification into linux? Easy, just tell Poettering that if he doesn't hurry up and do it first, some non-systemd approach might become the standard.
This isn't age verification. It's just adding the field into the user record so it can be used if your distro decides to collect that information.
This isn't about age verification, this is about him sabotaging linux instead of sabotaging encroachment by authoritarians in every single aspect of life. He didn't have to go and shove the entire boot down his throat, but here we are.
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/revoluciana-facing-fascism-sabotage
Sabotage sounds spicy. It sounds dangerous.
And yet, the underlying concept is simply this: inefficiency.
I told you last time, make every inch have its cost.
Resistance does not have to be violent, and that’s not something I’m advocating here. Resistance is the word no. Resistance is standing in place. Resistance is pushing.
Resistance is the albatross around the neck of your opposition. Resistance is the anchor that drags along the sea floor.
Here are some incredibly mundane but effective examples from the manual:
Make mistakes with purchasing travel tickets
Make engineering mistakes
Make long speeches and waste time
Act ignorant, or ask a lot of questions: if you’re not familiar with the concept of sea-lioning, you should really learn it
Take longer to do your work
Even if you’re terrified of doing more, this is simply a place to start.
You are someone and you have a responsibility to do something.
You cannot make it easier for the fascists to achieve their goals. You can’t do it today, and you can’t do it later if they claim authority. You must stand in the way of oppression.
I ain't reading all that fam
This isn’t about age verification, this is about him sabotaging linux
he isn't the one who submitted the PR to add the age verification field. he also isn't the one who merged the PR.
fucking who cares if it's not him, I'm talking about the assholes that did those things
I ain’t reading all that fam
good, keep not reading things on this site and go somewhere else without text
I hope you get better soon, and don't stroke out from all the stress you are clearly under from seeing the word "systemd".
KTHNXBAI~
Should this strategy become an RFC?
I see a lot of people freaking out about this, but adding this as an optional field was the right call.
This way, distros can choose for themselves whether or not they want to use it during account creation.
At least someone gets it.
It's kinda crazy how many people here claim to use linux or even actually use linux, but apparently don't know what the operating system does and what the system manager does.
It's not a feature, it's a bug.
There’s the first article!