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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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[-] Solumbran@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

I don't disagree with anything here.

But my point wasn't "there's nothing to worry about", it was "an age field is the minimum they can do, and blaming them for it is pointless".

My point is that this law is already there, and the fight needs to be brought where it matters, and the code of linux systems is not what is going to change politics. When someone is held at gunpoint, you don't yell at them to fight back and curse them when they don't, but you attack the attacker.

[-] StealthLizardDrop@piefed.social 5 points 3 days ago

The law is completely not here, it affects very few people in the world, so they can bugger off with this nonsense change

this post was submitted on 24 Mar 2026

140 points (93.2% liked)

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