New OS Age verifications¶
Note
this is a rant and i am very angry
If you have been living under a rock for the last few weeks, you may not know about the new law that both California and Colorado have been trying to pass, which, TL;DR:
forces all operating systems (Linux included) to implement an age declaration into their system, which then stores this data to send to applications.
While this alone is not too scary, it is absurd to assume that this is the end. I am confident. Within ~2 years they will be proposing that this check is too easy to circumvent and thus will implement a forced ID upload to some sloppy third-party company that is probably linked with a particularly horrible person. (See: Persona expose). https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/02/discord-and-persona-end-partnership-after-shady-uk-age-test-sparks-outcry/
As an open-source developer, I actively refuse to comply with any laws of this nature, and for this reason I will not be uploading my tools to any package manager, as these managers will most likely be forced to verify the user’s age bracket before allowing an installation.
This law is an obvious attempt to move the responsibility from dogshit platforms such as Instagram and Facebook onto the developer, as these developers don’t make the government any of that sweet, sweet profit.
In light of this news I will consider changing the hosting provider of my website to somewhere in Sweden or Switzerland.
To protect myself and any users attempting to install my tools, I will be implementing a custom Git server, so you shouldn’t have to worry about any third-party compliance either.
Never comply with these laws. If it gets to the point where I am forced to verify my age or identity, I will be leaving the internet for good. No exceptions.
I would heavily consider moving to a decentralized Linux distribution at this point, even when considering many are still complying (by force) with these laws.
At the end of the day, no entity can truly force what you can and can’t do on your own personal machine, on software you have installed.
I recommend you use Gentoo Linux due to the depth of customization and the fact you can literally just opt to not install almost any kernel feature you choose.
<3 - ccli
https://forums.whonix.org/t/whonix-adding-age-verification/22969
https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=464675
https://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?t=165947
https://itsfoss.com/news/distros-response-age-verification-laws/