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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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The end goal of the elites is eliminating access to actual computers from the masses and using software to manipulate, spy on and control the masses.
That is why libreboot and the Free Software community need active support.
None of us can be free if any of us can’t choose freedom.
That's what SecureBoot and TPM paved the way for.
They can't get all computing devices. If desktop PCs are done for, I'll go to Raspberry Pis. There's plenty of embedded and industrial computer systems that can be repurposed to use as a general purpose computer.
The cyberpunk dystopia has arrived, prepare your tools and defenses accordingly.
We'll all be wirewrapping our own computers using discrete TTL logic soon.
Legit concern & lots of good comments on the device side of things so I'll just toss in that another perhaps far easier approach for fascist regimes would be to force telcos, ISPs to permit online access only once registered, similar to a hotel guest WiFi. Only of course more rigidly enforced & monitored.
Thus removing the device itself from the equation, and using infrastructure as the chokepoint.
Future generations are largely doomed by the apathy of the "we have nothing to hide" folks of today, or those who buy into the its "for the children" movement.
Horrifying for the generations to come, as it all advances from multiple angles to 1984 reality
Future generations are largely doomed by the apathy of the "we have nothing to hide" folks of today, or those who buy into the its "for the children" movement.
Horrifying for the generations to come, as it all advances from multiple angles to 1984 reality
This. Exactly.
Don't buy computers with locked parts. Buy computers with non locked parts. Problem solved.
It's not that easy earlier all phones had unlocked or unlockable bootloader but now only few do. Even xiomi once hailed as cheap phone for custom ROMs now has unlockable bootloader
now only few do
That's the one you buy then if that's what matters to you.
To be clear I'm not saying it's "easy" or that the situation is "good", only that there are choices and if we as consumers can support them, and as voted can support politicians that do make legislation to protect them (or at least not make others mandatory) then we are still going in the right direction, even if most people don't care.
That's the false premise..if we just buy the one which isn't enshittified to hell, there's less and less options for "enthusiasts" and secondly, most users are fucked, because they just need something that works.
The only way to prevent keep the devices open is via regulatory oversight, forcing politicians to see the relevance of open platform / devices and create rules accordingly. And even that is a massive uphill battle...
No idea with whom your arguing as I mentioned both.
That's the one you buy then if that's what matters to you.
Yeah. But where can I find a phone with Qi, reverse-Qi, and a 3.5mm jack? Other than the old one I have now, that is.
I bet if you replace 3.5mm jack by USB-C and use an adapter you'll have a lot of choices. Also Qi isn't efficient so unless you have a specific use case beyond "I just want to drop it on my desk" then relying on USB-C again is better.
... that being said yes I understand but unfortunately one has to fight not just everything they want but a realistic compromise, otherwise you can check https://www.crowdsupply.com/ and if it's not there propose your own project, maybe there is a market for it.
Not to mention, a phone without a hole in the screen!
The EU wallet seems to expect the user to simply have an Android phone with Google Play services that passes Google Hardware Attestation, or alternatively an iOS phone, or apparently you're not a citizen: https://leminal.space/post/31858818/21120139
Amazing how governments opposed to MAGA/US fascism, ensure the tools for fascism. I will choose "illegal" phone, computer, 3d printer.
Won't happen, mainly because of the fact that some motherboard manufacturers cheap out on OS-level firmware upgrade (looking at ya, MSI) and some motherboard manufacturers have shitty Secure Boot configuration just for Win11 to let users install it.
Nah computing as a service will be for the masses and mainstream user who doesn't care, and they will have age verification and all the "security" measures included. The custom build and DIY setups won't change at all. Any Linux / BSD distro can just be hosted in a territory that doesn't require these "security" measures, then anybody who knows how to use them will be able to continue unaffected.
hosted in a territory that doesn’t require these “security” measures
And then what do we do once everyone does these measures? There will be nowhere to run.
there is around 193 countries in the world. i dont think every single one will make it s legal requirement. I think we should be ok at least for a few decades anyway.
there is around 193 countries in the world
All of which are out of my reach. Lol.
Ah, I have internet that can reach alllll around the world 😁
I'm lost.
The computers in the store, yes. I expect all computers in the store to be phones and the cell company will verify.
Open Source computers will be more important. Might need to brush up on wire wrapping... (Implication being that chip supplies might become dedicated to only those manufacturers that lock the product down.)
Availability is hard. Many are only able to be purchased in the West.
I agree with you regarding availability, and I find your comment interesting. I often find phone models of interest that are only available in Europe or the East. Phone selection in the USA is often terrible.
It used to be that similar (and equally bad) ideas were getting traction because of copyright law, e.g.: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Broadband_and_Digital_Television_Promotion_Act
Now other excuses for the same thing have been invented. I wonder which will be next.
I don't feel this push for locking us out of control over our own systems under the cover of "protecting the children with age verification" is anything more than a continued effort to secure a DRM-based hardware system for the MSFT OS and media companies. This smells just like their pushes in the past to steal control over hardware through legal channels. It's the same war we've been fighting for 30 years now.
Read up on the Clipper Chip from the 90's. What's old is new again.
Just adding links for the lazy...
Clipper Chip
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipper_chip
https://www.cryptomuseum.com/crypto/usa/clipper.htm
Thanks!
Mainstream stuff? Yes. But there will always be devices catered towards enthusiasts that will be open.
Open devices will be way costlier too. That's the price of letting these demagogues get away with such abuses. Should have rubbed it in their faces.
Wouldn't surprise me.
No. Because the information is user provided and unverified, so there’s no reason to lock anything down that could increase security. Once they want attestation, they need a third party service involved, in which case the device being part of the trust-chain doesn't make sense anymore.
Does the age verification stuff matter for this? Microsoft, if they wanted to, could already lock down systems in this way.
I pretty much don't care about how the future of laptops looks like. If you are stupid enough to buy that shit, you get what you asked for
Yes. For example, on iOS It'll work like this once this is no longer "in error" https://www.theverge.com/tech/884306/apple-age-verification-uk-users-ios-26-4-beta
I don't know about the new law in California, but here in the UK the age verification push is happening is because our young people are overwhelmingly left-wing and progressive, and get their news online and not from our captured legacy media, and the right-wing establishment doesn't like that, so they're trying to block young people from internet access.
Edit: wtf is with the downvotes? Do y'all support this shit? Here are some sources to back up what I said:
https://yougov.com/en-gb/trackers/voting-intention -
In the UK: 49% of 18-24 year olds are voting for the Green party, highest of any party by far. 27% of 25-49 year olds are voting for the Greens, with only 19% for Reform (the far-right party).
This trend reverses once you look at the age groups over 50, with 50-65 year olds favouring reform at 29% at Green's 16%, and over 65s favouring reform at 33% to Green's 6%.
Furthermore, the other demographics factors like gender and even region(!) don't demonstrate such a clear correlation, and this is further confirmed by another recent poll done where the surveyed were asked to pick between a left-wing coalition and a right-wing one:
Our elderly consume vastly more print and specifically television news than our young people - https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/research-and-data/online-research/adult-and-teen-news-consumption-survey/news-consumption-in-the-uk-2025-research-findings.pdf?v=400636
See specifically figure 4 from page 9:
This is very inconvenient for a primarily right-wing establishment. I could see similar dynamics playing out in California though i don't know enough to say for certain.
Obviously I don't think this is the only reason that age verification is being implemented, especially as it's seemingly being done all around the globe all at once, and often companies with known links to Peter Thiel and Palantir and the defense sector are involved, such as with e.g. discord and Thiel did allegedly say he explicitly wants to make a surveillance state. Obviously countries like the UK have been speed running that goal for a while so, make of that what you will.
There's also seemingly bi-partisan support for this issue from establishment parties, arising from tech ignorance of the boomer class and more genuine, and well-meaning concerns about the spread of misinformation from social liberals and progressives, especially where their country's young people are turning to far-right misinformation.
I think the combination of these two factors is likely what is pushing the specific law OP is referring to in California, though this is just speculation as I'm not familiar with it's state legislature and their political makeup.
The recent push for these sorts of laws in Europe also could be explained by the fact that those countries can use regulation as leverage in trade negotiations with an increasingly beligirent united states because they know that Trump's regime is beholden to the tech oligarchy that amassed around him - the same oligarchy who would stand to lose money if these regulations were implemented because they own the platforms primarily targeted by this.
This last reason is further compounded by the fact that Elon Musk has genuinely been artificially promoting far-right content, including his own, on his platform, and he has been since he acquired it. Considering how many people use twitter, its a genuine risk to the political autonomy and democratic integrity of countries like France, which is also investigating twitter for the algorithm manipulation.
Low effort troll, try again.
Dafuck? Are you saying this won't be the case? I mean, it's not exactly what OP asked but I think a real life functional example of OS-level age checks that already exists is a valuable contribution to the conversation. Do you disagree?
Honestly feels like you're the "low effort troll" here here swarming a bot army for some votes. Blocked.
I don't think the CA law requires your OS verify your age, just that it requests the age of your user account during setup and has an API to provide that age range to app stores.
https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1043
I don't think it's any more of a privacy violation than passing UserAgents
There will always be a couple companies going against the norm and make open devices. Or computers that are fully customizable IE just stick a different hard drive in there or whatever. I don't think this will ever happen, regardless.
Untill they make ram, cpus,and storage unaffordable.
It doesn't need to happen 100%, they simply need to kick any manufacturer making such open devices out of the affordable range for the masses, after all it's only the poor that need not have access to knowledge.
Adding to this, it has already started happening on phones in the form of propreitary carrier locked devices being artificially cheaper than normal phones that you don't even "own", they are going for the ultra budget range first, then climb up from there, it will take a while to jump to computers but I absolutely see no reason for it to not start happening, after all the majority of users use Windows anyways, it can spread slowly.
I don't think it'll come globally at all - even the most crazy laws I've read so far target "only" OS vendors.
If it comes it'll be regional only as manufacturers will be hell bent on not losing revenue in the rest of the world.
Keep in mind that age verification needs to be done on a local level as there is no universal level of what is an acceptable method.