For those interested on the question of age verification and GNU/Linux: be aware that Systemd v261-rc1 was recently released. It now implements an optional
birth datefield in the JSON user database (see second item under “Other changes”).The implementation of this field was prompted by age-verification or -attestation laws.
Writeup by @pglpm@lemmy.ca
Reading the comments I’m glad to see that the outrage crowd has left, last month they were swarming this topic heavily.
(Well, they seem to have limited themselves to downvoting at least)
While yes, it is optional, this is to comply with governments around the world with what will be digital ID.
That’s what the people who were outraged were calling out about systemd’s new field.
I understand their position but disagree with the tactics.
Yes, the age verification laws are incredibly bad for various reasons. I do not support them in any way.
However, they do exist and services are required to comply with them. Many services in this position use Linux and systemd. On those systems, systemd is the location where user data like this would be stored. So, from a software engineering perspective it only makes sense to include a field to handle this.
People were taking this engineering decision and treating as if it were a proxy for age verification laws. They were doxxing the developer and the comments were borderline inciting violence (and some not borderline at all). That’s the part I take issue with.
It’s slacktivisim.
Effectively fighting against age verification requires engaging with the political system, not spamming toxic comments on social media. The fight against age verification isn’t going to be won inside of git repos and no progress is made by attacking volunteer developers.
You’re right that it is an important issue, but the people that show up just to be toxic and violent are not doing the cause any favors and should be shunned from the community. These people were not actually members of our community, they were tourists following the outrage train and have since moved on to other topics for their next hit of outrage and self-righteousness.
Personally identifying information here, but I don’t mind telling you all that my exact time of birth was 1970-01-01-00:00:00.000000.
What a coincidence, I just checked and mine is 1970-01-01 01:00:00.000000
Edit: friend of mine got 1969-12-31 18:00:00.000000, we should open a club.
And according to your /etc/passwd you are , located at , reachable under and .
What do you mean? On my phone it shows up as ---::.
It shows up on mine as
:.|:;I’m at a loss
hacking sound intensifies 😈
Yes, right next to the fields for your full name and address, all of which are optional. It’s a total nothingburger.
Oh damn i didn’t realise there was something comparable already in there.
Do you have the associated laws that precipitated those changes, i can’t seem to find any reference to them ?
Wait? Aren’t we also boykotting
passwdbecause it has an optional field for your complete real name?I feel bad for the dev. People really harassed him when the PR was opened.
