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Birthdate field under discussion also in Arch Linux (github.com)

submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by pglpm@lemmy.ca 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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[-] endlesseden@pyfedi.deep-rose.org 6 points 3 days ago

yes. every time in the history of gnu software when a function is added without a purpose its for a later feature.

otherwise there is no need for the form? since when do we leave empty forms in software that can be used to store strings, that hold no meaning...

only two uses for this. to implement the full API later or to have a string the user normally does not see that becomes a perfect place to store malware. full stop.

complying with the API is a act of absolute stupidity...

this post was submitted on 24 Mar 2026

140 points (93.2% liked)

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