Inside the Systemd Age Verification Debate: Developer Responds to Criticism

2026-04-01 19:28 UTC

I draw the line at when a third party internet-connected service is doing validation of ID. Let’s be honest though, I strongly believe such a thing isn’t possible on a FOSS operating system environment unless they could control what was bootable on the device at a firmware level, enforce signatures to ensure that you couldn’t boot something unrestricted, remove the ability to be root, and block LD_PRELOAD so signals couldn’t be faked. There’s probably more ways to circumvent that. What I’m trying to say is real ID verification on Linux would be awfully hard to implement, and I guarantee you, nobody would put up with it. They’d fork to a version that doesn’t have it immediately as a protest. Right now, we’re considering implementing something akin to the date pickers that were ubiquitous when signing up for internet services in the early 2000s where it’s just an honor system.

Replies (8)

@pastermil@sh.itjust.works 2026-04-02 03:52

Lmao, did that fucker really think he’d just get away with people saying “oh no~”?

Open ##1167313
@Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 2026-04-01 20:58

Right now, we’re considering implementing something akin to the date pickers that were ubiquitous when signing up for internet services in the early 2000s where it’s just an honor system. If you implement that, I switch to a fork that removes it.

Open ##1190435
@knobbysideup@sh.itjust.works 2026-04-01 20:31

I think a birthday field in Pam or passwd would be fine. It'd be cool to have a happy birthday motd on login. But it doesn't belong in what should be an init system. Much of the scope of systemd beyond an init system is the real issue. Resolved for example. Fuck poettering.

Open ##1995414
@not_IO@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2026-04-02 02:51

also, why shouldn't children have a computer?

Open ##1995415
@bluGill@fedia.io 2026-04-01 21:03

The only ID verification that works is when a legal entity that has liability for misuse verifies IDs. I want to live in a world where kids install linux on a pi and thus have root to set whatever settings they want. IF you need to verify ID for some reason, then you need to verify with something that the kids don't control - that everyone else can trust (good luck)

Open ##1995416
@trackball_fetish@lemmy.wtf 2026-04-03 19:27

_goes on to provide an entire way to implement it_ Yeah no, this guy is an absolute asshole

Open ##1995417
@FauxLiving@lemmy.world 2026-04-03 16:14

I understand the process, I simply have not seen a single fork that has any kind of traction or support outside of the individual running the repository. The people who are making a big deal out of this are not the same people who have both the technical capability and willingness to take on a project as big as systemd. At best someone will create a script that deletes the lines from userdb and a user can run that and then compile and install systemd themselves. This is not the kind of technical disagreement that leads to actual forks. This is a flash point of outrage that will disappear as these people move on to new topics. Any one serious about fighting Age verification laws are politically aware enough to understand that it is laws and politicians that need to be changed and not optional JSON fields.

Open ##1995427
@FauxLiving@lemmy.world 2026-04-02 05:26

Oh stop. My feelings.

Open ##1995458