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Birthdate field under discussion also in Arch Linux (github.com)
submitted 7 months ago by to c/linux@programming.dev
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Add a required birth date prompt (YYYY-MM-DD) to the user creation flow, stored as a systemd userdb JSON drop-in at /etc/userdb/.user on the target system.

Motivation

Recent age verification laws in California (AB-1043), Colorado (SB26-051), Brazil (Lei 15.211/2025), etc. require platforms to verify user age. Collecting birth date at install time ensures Arch Linux is compliant with these regulations.

This is just a pull request, no changes yet.

The pull-request discussion thread has been locked, just like it happened for the similar thread in Systemd, owing to the amount of negative comments...

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[–] 5 points 7 months ago (1 child)

not really, the law is written that complaince makes you complicit. every user is a child. there is no adult users.

it's a really messed up law...

above all else, even if the API is used properly, unless it's giving false positives, it creates a metric that can be tracked to form patterns. these are all a advanced method to identify individuals to unmask online identities...

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago

    As I said, it's a loss. It is not going to bring anything good, and can only bring bad stuff.

    But my point is that the alternative of ignoring this law would just worsen the situation.

    If you want to fight a law, you need to do it with meaningful measures. You find flaws, you revolt, but you don't just ignore the law and hope to not be attacked for it.

    If a big linux distro does it, it will lead them to endless legal battles that will ruin them, and then what?

    The strategy here is to accept the loss, mitigate it as much as possible, and attack the source, which is politics, governments, and popular support and understanding.

    Explain to people why it's bad, burn down the government, and fix the system. If we only fight the symptoms when they target us, we've already lost.

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