Systemd adds age indication ahead of schedule: Difference between revisions
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In Mar 5 2026, Dylan M. Taylor, a developer and tech enthusiast made two commits on systemd "userdb: add birthDate field to JSON user records", commenting<ref>{{Cite web |last=Taylor |first=Dylan M. |date=2026-03-19 |title=userdb: add birthDate field to JSON user records |url=https://github.com/systemd/systemd/pull/40954 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260320055709/https://github.com/systemd/systemd/pull/40954 |archive-date=2026-03-20 |access-date=2026-03-20 |website=[[GitHub]]}}</ref><blockquote>Stores the user's birth date for age verification, as required by recent laws in California (AB-1043), Colorado (SB26-051), Brazil (Lei 15.211/2025), etc.</blockquote>In Mar 19 2026, Luca Boccassi<ref>{{Cite web |title=Luca Boccassi |url=https://github.com/bluca |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260320172404/https://github.com/bluca |archive-date=2026-03-20 |access-date=2026-03-20 |website=[[GitHub]]}}</ref>, a member of Systemd and a Microsoft employee, merged the commit. | In Mar 5 2026, Dylan M. Taylor, a developer and tech enthusiast made two commits on systemd "userdb: add birthDate field to JSON user records", commenting<ref>{{Cite web |last=Taylor |first=Dylan M. |date=2026-03-19 |title=userdb: add birthDate field to JSON user records |url=https://github.com/systemd/systemd/pull/40954 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260320055709/https://github.com/systemd/systemd/pull/40954 |archive-date=2026-03-20 |access-date=2026-03-20 |website=[[GitHub]]}}</ref><blockquote>Stores the user's birth date for age verification, as required by recent laws in California (AB-1043), Colorado (SB26-051), Brazil (Lei 15.211/2025), etc.</blockquote>In Mar 19 2026, Luca Boccassi<ref>{{Cite web |title=Luca Boccassi |url=https://github.com/bluca |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260320172404/https://github.com/bluca |archive-date=2026-03-20 |access-date=2026-03-20 |website=[[GitHub]]}}</ref>, a member of Systemd and a Microsoft employee, merged the commit. | ||
Lennart Poettering, the creator of systemd, known for having [[wikipedia:Lennart_Poettering#Controversies|controversial technical and architectural]] positions regarding the Linux ecosystem, has clarified that this change is:<blockquote>An optional field in the userdb JSON object. It's not a policy engine, not an API for apps. We just define the field, so that it's standardized | Lennart Poettering, the creator of systemd, known for having [[wikipedia:Lennart_Poettering#Controversies|controversial technical and architectural]] positions regarding the Linux ecosystem, has clarified that this change is:<blockquote>An optional field in the userdb JSON object. It's not a policy engine, not an API for apps. We just define the field, so that it's standardized if people want to store the date there, but it's entirely optional<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rudra |first=Sourav |date=2026-03-20 |title=Systemd’s New Feature Brings Age Verification Option to Linux |url=https://itsfoss.com/news/systemd-age-verification/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260320123152/https://itsfoss.com/news/systemd-age-verification/ |archive-date=2026-03-20 |access-date=2026-03-20 |website=It's FOSS}}</ref>.</blockquote> | ||
===[Company]'s response=== | ===[Company]'s response=== | ||
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==Consumer response== | ==Consumer response== | ||
Consumer response is mixed. Some says the age is manually entered so it doesn't affect privacy, others warn about the slippery slope and the potential to add national ID on system boot or installation. Users also point out Microsoft's influence over systemd<ref>{{Cite web |last=u/KestrelVO |date=2026-03-20 |title=Systemd’s New Feature Brings Age Verification Option to Linux |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/1rz5zmh/systemds_new_feature_brings_age_verification/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260321032725/https://old.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/1rz5zmh/systemds_new_feature_brings_age_verification/ |archive-date=2026-03-20 |access-date=2026-03- | Consumer response is mixed. Some says the age is manually entered so it doesn't affect privacy, others warn about the slippery slope and the potential to add national ID on system boot or installation. Users also point out Microsoft's influence over systemd<ref>{{Cite web |last=u/KestrelVO |date=2026-03-20 |title=Systemd’s New Feature Brings Age Verification Option to Linux |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/1rz5zmh/systemds_new_feature_brings_age_verification/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260321032725/https://old.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/1rz5zmh/systemds_new_feature_brings_age_verification/ |archive-date=2026-03-21 |access-date=2026-03-21 |website=[[Reddit]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |first=u/ChamplooAttitude |date=2026-03-20 |title=Dylan, useful idiot with commit access, pushed age verification PRs to systemd, Ubuntu & Arch, got 2 Microslop employees to merge it, called it 'hilariously pointless' in the PR itself, then watched Lennart personally block the revert. Unpaid compliance simp. |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/1rz8i4r/dylan_useful_idiot_with_commit_access_pushed_age/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260321005304/https://old.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/1rz8i4r/dylan_useful_idiot_with_commit_access_pushed_age/ |archive-date=2026-03-21 |access-date=2026-03-21 |website=[[Reddit]]}}</ref>. | ||
Users have been migrating to Artix Linux, Void Linux, Devuan and other systemd-free Linux distributions. | Users have been migrating to Artix Linux, Void Linux, Devuan and other systemd-free Linux distributions. | ||