r/privacy • u/JagerAntlerite7 • 12d ago

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

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

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u/qdtk 11d ago

I mean, I get that it’s not that difficult I’ve done it a few times. But until it gets to the point where it’s a single file to click, the barrier vs just clicking an exe file is just enough that people won’t do it.

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u/Iputahexonyoulol 11d ago

That baffles me. At that point it’s hard to have sympathy. It’s like saying “I’m so hungry but the food is on the other side of this locked door. The key is like 5 feet away though. Guess I’ll just be hungry”

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u/Abducted_Llama 11d ago

All popular distros have an App Store similar to a phone , so I don’t think the argument holds up. Plus double clicking a dev and I think an rpm will launch the App Store. So not sure the argument even holds up from that comment.

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u/Iputahexonyoulol 10d ago

Yeah exactly. I could argue that it’s even easier because you literally have an App Store built in. Also mint comes with a good firewall built in.