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Comment on System76 tries to talk Colorado down over OS age checks

partofthevoice@lemmy.zip ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

It’s a solution that seems so divorced from reality… I don’t quite understand how the expectation is reasonable, unless the goal is to force complaints to surface from the OS developers so that they can refine future versions of the law with more accuracy.

Because Linux distributions can be created free-willy. Just check out Linux From Scratch, Gentoo, etc. Same with live boot from USB, same with stripped down server distros like Alpine — you have the same issue.

Linux isn’t a product in the same way that other products can be regulated. It would make more sense if they defined clearly who this law actually targets, being something that is actually enforceable; something like this:

Any general-purpose computing device sold to consumers that includes an operating system capable of executing third-party applications…
All systems built after <xyz> date must include a MINIX subos that reproduces this API…
All browsers with GUI must support integration with the API, if they also want to support viewing of sensitive content
All porn distributors must validate age range via the API exposed via the browser, or refuse serving content

That at least makes some sense. In a way, it only targets PC distributors and porn distributors. The end user could still do whatever they want, but porn distributors may not serve content to them without the functionality described.

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LedgeDrop@lemmy.zip ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Because Linux distributions can be created free-willy. Just check out Linux From Scratch, Gentoo, etc. Same with live boot from USB, same with stripped down server distros like Alpine — you have the same issue.

I don’t want to be “that person”, but here’s how it could play out…

The “free-willy” distros would not fulfill the “trust” requirements needed to pass the “certification process”. You can still use them, but think of it like running custom firmware on your cellphone: you’re not going to be able to access your bank, but somethings will still work.

Larger distros (Red Hat, Ubuntu, etc) would pay to pass the “certification process”, but this would come by making certain concessions:

The kernel would not be allowed to be tainted. Which means you can only use official kernel modules provided by your vendor (no self-compiling)

Certain kernel modules would needed to be removed (or nerfed). For example the Fuse filesystem.

You could probably keep root access or at least a nerfed version of it.

Then with theses concessions, your PC world be deemed “reliable” to perform the necessary age verification and have this confirmation passed through your browser to your favor porn site.
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- partofthevoice@lemmy.zip ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Damn, that sounds like gunk. I’ve been so exciting about the day and age when phones reach the same level of customizability as a PC. Little did I know, they want to phoneify the PCs instead.
  
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  - EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Yeah, I have wanted my phone to be more like a computer for a long time, not the other way around! This timeline sucks.
    
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