• 🌞 Alexander Daychilde 🌞@lemmy.world
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    3 hours ago

    Well, this has the potential to positively impact a project I’m an active part of: Simutrans. Simutrans is FOSS, so if software became required to verify age, it would definitely cause issues for us. So this is potentially some good news.

    While I personally dislike age verification, I’m only a little worried about government overreach. Not totally unconcerned, mind, but I’m not so sure it’ll generally be quite as huge of a deal as some seem to think. But I don’t particularly like it.

    So to me, this is a potential positive step in pushing more to Linux/FOSS, which I think is generally a good thing. And if I’m right and age verification isn’t a huge deal, I still think this is good for that reason. And if some of the more worried folks are correct, then this potentially could be huge.

  • Evil_Incarnate@sopuli.xyz
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    7 hours ago

    I had a thought, this is done to reduce opposition to age verification. Most people who really care about privacy will use Linux and open source. So now a lot of those will not care about the age verification being thrust on Microsoft/Apple users because it doesn’t affect them.

    • village604@adultswim.fan
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      6 hours ago

      This is likely an attempt to kill Linux and to an extent FOSS.

      If sites require OS level age verification, then you can’t visit them if your OS doesn’t have it.

    • Telorand@reddthat.com
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      7 hours ago

      I’m sure that was an added benefit, but the market share of Linux users is not that big to give a political care about. This was likely a result of effective lobbying to the right people willing to listen to reason.

      ETA: I’m still against Age Verification, and throwing Linux a bone doesn’t change that.

    • Souvenir@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      8 hours ago

      Thanks to smart phones, this generation of kids is roughly as tech literate as boomers.

      I wouldn’t get your hopes up.

      • MagicShel@lemmy.zip
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        8 hours ago

        My 14yo is on Linux and has been troubleshooting the VR setup. Not going to say she knows Linux well or better than me, but motivation is the key.

  • Willy@sh.itjust.works
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    11 hours ago

    better but still bad. hope it blows up in their faces in ways worse than i can even imagine.

  • Peacepath@lemmy.world
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    11 hours ago

    So if you want to protect your kids from adult rated content, and you live in California, you need to buy a propietary system. Which make sure data collectors get to know all about them, and therefore doesn’t protect them… But am I the only one to see the commercial argument about to be used by MS, Apple, and others?

    • renegadespork@lemmy.jelliefrontier.net
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      3 hours ago

      So if you want to protect your kids from adult rated content, and you live in California, you need to buy a propietary system.

      That’s not at all what this means. You’ve always been free to add any additional parental controls to your kid’s devices, and that hasn’t changed.

      • Peacepath@lemmy.world
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        2 hours ago

        I know it is not the aim, I am concerned by how it may be used against free softwares… once more, I hope I am wrong.

        Also, I am concerned by the loss of freedom involved by this policy. And I don’t think it is made to protect any one, just to restrict and control.

    • 4am@lemmy.zip
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      9 hours ago

      Their websites and services will ask for age verification and Linux will not provide it.

      Therefore Linux systems will be barred from using online services. You will need a proprietary spyware OS in order to continue banking, citizen. Please drink a verification can to continue.

      • zurohki@aussie.zone
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        8 hours ago

        There’s nothing preventing Linux from giving online services a random age. Being exempt from the law just means we don’t have to implement real age verification.

        • pivot_root@lemmy.world
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          6 hours ago

          Nothing yet. Just give it a year or three before those age attestations given to websites have to be cryptographically signed by a corp.

    • mrnngglry@sh.itjust.works
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      10 hours ago

      There are some steps you can take in Linux but there are also steps you can take regardless of OS. Gnome has built in parental controls. I’m not sure about the other DEs but Gnome has something. Browsers have had controls for a long time.

      For those so inclined, you can set up network wide controls via a PiHole instance. If that’s too restrictive, you can pick and choose your kids’ devices to apply the restrictions. That’s what I do. It was super easy. I just update the block list regularly and test it.

      As parents, we need to have some awareness of what our kids do online. I’m all in favor of making it easier for parents to do that and better educating parents on what is available.

      The big guys might advertise their “new parental controls” but I doubt they will be advertising against Linux and open source. I’m sure Apple will have a version of this that is slightly more privacy respecting than Microsoft and maybe they’ll advertise that. They don’t care about Linux though. Not from a competitive standpoint, not yet.

      • Peacepath@lemmy.world
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        10 hours ago

        I hope you are right.

        Yet do you know if the thing implemented by California would allow criminals to make sure that a kid is really a kid before they attack? Because if that is the case, and even if it needs a hack to do so, it may do the opposit of its aim.

        • Telorand@reddthat.com
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          7 hours ago

          Regarding the hypothetical anti-Linux marketing, Linux is not that big of a market. It shows promising growth, but it’s not even 10% of the desktop market. Microsoft leads hand over fist, and Apple has its own giant cult.

          I don’t see them spending much effort to scare/entice people away from Linux, because they’re not really a threat. On top of that, Linux is its own deterrent, because people still don’t realize that opening a terminal is becoming more optional all the time.

          Until Linux breaks 10%, which is still less than half of Apple, I don’t think they’ll really care.

          • Peacepath@lemmy.world
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            4 hours ago

            USA murdered anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti far before they became a significant threat to the system. What ever tries to bring freedom is so scared by american authorities… But once more, hopefully you are right and I am just overly pessimistic.

            • Telorand@reddthat.com
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              4 hours ago

              I mean, we’re talking about a hobby project operating system, not people who support a different governing system (also, they were arrested and executed during another time in history when “radicals” and immigrants were particularly hated by those in power).

              I appreciate the concern, but I don’t think those stories are really that analogous. Nobody in the government is currently worried that a bunch of programmers are stoking the fires of rebellion, though if they start trying to say that “Linux is the operating system of antifa,” then we might need to start worrying.

              • Peacepath@lemmy.world
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                2 hours ago

                At some point they may need a new target, and we could be one. We are known by the general public while we are neither too much nor too powerful. And nobody would defend us beside those already targeted.

                • Telorand@reddthat.com
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                  42 minutes ago

                  Certainly, but we’re not there (yet). Fretting about all the possible negative possibilities might feel like preparation, but your time would be better spent finding ways to protect our digital sovereignty/privacy, which is a good thing regardless of the market or political conditions.

                • Telorand@reddthat.com
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                  3 hours ago

                  Yep, notice how I said “another time.” The parallel with current happenings is not lost on me.

  • CactusEcho@piefed.social
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    10 hours ago

    Why to specify the licenses? Why not all opensource software?

    If it’s public domain, is it required? If it’s EUPL, is it required?

  • Craccoon@lemmy.world
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    11 hours ago

    Geez. Windows is just getting less and less worth it, even for more mainstream consumers.

    • SnoopSqueak@lemmy.today
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      7 hours ago

      I don’t think anyone should be using Windows. It’s fascist spyware. Windows users don’t own their systems, Microsoft does.

  • northendtrooper@lemmy.ca
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    7 hours ago

    I’m under the belief the push for Linux to be exempted is because the amount of work that enterprise would have to retrofit their network, server and software applications would be too costly. So once again Capitalism favors itself over the consumer. Just here the consumer gets a taste of what a govt exemption feels like.

    • frongt@lemmy.zip
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      6 hours ago

      It’ll be a lot more difficult to update Windows servers for this. This doesn’t make any sense.