this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2026
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I've only absorbed bits and pieces of the story, but allegedly there's an age verification push happening on Linux? What's the full story here?

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[–] ptz@dubvee.org 68 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (8 children)

An optional field was added to the userdb to allow storing birthdate. That's it.

The systemd project merged a pull request adding a new birthDate field to the JSON user records managed by userdb in response to the age verification laws of California, Colorado, and Brazil.

This is the same record that already holds basic user metadata like realName, emailAddress, and location. The field stores a full date in YYYY-MM-DD format and can only be set by administrators, not by users themselves.

An optional field in the userdb JSON object. It's not a policy engine, not an API for apps. We just define the field, so that it's standardized iff [sic] people want to store the date there, but it's entirely optional.

--Lennart Poettering

https://itsfoss.com/news/systemd-age-verification/

[–] BurgerBaron@piefed.social 41 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)
[–] slazer2au@lemmy.world 14 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Also, it wasn't a core maintainer who created the PR, which you want for something this sensitive.

[–] SatyrSack@quokk.au 15 points 2 weeks ago

Why would it matter who it was that contributed the code?

[–] Godort@lemmy.ca 12 points 2 weeks ago

It's just an extra field that was added to the UserDB. The methods used to access that information have not chaged AFAIK.

[–] 4vr@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 weeks ago

All that matters was PR got merged.

[–] RIotingPacifist@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah who knows next PR could implement age verification via rectal print verified by aliens from the 7th dimension.

[–] cheese_greater@lemmy.world 26 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

entirely optional

Until its not. Rome wasnt destroyed in a day

[–] Solumbran@lemmy.world -2 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Yes, but the slippery slope is also a fallacy.

Caution is better than panic.

[–] BurgerBaron@piefed.social 23 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

There's ample evidence there is an organised international push for these mass surveillance efforts in many countries all at once, do you deny this?

[–] ozymandias117@lemmy.world 17 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

I would argue, for now, this is malicious compliance from the open source community.

Adding an optional field in the UserDB to store an age covers the requirements of the law, without trying to help with the spirit of the law

But I do understand the boiling the frog side

[–] fizzle@quokk.au 5 points 2 weeks ago

Assuming some jurisdictions implement some kind of device based age restrictions, should linux just not exist in those places?

[–] youcantreadthis@quokk.au 5 points 2 weeks ago

Lets be cautious and remove the mechanism.

[–] SorteKanin@feddit.dk 17 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

iff [sic]

In case you are unaware, "iff" is short for "if and only if", i.e. bidirectional implication. It's not a typo.

[–] kkj@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 2 weeks ago

It is a word, but I don't think it's really applicable here. The standard exists even if no one wants to use it or ever does.

[–] one_old_coder@piefed.social 7 points 2 weeks ago

Fix: a useless field was added by a random non-core contributor, and merged by a Microsoft employee.

[–] mhzawadi@lemmy.horwood.cloud 2 points 2 weeks ago

As long as I dont need to install a GUI on all my headless servers I couldn't give 2 hoots, also while I'm at it. As long as I dont need to workout how I get a GUI on an Aws instance that is headless

[–] Heyla@quokk.au 1 points 2 weeks ago

Presenting information deliberately out of context, stripped down to its bare essentials, amounts to spreading misinformation.

[–] daychilde@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

iff [sic]

Brought to you by the same people as HTTP_REFERER, I assume ;-)

[–] The_Decryptor@aussie.zone 5 points 2 weeks ago

iff = "if and only if"

Basically saying the field's there if you need to comply with the law, but otherwise you don't need to use it, just like the other fields.

[–] Petter1@discuss.tchncs.de -3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Exactly, making it possible for admins (parents) to set up systems with rules based on age for their many children

[–] youcantreadthis@quokk.au 9 points 2 weeks ago

They can install some parental controls from the package manager. This doesnot need to be in fucking systemd.