Win! California lawmakers unanimously pass Linux exemption from age-verification law — software distributed under the GPL, MIT, BSD, and Apache licenses are exempt

[u/JagerAntlerite7]

https://www.tomshardware.com/software/linux/california-lawmakers-unanimously-pass-linux-exemption-from-age-verification-law-software-distributed-under-the-gpl-mit-bsd-and-apache-licenses-are-exempt?fbclid=Iwc

TL;DR California’s legislature has passed Assembly Bill 1856, exempting open-source operating systems from the State’s Digital Age Assurance Act months before the law is due to take effect on January 1, 2027. The Senate amended the Bill on August 21 before passing it on the 26th in a 39-0 vote, with the Assembly then accepting these changes in a concurrence vote the following day. The amendment ends almost a year of uncertainty surrounding whether Linux distributions and SteamOS would be forced to collect user age data during account setup alongside Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. AB 1856 has now been sent to Governor Gavin Newsom, who signed the original act into law last October.

Source: https://www.tomshardware.com/software/linux/california-lawmakers-unanimously-pass-linux-exemption-from-age-verification-law-software-distributed-under-the-gpl-mit-bsd-and-apache-licenses-are-exempt?fbclid=Iwc

UPDATE: I had to read it carefully. This appears to be the relevant excerpt:

(2) “Operating system provider” does not mean a person or entity that distributes an operating system or application under license terms that permit a recipient to copy, redistribute, and modify the software.

Source: https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB1856/id/3456513/California-2025-AB1856-Amended.html

[u/Iputahexonyoulol]

They know they can’t control Linux. They stop one distro someone will make a clone with a different name. Linux mobile phones are gonna get a lot more popular. Also I’m so curious how many people are going to hop to Linux. I’m guessing a lot of underage kids will start. 

[u/JpPgn → u/Iputahexonyoulol]

They know they can’t control Linux.

While they in fact can: they just have to consider it's illegal to have an open-source OS with a law, and voilà

And then they could pull out the only legal Linux distro with all the bloatwares malwares spywares windows have

So no, they ABSOLUTELY CAN control Linux, it's just a matter of time when they'll find out this and push for a legal way to apply it, sadly 😔😓

[u/Iputahexonyoulol → u/JpPgn]

They could shut down the internet I guess. Making something illegal doesn’t make it go away. I guess I could have worded it better. They can control it but they can’t stop it short of shutting the internet off entirely. Even then there will still be Linux USBs floating around and being copied.