this post was submitted on 22 Mar 2026
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    [–] Senal@programming.dev 3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

    TL;DR;

    • The field isn't the issue, the intent behind it (and the intentions behind the law that started it) are what (most) people are complaining about.
    • Pretending that people are complaining about the field itself in isolation as a means to not address the actual concern being raised is weaksauce.

    Let’s say the answer is “Guaranteed”, in 5 years age verification on OS level will be mandated by law in US. Will it become mandatory on all Linux installations? Of course not.

    If the law mandates OS level age verification, then, yes, it will become mandatory on all linux installations, in the situations where the law applies. there is no "of course not" about it.

    Will everybody adhere to this? almost certainly not, will it be illegal to not adhere to this yes it will.


    Anyone willing will just download Linux distro for any other country and use it.

    Agreed, still illegal though.


    Let’s say age verification will become mandatory in the whole fucking world and all official Linux distros will adopt it. Anyone willing will download “illegal” Linux distro and use it.

    Also agreed.


    The source code is there, making a version of Linux without age verification is and always will be easy.

    Easy is a leap, i'll agree to possible. Still illegal in the proposed scenario.


    The changes done by systemd are meaningless because they do no bring us any closer to real enforcement.

    I'm not disputing that the actual change itself is of much use in a verification sense, which i've said repeatedly.

    Technically , by definition, the addition of code that facilitates checks, no matter how small, is bringing us closer, but i know what you mean and I’ve already stated that i agree.

    The issue being raised is not the PR itself, but the intention behind it (and the intentions behind the law that started it) , as has been stated multiple times.


    Police knocking on people’s doors and checking their computers will bring real enforcement and what systemd does or doesn’t do has nothing to do with it.

    Also not true, that example doesn't really hold up , but to answer it directly :

    • If the field does exist and is incorrect (or empty), that's something they can try to admit as evidence.
    • If the implementation of the field exists and this particular build/compilation doesn't include it,that is also a kind of proof.
    • If the field never existed in the first place it's absence can't be used to prove anything.

    To be clear I’m not saying this to claim a position of "field is bad on it's own", i'm saying your example doesn't hold up.


    Getting mad at systemd for adding this field only shows people don’t understand what the real danger is.

    As i have said multiple times, most people aren't arguing against the field itself.

    You continuing to pretend they are mad at systemd for the field itself is telling.


    You’re conflating political issues with completely irrelevant technical changes.

    No, I’ve been clear that they are separate and that most aren't complaining about the technical change in isolation.

    I'll quote myself:

    This field is not age verification on it’s own.

    Nobody is pushing this single field change in isolation is a full age verification system, to pretend they are is disingenuous and reeks of bad faith.

    If you want to continue to pretend conflation so you don't have to actually address the concern being presented that says a lot.


    This is very simple. I really don’t know how people are confused by it. It’s like you are trying to distract us from the real problems on purpose.

    So, incorrect usage of a fallacy, moving goalposts, feigned ignorance , and now projection.

    Is there some sort of bingo card you're working from ?

    Anyway, I’ll assume bad faith at this point, as it's unlikely you hit that many checkboxes accidentally.

    On the offchance I’ll get a genuine answer, what is it that you think is the "real problem" here ?

    [–] ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

    So, incorrect usage of a fallacy, moving goalposts, feigned ignorance , and now projection.

    Claiming that something is a fallacy doesn't make it any less true. It's a very lazy way of arguing.

    The real problem is that some countries are actively trying to de-anonymize internet users. Not all countries accused of it are actually doing it, not all laws that people say will do it actually have this goal and not every technology that makes it possible will for sure be used with this purpose. Going on wild chases after some silly PRs in systemd or digital IDs is not helping anyone. It just serves as a distraction and makes fighting the real threats more difficult.

    [–] Senal@programming.dev 1 points 4 days ago (3 children)

    Claiming that something is a fallacy doesn’t make it any less true. It’s a very lazy way of arguing.

    I agree completely, i've seen an example of this recently :

    It’s just a stupid “slippery slope” fear mongering.

    I also have a list of examples of things that are not fallacies, just poor debate skills:

    • Incorrect usage of a fallacy
    • moving goalposts
    • feigned ignorance
    • projection

    If i had to pick one though i'd probably go with the Invincible ignorance fallacy


    The real problem is that some countries are actively trying to de-anonymize internet users. Not all countries accused of it are actually doing it, not all laws that people say will do it actually have this goal and not every technology that makes it possible will for sure be used with this purpose.

    100% agree that this is a big problem, it's not the only one, but a big one.

    I'm expecting it to work on a multiplicative curve, exponential ? geometric?

    All of the bits from various places will add up and continue to accumulate momentum towards the goal.

    Going on wild chases after some silly PRs in systemd or digital IDs is not helping anyone. It just serves as a distraction and makes fighting the real threats more difficult.

    Which is again, not the point and also incorrect.

    Highlighting this as another example of the continuous creep towards end goal while explaining the increasing encroachment is incredibly useful for getting more eyes on the bigger picture.

    because.....the issue isn't the PR , but the intent behind it.

    If it was just about the PR itself in isolation, i'd agree with you.

    If anything, you trying to shut down the discussion around this "silly" PR is doing more to harm the general increase in awareness.

    [–] ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

    https://lemmy.nz/post/35765225

    And more comments about systemd but 0 talk about the legislation. So far I don't see any confirmation for you theory that talking about systemd helps promote this issue and fight the legislation.

    [–] Senal@programming.dev 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

    Highlighting this as another example of the continuous creep towards end goal while explaining the increasing encroachment is incredibly useful for getting more eyes on the bigger picture.

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    edit: changed emphasis

    [–] ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 1 points 3 days ago

    I get your point but all I see is still just people talking about slippery slopes and what they think will come next in very general terms. With Chat Control for example the discussion was a lot more concrete. He had information about very specific legislation and how it was progressing through the legislation and we had pressure campaigns on EU and national levels. It was so much different than complaining about some software complying with the law and how it should be resisting it instead. I simply think focusing so much on systemd is pointless and it's not helping with the issue at all.

    But at this point it's just my personal opinion and I might very well be wrong about it. I sure hope this will serve as some catalyst that will let people focus on the actual issue and fight it effectively. Right now I don't see any effective action, only distractions, but since I'm not doing anything useful regarding this either I should just let people do what they see fit. Even if it's just venting.

    [–] ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 1 points 4 days ago

    https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/65894673

    Just more comments about how they will force ID checks in the future. 0 discussion about actual legislation or any useful organizing.

    [–] ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 1 points 4 days ago

    Highlighting this as another example of the continuous creep towards end goal while explaining the increasing encroachment is incredibly useful for getting more eyes on the bigger picture.

    Hmmm.... maybe you're right. I will follow the comments more closely to see what part of them talks about fighting the actual legislation and what part just talks about abandoning systemd. My sensation so far was that people were focusing almost exclusively on forking the project and creating pointless alternative distros but maybe it was just my bias.

    I agree that if talking about systemd would serve to inform people about the legislation and abolish it (or prevent the next one) it would be actually useful. Recently we've seen couple of fairly successful actions like complaining about Android's developer verification to EU, complaining about planned backdoors in E2E encryption in EU or writing to EU about open source in general. All this was done before changes were actually enacted and in reaction to concrete proposals, not as weird attacks on unrelated projects after the law was already passed and complaining about some general and gradual "slippery slope" style attacks on privacy. But maybe the other tactic will also work. I guess we'll see.