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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 13 points 3 days ago

the law wouldn't hold up in court anyway. its not practical for any ecosystem outside online sites.

accounts and users are the same thing, despite what the law says. it also doesn't different a person from a user, meaning a compromised system that is complying with the law, its actions represent the user, and the account holder is held responsible.

its made to absolve meta/Microsoft/google from their actions in targeting kids with intentionally addictive content and making the "account holder" at fault.

this post was submitted on 24 Mar 2026

140 points (93.2% liked)

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