Fork time? Maybe all the anti-systemd zealots were right all along...

Edit: To address whether it is likely that this change will affect users: Gnome is planning a stronger dependence on userdb, the part of systemd where this change is being implemented. https://blogs.gnome.org/adrianvovk/2025/06/10/gnome-systemd-dependencies/

Final Edit: The PR has been merged into main.

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[–] 33 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (9 children)

Has anyone even looked at the PR? Why is there such a big stink about adding an optional birthday field to a JSON schema? It's opt-in and can't be validated in any way.

That's like saying OpenSSL is the thin end of an anti-encryption wedge because they provide FIPS compliant modules. Or complaining that it puts your privacy at risk when you generate an SSH key and it asks for your address.

The problem is the laws getting passed, not with software that gives people a choice about whether to comply.

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  • [–] 25 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

    ... can’t be validated in any way.

    I feel like this will be a problem for the future.

    Edit: another user already pointed out the "problem for the future" here.

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  • [–] 6 points 7 months ago

    It definitely will be a problem, but it will be a legal problem, not a software problem. Even if the systemd devs decided to revert this commit and never collect age data, the law would still be just a shitty as it is now.

    If this law said that everyone needed to provide a phone number instead of a birthday, would everyone here be just as angry at the Bell Labs developers who wrote the GECOS standard?

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  • [–] 8 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

    The problem is the laws getting passed, not with software that gives people a choice about whether to comply.

    OK, but the law didn't even get written. That asshole decided to open up and deepthroat the boot before it even entered the room.

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  • [–] 13 points 7 months ago (1 child)
  • [–] 7 points 7 months ago

    https://github.com/systemd/systemd/pull/40954#issuecomment-4032221990

    I'm Jeremy from System76. We are in talks with legislators and there are likely to be amendments to the age verification bills, as well as conflicting requirements in different jurisdictions. It may even be the case that open source operating systems are exempted entirely. I detailed this on the xdg mailing list here:

    https://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/xdg/2026-March/014797.html

    I have other concerns about this specific implementation. By relying on systemd, which is decidedly unportable to non-Linux operating systems, and not used across all Linux operating systems either, it will force at least one alternative implementation to exist. If these implementations end up having to collect jurisdiction specific requirements, that makes it much harder for compliance.

    IDK, I read about this bullshit like last week, and it was always presented in future tense. I saw this post from Jeremy from System 76 today in the goddamn Git thread, so excuse me for not understanding the current state of the problem.

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago

    The problem is the laws getting passed, not with software that gives people a choice about whether to comply.

    Is it going to give a choice, though? As more and more of these laws are passed, soon people will have no choice. Open-source software was supposed to be about freedom, and I see this as anything but that.

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