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Debian Project Leader Addresses New Age Verification Laws (linuxiac.com)
submitted 5 months ago by to c/linux@programming.dev
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Debian Project Leader Andreas Tille has addressed the ongoing debate over age-verification laws and their potential impact on free software operating systems. Long story short: he clarified that Debian has not adopted a position and is awaiting legal analysis.

In his latest “Bits from the DPL” message, Tille stated that the main question is whether operating systems and package distribution mechanisms might be required to provide age-related information to applications.

He noted that Debian and other projects are discussing the issue, and that Software in the Public Interest, a non-profit corporation founded to act as a fiscal sponsor for organizations that develop open-source software and hardware, has begun seeking legal guidance.

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[–] 3 points 5 months ago (11 children)

That does nothing to address the issue. What happens when the requirement is adopted elsewhere? Just keep excluding territories?

It seems like a simple fix, but this would play right into the hands of the corporate overlords. And California is not some tiny state.

If California were an independent nation, it would rank as the fourth largest economy in the world in nominal terms, behind Germany and ahead of Japan.

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  • [–] 7 points 5 months ago (4 children)

    Slap a label on it that it's not legal to use in those areas and move on while they fight it out legally. It's distributed via p2p anyway so if people in those places still want to use it they can. Absolutely no reason to bend on this.

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  • [–] 7 points 5 months ago (3 children)

    I agree that that solves some problems, 100%. But I've seen the downward slide of society take hard-fought civil rights away for several decades now. It's never a sudden process, it always starts small and then slowly grows.

    This is just the beginning, and it should be fought against with tooth and nail now, not just postponed so that we have to deal with this issue once the fascists already have some momentum.

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  • [–] 6 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    Which is why I included the bit about fighting it out legally.

    But I’ve seen the downward slide of society take hard-fought civil rights away for several decades now. It’s never a sudden process, it always starts small and then slowly grows.

    That's what happens by adding features that comply with these stupid laws. Step one is NOT doing that. People can still use the software even if it doesn't comply. What is the government going to do break into everyone's home and look at their computers?

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago*

    The CA one, at least from what I remember, doesn't even place any expectations on a user. Even if a user did use an OS that was noncompliant, they would not be violating any laws for doing so, from what I understand.

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  • [–] 4 points 5 months ago* (4 children)

    What happens to the California economy if they can't use Debian? Could it survive that?

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