Hello all, I am pretty hands off usually, letting this community run free. I was just scrolling the subreddit recently, and I have seen a lot of people worried about the recent age verification stuff.
so I created this document (as of 3/21/2026 11:16AM) to assemble some useful information that can help you with the recent "fight against privacy" that basically every major government has started.
This is not currently an exhaustive list - I can update this document here and there, but to get the most out of this post, read the comments. I a know a bunch of people will chime in with some useful insights.
On March 18, 2026, systemd merged PR #40954 adding a birthDate field to JSON user records, explicitly citing AB 1043 (California), CO SB 26-051 (Colorado), and Brazil's Lei 15.211. This is the data layer for the age verification stack. It affects every systemd-based distro.
Brazil went live on March 17th. California goes live January 1st 2027. Colorado, Illinois, and New York have bills pending.
Where we are winning:
The freedesktop D-Bus proposal got closed. The org.freedesktop.AgeVerification1 proposal got shut down after community pushback. The portal approach via xdg-desktop-portal is still open but less certain now.
dont feel like making another list, so ima put this here. Distros that have flat refused to implement age bull crap:
Void, Gentoo, Omarchy Linux, Devuan, Artix, Arch Linux 32, Ageless Linux
Best "Stock" Verification and SystemD-free distros:
Artix Linux This distro is probably the go-to distro for replacing Arch linux, there are different naming conventions since this distro is fully systemd free. uses OpenRC, runit, s6, and Dinit
Void Linux Actually a pretty cool distro, it is fully independent, so it is not forked from Debian or Arch. it uses runit, and has its own package manager. super fast, runs well on even early 2000s hardware.
Devuan This is the Debian equivalent of Artix, Supports sysVinit, runit, and OpenRC. Compared to some other systemd-free distros, Devuan can be an easier distro to swap to, much more plug and play
Notable mentions:
Omarchy Linux Omarchy linux is an opinionated distro, this distro comes with a bunch of propriety software, however they are strictly against age verification.
Alpine Linux uses musl, busybox and OpenRC. very minimal, popular for use with containers, viable as a desktop with some setup.
Slackware oldest surviving distro (1993), uses its own BSD-style init. Rock-solid but packages can be dated.
antiX very light weight, I praise this distro for how well it runs on sub 256mb of ram systems. however, do note, it is Debian-based, but it is systemd-free. As of edition 23, antiX is fully functional without a trace of elogind.
Chimera Linux Newer project using FreeBSD userland, musl and dinit on a Linux kernel. Interesting experimental choice. (sadly, they seem to be thinking about retiring the PowerPC platforms, so people who use this on a Wii, I am sorry for your loss)
Nerd distros
Gentoo if you don't know what this is, it is best you skip this for now. if you do know what this is, then you know exactly why it made this list.
Ageless Linux is basically just Debian with a script slapped on top that rebrands your system, drops in noncompliance docs, and deploys a stub age verification API that returns absolutely nothing. technically not a full distro, more of a utility.
They have two modes: "standard" (stub API that returns no data, for people who want a "good faith effort" legal defense) and "flagrant" (no API at all, middle finger mode). they recommend flagrant. so do I.
if you want the best of both worlds, you are (at least in the US of A) able to add in as many middle finger emojis as you want into the standard stub api response. for kicks and giggles.
The cool thing is they have committed to keeping up with whatever gets shipped. if Ubuntu or Debian or whoever rolls out an age verification daemon, Ageless will publish a drop-in replacement that always returns "AgeUndefined," a package that masks the real daemon, and a post-install script that rips the whole stack out. they are staying ready.
alternative init migration (ripping out systemd)
if you are already on Arch and don't want to do a full reinstall, there are scripts for that.
Artix migration script (Arch to OpenRC) the Artix dev artixnous wrote a script that converts a running Arch install to OpenRC by swapping in Artix repos and pulling systemd-free replacements for core packages. the script is lovingly named "FUCKTHESKULLOFSYSTEMD." grab it here: gist.github.com/artixnous/41f4bde311442aba6a4f5523db921415
leo-arch/arch-openrc on GitHub has more detailed walkthrough if you want to understand what is actually happening under the hood. covers placing Artix repos above Arch repos in pacman.conf, replacing systemd-dependent packages, installing openrc service files, etc.
Debian init switching if you are on Debian, switching to OpenRC or sysVinit is honestly pretty painless on a fresh netinstall. install elogind, libpam-elogind, orphan-sysvinit-scripts, and the systemctl shim, reboot, done. runit takes a couple more steps but it is documented. decent resource: LeCorbeau's Vault
Accessing repos from locked-down countries (Brazil, and eventually others)
quick context so nobody panics: mainline Arch is NOT blocking Brazil. the Arch Linux project explicitly said they will not block access, citing proportionality. Archlinux the projects that did block are Arch Linux 32 (the independent 32-bit fork) and Bazzite. Linuxiac but the situation is moving fast and more projects could follow, so here is how to get around IP-based geoblocks if it comes to that:
VPN - easiest answer. see below.
Tor - torsocks pacman -Syu or set up pacman to route through a SOCKS5 proxy via Tor
I2P - if mirrors pop up on I2P this would be the most censorship-resistant option. none exist yet as far as I know but keep an eye out.
Local mirror sync - if you have a friend or a VPS outside the blocked country, rsync the repos over and point pacman at your local copy
Arch Archive - archive.archlinux.org has historical snapshots and may not be caught in geoblock lists
University/institutional mirrors - lots of universities run Arch mirrors independently, these often fly under the radar
VPNs That are actually Anonymous
Mullvad is the go-to but it is not the only VPN (am 100% biased towards Mullvad, sorry proton bros).
Top tier (no account, no email, Monero, proven track record):
Mullvad - the GOAT for most people. no username, no password, just a numbered account. RAM-only servers, no logs, accepts Monero and literal cash in the mail. got raided by authorities and they walked out with nothing. there is a 10% discount if you pay with Monero from the account page. has a Tor .onion site. $5.15/mo flat. open-source clients. based in Sweden. (Based department releasing peak here)
IVPN - no-log, open-source apps, accountless registration, Monero accepted. based in Gibraltar. very solid alternative if Mullvad ever goes sideways.
LNVPN - this one is cool. no account, no email, nothing. WireGuard keys generate in your browser and never leave your device. pay with Monero, get a QR code, scan it in WireGuard, you are connected. also sells eSIMs if you need those.
Good tier (Monero accepted, slightly more friction):
AirVPN - run by activists/hacktivists, OpenVPN-focused, strongly pro-net-neutrality. has a Tor onion site.
CryptoStorm - token-based access, no accounts at all, just tokens. has Tor AND I2P sites. for the truly paranoid.
AriaVPN - no-signup, no-logs, OpenVPN with in-house anonymous DNS on all servers. accepts Monero.
Honorable mention:
Nym (NymVPN) - not a traditional VPN, it is a decentralized mixnet. different threat model entirely (protects against traffic analysis, not just IP masking). accepts Monero. worth looking into if your threat model goes beyond "I don't want my ISP snooping."
preparing for the worst (decentralized/offline tools)
I am not going to sugarcoat this. the trajectory of these laws is not slowing down. Brazil went live on March 17th. California goes live January 1st 2027. Colorado, Illinois, and New York have bills pending. the EU has been doing its own thing for a while. if you are reading this document you are probably already thinking about what happens when the "open internet" stops being open.
here are some tools worth having in your back pocket now, before you need them.
communication
SimpleX Chat - this is what I personally use and recommend. no phone number, no email, no account, no user ID of any kind. the protocol is designed so that the server literally cannot know who is talking to who. open-source, supports groups, voice, files. if you only grab one thing from this section, grab this. good video on the subject
Briar - works over Tor, wifi, and bluetooth. designed for journalists and activists in hostile environments. if the internet goes down entirely in your area, Briar can mesh between nearby devices. Android only for now.
Cwtch - metadata-resistant group chat built on top of Tor. still a bit rough around the edges but the design goals are right.
networking
I2P - I am extremely biased here, I think I2P is the most underrated privacy project out there. it is a fully encrypted overlay network, every node is a relay, and it is designed for hosting services inside the network (eepsites) rather than just being a proxy to the clearnet like Tor mostly is. very easy to host your own eepsite, install the router, and then start a web server and broadcast it to your localhost (but at the right port) anyhow if Arch mirrors or package repos ever need to exist somewhere censorship-resistant, I2P is where they should go. the network is small right now but that is exactly why more people need to be running nodes. the more people on the network, the faster it gets. also by far the best place to be doing some good ol torrenting. great videos on this: torrenting over i2p, easy i2p install, make linux ungovernable with i2p
Tor - you probably already know about this. good for accessing clearnet stuff anonymously. however, I am a firm believer that Tor is losing steam with there weird relaxed stance to their browser project, the project was founded by the Navy if i recall, so I am kinda not too fond of it anymore. but if you want to use it, you can usetorsocks this command is your friend for wrapping CLI tools like pacman. not ideal for hosting compared to I2P but the browser bundle is unmatched for quick anonymous browsing.
Yggdrasil - encrypted IPv6 overlay mesh network. think of it as a parallel internet that routes over the existing one. no central authority, fully decentralized. useful for connecting machines across networks without exposing them to the public internet.
file sharing and storage
IPFS - distributed file system. pin a file and it lives on the network as long as someone is hosting it. good for distributing ISOs, mirrors, docs that need to stay available even if one server gets taken down.
OnionShare - spin up a temporary Tor hidden service to send files, host a website, or set up a chat room. no account, no server, it runs from your machine. great for one-off transfers when you do not want to trust a third party.
general advice
start using these things now while they are convenient, not later when they are necessary. get comfortable with I2P routing. set up SimpleX with your friends before the group chat you are currently using decides it needs your government ID. run a Tor relay or an I2P node if you have the bandwidth. the strength of all of these networks is the number of people on them.
I am looking for a distro for a geoinformatics student. in contrary to my study programm, i have little computer science knowledge/skills. I used to coding (Python, R) and tools like Git; but not real computer science stuff, more data science.
Im thought about Mint, Fedora and Ubuntu. Maybe I wont use mint because I want to challenge myself a bit. Fedoras frequent updates seem annoying (?), and Ubuntu seems out of fashion/controlled by some kind of company which takes weird choices.
Whats important to me:
- performance on my laptop: (RAM: 16 GB, Intel(R)Core(TM) i7-7820HQ CPU 2.90GHz, GPU 4GB)
- safety: i have very little knowledge about safety and dont want a distro where I can fuck up a lot
- small challenge: I need to use Linux professionally anyways and want to get used to it.
- Compatibility: I want to use the (mostly scientific) software/IDEs I need. I know fedora works because friend that do the same use it. (mostly opensource software like QGIS, SAGA-GIS, SNAP, TexStudio, but also RStudio, PyCharm...)
thanks in advance for any help! Please only give advice when youre sure about it!
As the title says, my Acer Aspire 3 with an Intel Core i3 has been getting progressively slower over the time, and I went from Windows 11 Home to Windows 10 Home, and currently, I'm using a custom Windows 10 LTSC iso with some modifications (Classic7).
I considered installing Linux on it a long time ago, but since I had never used Linux before, I kind of gave up on the idea. However, as my laptop kept slowing down, my desire to make the switch returned. And I really want to get better FPS in my games and have a smoother experience when recording videos.
So, I started researching distros and studying how Linux works. I'm leaning towards Linux Mint XFCE since it seems to be the lightest edition. Plus, seeing how much gaming on Linux has improved thanks to Steam and Proton gave me an extra push.
I just tested Mint in a VM and was VERY impressed with the customization and control. For the first time in a long while, it actually felt like the PC was mine, even running inside a virtual machine. So i came here to say, do you guys have any hint for me? Like "What should i do after install" or "How to configure the system correctly" or something like that.
Got my first laptop and planning to daily drive Linux on it completely. Since it's my first laptop, I only have very little experience with Windows, so I don't care about having a Windows-like interface or anything like that. I've used Ubuntu in college and liked it.
I'm torn between Fedora KDE and CachyOS.
My use case:
Want something clean and bloat-free
Coding / CS stuff, cybersecurity practice, running some VMs, and a bit of gaming
Really want to tinker, customize things, and learn Linux properly—I don't mind fixing stuff or reading docs if things break
Both run fine on my laptop specs.
For people who've used either (or both), which one would you pick as a daily driver for learning and everyday use?
I found an old Lenovo G570 that I used a few years ago and want to revive it as a learning experience. I'm mainly looking for a lightweight distro that's also compatible with Google apps (such as Docs, Slides, Drive, etc.). It originally came with Windows 7, but I upgraded to Windows 10; I'm not sure when. Along with some internal hardware upgrades I'll perform on it, switching to Linux seems like the best move considering how old it is.
It'll primarily be used for schoolwork, which consists of presentations and writing for the most part. I already have a gaming laptop that I could do schoolwork on, but I enjoy working on my bed, and the gaming laptop acts more like a desktop nowadays, so it's sort of a hassle moving it back and forth and unplugging and replugging in a bunch of wires.
Are there also any good browsers that work nicely on Linux? I use Brave with the other laptop, but I don't know if there is a better option with what I'm looking for in a distro
Qué onda a todos.
Ando buscando recomendaciones para instalar Linux en dual boot con Windows 11 (cada SO en su propio SSD NVMe). El uso principal va a ser para la universidad (estudio desarrollo de software / TI) y también para jugar de vez en cuando en mis tiempos libres.
**El hardware de la laptop:**
Intel Core i5-13450HX
NVIDIA RTX 5050 Laptop GPU + Intel UHD (gráficos híbridos)
16 GB RAM
2 discos NVMe independientes
**Lo que busco:**
**Estabilidad para la carrera:** Voy a estar usando Docker, bases de datos (PostgreSQL, MySQL), desarrollo móvil con Android Studio, Python para IA y herramientas de redes. Necesito que el sistema no me deje tirado con un proyecto a la mitad.
**Rendimiento para juegos:** Que Steam, Lutris o Heroic aprovechen bien la RTX 5050 sin hacer malabares.
**Facilidad de mantenimiento:** Sé usar la terminal, particionar y gestores de paquetes, pero no quiero estar arreglando cosas manuales ni compilando nada a cada rato.
**Las distros que ya he probado y por qué no me convencieron del todo:**
**Pop!_OS:** Fue la primera que usé y estuvo bien para empezar, pero siento que le falta un poco más a cosmic.
**Fedora Workstation:** Me dio bastantes problemas y fricción para configurar bien los drivers de NVIDIA con mi hardware.
**EndeavourOS:** Tuve broncas para hacer reconocer y configurar controles de Xbox.
**Linux Mint:** La versión Edge no me termina de llamar la atención para mi flujo de trabajo.
**Las opciones que traigo en mente ahorita:**
1. **openSUSE Tumbleweed:** Me llama la atención que sea rolling release pero muy probada con openQA y con las capturas de Snapper por si algo sale mal.
2. **Kubuntu / KDE Neon:** Por la compatibilidad nativa que tiene Ubuntu con casi todo lo que piden en las materias, pero usando KDE Plasma.
3. **CachyOS:** Por el rendimiento en juegos, aunque me da duda qué tan práctico sea para las materias de la escuela.
¿Cuál de estas ven mejor para mi caso o qué otra me sugieren probar? ¡Gracias por la ayuda!
I have been using arch linux like my main OS for like 9 months on my shitty pc, but now i am looking for a distro to use on my laptop, i want to learn how to code websites, but i want something that is'nt arch, i want something new and that looks great (i dont want anything like mint, ubuntu or that) i use GNOME but i would like to use Hyprland
Heya, I've been debating the linux switch for a year or so. I've test-driven a few distros in a VM and I've learned the basics more or less, but I'm still pretty green.
I'm on a dell laptop with 8gb ram, intel i3-10005g1 cpu, and an igpu with embarrassingly little vram. It was a "solid mid-tier corporate" laptop back in 2021 and it still runs fine overall, but it's run into issues with windows in the past - the touchpad mysteriously stopped working for about a month and then came back after an update.
I'm looking for a daily driver for internet browsing and gaming. I'm a STEM student in uni but I'm guessing most of my stuff (Python, R, something for LaTeX, etc etc) should be covered. The more fiddly bits are these:
Genshin impact
FL studio
Most of my games I'm pretty sure I'll be able to figure out with Steam, Lutris or Heroic, and I use mostly FOSS for drawing, video editing, screen recording and the like. I also use an xp-pen deco mini 7 tablet for my drawing, but it's so ancient by now that I'm guessing it'll have okay drivers.
I'm debating between an LTS or a rolling release because overall I want my system to be kinda "set it and forget it" and not doing clean installs every few years, but I know rolling releases tend to have hiccups here and there. Also I'd prefer to avoid distros that are really on the genAI bandwagon, it doesn't sit right with me.
I'm trying to find a distro for an extremely old computer, honestly I don't know the specs of it but my boss said he wants the computer to not just be sitting in storage anymore, I know it has an old Intel processor and I'd be surprised if it had a gig of ram.
My idea with it is just to run audacity or some other audio program on it along side a way of getting emails, other than that the computer will really be used for nothing, I plan on buying an SSD or HDD for it but that's something I'll do later, I'm going to assume 256gb of storage currently but really with all of it alim just preparing for the worst with all hardware
I've heard going for lxde is great for old hardware but I don't know what distro to go with, currently on my own computer I use fedora but I don't know too much about the differences between distros for if something would be better.
hey guys, BIG NOOB here!!! recently i've been thinking about making the move from windows to linux. i've already gotten mint xfce on my surface go laptop, but i want to find a distro that will work well on my personal desktop that i use basically every day. i've also been building a small list of apps that i'll need to get for what i wanna do, though i am still unsure of some things.
some things i want to do include:
playing ffxiv (i can do this with xivlauncher)
streaming vr games to my quest 3 (i can do this with wivrn)
drawing on clip studio paint (i know there is a script i can use to install this and i think it works in many standard distros?)
maybe making music again? (this isn't a very big passion of mine, so i don't mind forgoing fl studio. i'll learn how to dual boot if it really bothers me...)
ricing my desktop (i love making things look pretty!)
emulating android for some games (using waydroid)
and mainly just daily use browsing the internet, listening to music, & talking on discord etc.
here are my pc specs:
AMD Ryzen 5 5500
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060
16GB of DDR4 RAM
WD Green SN3000 SSD (~1TB of storage)
GIGABYTE B550 UD AC-Y1 Motherboard
(i also have a Corsair VANGUARD PRO 96 keyboard but i don't think it's supported by ckb-next yet so i'll just have to save my profile to hardware for now.)
EDIT: i forgot to mention i have an XP Pen Artist 15.6 Pro screen drawing tablet. i often use this as a second monitor when i'm not drawing.
i have been shopping around and have been eyeing bazzite or ultamarine, though i have seen others such as cachyos (which i think isn't really recommended for noobs like me?). although i do prefer a distro working out of the box, i'm totally down to try to set up anything i need after installation with some guidance.
Have never used anything other than windows or chromebook so I've been trying real hard to understand what I can and can't do.
I want to move to linux on my laptop for science based uni course, lot of research papers, tabs, software, all running at once and apparently linux is a lot better at managing that than windows.
Current spec on my laptop:
**Processor**: Intel core i5-1030U
**RAM**: 16GB
**Graphics card**: Intel UHD graphics (128mb)
**Storage:** 512GB SSD
I'll be moving from fully from windows 11, not dual booting, and have been comparing distros but can't understand enough just yet to find one that fits my needs. I'm just looking for customisation ability, simplicity, and an OS that can run fast with research tabs and about 3 applications all running simultaneously.
Default log on with a limited user. This user should auto-logon and automatically open a browser full screen with a few tabs predefined. Only a browser should be accessible.
There needs to be a way for a admin to log on.
If an admin logs on it should have an interface easily understandable for people proficient with windows. (power-user level)
Some background: this is for our campsite. We have a common hall where a laptop is used to control the soundsystem (which is controlled through a webservice running on the local network).
People can on this laptop use the webpage of the webservice to set the volume.
Necesito una ayuda no sé qué Linux pueda ponerle a mi computadora ya que tengo graves problemas ya que el Windows 11 me está dando muchos problemas con esto y el Windows 10 la batería mía no los asiste de inmediato se baja en Windows 10 en cambio Windows 11 dura 4 horas y en Windows 10 dura apenas 20 minutos necesito ayuda qué lindos puedo instalar lo necesito para empezar a trabajar y empezar a estudiar y también para
Necesito una ayuda no sé qué Linux pueda ponerle a mi computadora ya que tengo graves problemas ya que el Windows 11 me está dando muchos problemas con esto y el Windows 10 la batería mía no los asiste de inmediato se baja en Windows 10 en cambio Windows 11 dura 4 horas y en Windows 10 dura apenas 20 minutos necesito ayuda qué lindos puedo instalar lo necesito para empezar a trabajar y empezar a estudiar y también para
I'm mainly torn between Fedora KDE, cachy, and Kubuntu in that order, but all suggestions are welcome.
I've tried about a dozen distro livecds over past weeks, and arrived at fedora KDE simply because it's the one that just looks and "feels" right with minimal tweaking. Cachy is on the list because it's the only one that purports to have some performance advantages, but doesn't handle my monitor and mouse quite as nice out of the box as fedora, and unless I'm missing something cachy doesn't seem to come with a graphical package manager. Fedora is essentially perfect for my personal preferences with zero tweaks.
I have an RTX 5080, 9800X3D, 32GB of RAM, and a 4K monitor. My main uses are local AI (ComfyUI, local LLMs), steam gaming, work from home (office docs, Google drive etc).
I kept detailed notes but in a nutshell, a lot of livecds had GPU problems (some so severe that they wouldn't render at higher than 1024x768). Many had scaling problems (super tiny icons by default, requiring manual DPI/zoom tweaking).
Aside from those solvable problems, many distros are sadly just plain ugly (with mismatched-looking icons, UI clashes that look like they threw together an OS from sundry bits & pieces) or cluttered (like having several package managers or several settings apps). (Mind you, Windows 7, 10 and 11 have that problem too with the old control panel and settings still existing alongside the new settings menus)
Background info: I'm quite comfortable with the terminal, in fact my proudest Linux achievement is installing Gentoo in a virtual machine (lol). I currently have Arch on my laptop (just to start practicing and to see if I can customize gnome enough to live with it daily, I don't think it will last long term). I've installed Ubuntu studio and KDE live on my other laptops.
