So BSD will have to implement age verification?
this post was submitted on 25 May 2026
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To late I already implemented my own linux age verification. Every time I log in I scan my face and my drivers license and email it to microsoft, google, meta and the CCP. Get owned privacel
The most pedophilic government in history desperately needs to know if your children are on the computer
... For reasons
California's government is not synonymous with the federal government.
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That took way too fucking long and is still extremely bad, with or without the Linux exemption
Install a router/device based content filter if you need to block children from accessing porn.
I mean, it's not going to work, because your kids are gonna have a smartphone, and they can go to their friend's house or wherever and they aren't gonna have content filters. And then you think "okay, I'll install software on my kid's viewing device to censor stuff", but these days, it's probably not terribly difficult to get ahold of an old phone/tablet/computer, if all you want to do with it is view pornography. Everything's got a web browser in it, and that's been the case for long enough that there's lots of disused hardware just sitting around that can browse the Web. I've thrown out a PSP, phones, tablets, countless computers...I suspect that someone's parents are probably willing to hand their old gear to their kid, and they float around. If you live in an isolated cabin in the Alaskan wilderness, maybe access to Web-capable devices is a barrier, but if your kid has friends, I suspect that it's not all that hard to get ahold of one device that they have that can browse the Web.
I mean, the realistic answer here is "you're not going to stop kids from viewing pornography if they sufficiently want to view it". One kid figures out how to do X, and it doesn't take long for word to get around.
EDIT: I just hit Amazon looking for an example.
https://www.amazon.com/HOTTABLET-Tablet-Android-Protective-Bluetooth/dp/B0F3XD9M6C
That's a $39 Android tablet that can browse the Web, has 3 GB of RAM, 32 GB of flash (plus an SD card slot). That's gonna be fine for browsing all the porn you want out there.
Like, it's pretty hard to keep someone from getting access to something like that. If there weren't a supply of old hardware floating around and new hardware wasn't this cheap, okay, but devices capable of browsing the Web are everywhere.
Considering things that are, or could be considered as, porn are everywhere from Reddit to Wikipedia, that doesn't fix the issue. But I agree, this is something for parents to deal with, not legislation.
It has nothing to do with children at all.
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This is like winning a small fight and continuing to march on to Moscow on the winter.
They’ll keep whittling rights down until everything you do is logged with your ID and is whitelisted for your consumption (and I mean whitelisted by rich white list of folks who have the power).
Anything LGBTQ will be blocked as controversial. And teaching they don’t like will be hidden. Was slavery bad? “Well, that’s controversial. The Europeans did nothing but civilize those savages don’t you know! And our wealth justifies the whole thing!”
So they're basically admitting that they don't need this for any computer since if you don't need it for open source why would you need it for closed source? You think kids don't know how to download and install linux? If I could do it with floppies and a book in the 90s then kids today can do it with a USB image and LLM assistance.
But in reality they'll probably just wait for a few years and try and push it through again like how they do with most shitty legislation.
Most kids don't know anything about computers these days. All they know are phones and tablets. Maybe this will get them to learn some basic computer skills.
You think kids don’t know how to download and install linux?
Yes. I think most kids don't know how to download linux. Just the same as I think most adults don't know how to do it. It doesn't matter if it's actually easy. That's not the question. The question is if people know how to do it.
Just the same I don't think they know how to download a non-google based browser.
It's not about difficulty. It's about desire to do so. I've heard pancakes are very easy to make. I have no desire to make pancakes. I'm 42 and have never made pancakes. I know there's eggs and flour, and a bowl. I'd have to learn. And to learn, I have to want to learn. And that all goes back to having desire to learn.
Necessity is the mother of innovation. And right now, 90% of the population do not give a damn about which os they use. They just call it "the facebook machine", and it's their cell phone.
Desktop across all platforms is dying. Windows 11 sucks. The ram costs are making everything unobtainable. The vast majority don't even know there is a different way. They just pull out their cell phone, check their tiktok and whatever else, and they go about their day.
At this point three people have desktops. Gamers, hobbyists, and people who need them for work.
So yeah. I DO think most people have zero clue that you can install linux from a usb. I also think most people have never heard of linux.
I wish I still knew where this comic was. It was two geologists, and they're discussing how the common man must surely know of the starter rocks that everybody knows. Then they start listing a bunch of crystals and rocks nobody has ever heard of before. And they say "oh, and obviously everybodys heard of (insert rock you've never heard of)" and his coworker says "well obviously".
Completely unaware that what seems common to them is completely unknown to everyone else. I really feel like about 30-50% of linux users have that mentality about PCs. They have a PC. They find Linux easy. Therefore it IS easy, and everybody on earth can use linux.
For some of you, you don't see the failure of that logic, while the rest of you are cringing right now.
I wish I still knew where this comic was.
You're probably thinking of an xkcd comic:
I wish I still knew where this comic was. It was two geologists, and they're discussing how the common man must surely know of the starter rocks that everybody knows.
You're thinking of XKCD 2501: Average Familiarity:
Necessity is the mother of invention. If you put enough roadblocks in the way these kids will learn same as we did. The only difference is they'll have an LLM and youtube videos to learn what they need instead of BBS, IRC, and books like we used. Kids know how to search the web. They might not know what they don't know but as soon as they search "how do i browse the web without my computer telling on me" and linux comes up then they'll fall down the rabbit hole. It's like you think these kids exist in bubbles.
You're placing a lot of "if"s in there, and treating them as if they're already true.
If you put enough roadblocks in the way these kids will learn same as we did.
Roadblocks to what? To using a pc? What makes you think kids WANT to use a PC at all? Is the roadblock getting to access the internet? Because there's no roadblocks for that. They have cell phones. Thats what they know the internet as, and they're accessing it just fine. Is the roadblock privacy? You think kids who take out their cell phones in public, and record them and their friends, and anyone walking by in the background, as they dance the newest trendy dance, to upload to tiktok, are worried about privacy?
And yes, I do think everyone lives in a bubble. Some people live in the same bubble. Most people live in multiple bubbles.
Did you know the Cleveland Cavaliers have lost the first 3 games in a 7 game series against the NY Knicks? Probably not. I live in Cleveland. It's all anybody in this bubble is talking about. I don't even like basketball, but right now everyone in the Cleveland sports bubble is losing their shit. I imagine outside of Cleveland nobody gives a shit.
Your bubble seems to be linux. You think linux is more prominant than it is. Right now desktop linux is at a 5% highest ever user base. It has nothing to do with people ditching windows. It has nothing to do with privacy concerns. It has everything to do with Valve making huge progress towards gaming on linux. People are taking their old "not good enough for windows" pcs, and suddenly their gaming lifespan covers more.
Because again. Nobody is saying linux is bad. What it does, it does well if you know what you're doing. What I'm saying is nobody cares about any of that until they have a desire to use a pc, that isn't windows. Most people are just ditching pcs completely because for watching youtube, and browsing facebook, and recording tiktoks, why do you need anything more than a low end cell phone? Why buy a pc during a time when prices are sky high, when they get what they need from the thing already in their pocket?
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On your last point: I think that's why Colorado should do a referendum. If we collect enough signatures the passed law goes to the ballot and the citizens can reject it. We can also collect signatures to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot to ban some of the most invasive age/identity verification going forward.
To be fair, there are important differences between open source and closed source software.
We neee more backlash on things.
Yes we ou.
If all they are asking for is an age, just put in ‘69’ and be done with it.
Proving your age is a different story. I’m not holding up my driver’s license during an OS install.
LOL - verification? Yeah, I got your verification right here! Here's your verification!
Someone will release a version with none of this nonsense and probably make a ton doing it.
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