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"Ageless Linux" is a distro created to openly defy California age-gating "law." (agelesslinux.org)
submitted 6 months ago by to c/linux@lemmy.world
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I love this sort of guerilla open source activism.

The whole "manifesto" style of the main webpage is extremely well done and makes a compelling argument, even if we don't choose this as our core distro.

I like that it also serves as a good page to send to even non-Linux folks, to explain why these dystopian cudgel laws must be resisted at every turn.

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[–] 27 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (5 children)

I don't agree at all with adding age "verification" parameters to Linux (in reality, the parameters just exist; I don't think you ever have to interact with them, so they verify nothing, but I hate the creeping surveillance anyway). This "project" nevertheless just seems like impotent dick-wagging preaching exclusively to a tiny choir and doing nothing useful technically. It comes across as petulant prattle from an LLC otherwise uninvolved in the Linux community and selling merchandise.

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  • [–] 15 points 6 months ago* (1 child)

    I mean they made some strong arguments for their existence. I don't think creating a technically novel piece of software was the goal. This is a technical solution to a legal issue that they expect will soon exist. The sheer existence of this acts as a warning and hurdle for politicians and those funding these laws for the next more invasive version of these laws. I don't expect I'll ever use this, but I'm glad it exists, as its existence is enough for it to work.

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  • [–] 13 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

    The sheer existence of this acts as a warning and hurdle for politicians

    This will never be seen by federal or state-level legislators or executives. If you visited the website, you saw the unanimous support in California for the age verification bill. In the event it's sent to legislators as a link, there's almost zero chance they'll visit, let alone read it through. In the narrow chance that, like, one out of thousands actually reads it, it will not act as a warning to them, let alone a hurdle. It doesn't materially threaten anything they're doing – not in a technical sense and not in the sense that anybody but an excruciatingly tiny minority will actually adopt it.

    Niche communities like this wildly overestimate their reach and influence among the people outside of them. I don't like it either, but I try to be mindful of it.

    Follow https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2501:_Average_Familiarity this link for a transcript of this xkcd comic.

    See also:

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 6 months ago

    I'll admit, I expected a LOT more griftiness before opening your link buuuut...I dunno, it doesn't seem worse than other projects that make a specific little "custom distro machine."

    I agree it's a really niche action but, I like to be optimistic and I like the idealism.

    ¯_(ツ)_/¯

    Someone else commented something about them being a "slop peddler" though, but haven't had a chance to look into that. (Obviously don't wanna support/ share slop peddling lol)

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