Excellent. From now on all kids will become linux natives. The decade of the linux desktop is coming!
I'm a lifelong Apple fan but my kids have Steam Decks and Raspberry Pis. I hope they grow to love Linux.
California lawmakers unanimously pass Linux exemption from age-verification law
121–130 of 409 posts
Re: California lawmakers unanimously pass Linux exemption from age-verification law
#122Cool now let's exempt hobbyists from the 3-D printer must certify you are not printing gun parts pending legislation.
A quick search suggests that 3D-printed guns being used in crime is an actual, for-real, and growing problem. I take it that you wouldn't be OK with somebody building a uranium enrichment facility in their backyard for their hobby reactor. So there is a line to be drawn on where people's freedom to tinker ends; it's just a question of where you draw it. Personally, I think given there is an actual documented, non-iso…
Once you know how easy it is to make a gun using parts from a hardware store the concept of banning it becomes a joke.
It’s like trying to ban wrenches.
Lever and tube - that’s what it is. People create makeshift ones even when it’s legal to buy them, because it’s cheap and easy to do so.
You can’t ban computers or personal transportation or words either.
You can’t even ban a person from a website. You can ban an account - but you haven’t stopped the person. Any attempt at playing arbitrary authority you’re gonna lose
Re: California lawmakers unanimously pass Linux exemption from age-verification law
#123> the original definition of “user,” which read, “a child that is the primary user of a device,” and technically classified every device owner in California as a child.
which technically makes California a "Nanny state"
Re: California lawmakers unanimously pass Linux exemption from age-verification law
#124Earlier quoted context omitted.
And then the exception will evaporate overnight.
Precisely. Courts will find that the situation where Linux users are exempt from the law, whereas Windows users have to submit their ID and any other personal data, can not be maintained, so Linux users will also be forced to give up their ID before being able to access the internet. This will also first come via commercial distributions (perhaps it can not be enforced by independent linux users, but the law need not…
This law does not require non Linux users to give up their ID to use the Internet, so why would they make Linux users do so?
Re: California lawmakers unanimously pass Linux exemption from age-verification law
#125Excellent. From now on all kids will become linux natives. The decade of the linux desktop is coming!
I credit Minecraft with getting an entire generation comfortable using command line statements.
I chuckled for a bit, then realized you're probably right. It does get people familiar with it and probably helps a lot.
Re: California lawmakers unanimously pass Linux exemption from age-verification law
#126Earlier quoted context omitted.
A quick search suggests that 3D-printed guns being used in crime is an actual, for-real, and growing problem. I take it that you wouldn't be OK with somebody building a uranium enrichment facility in their backyard for their hobby reactor. So there is a line to be drawn on where people's freedom to tinker ends; it's just a question of where you draw it. Personally, I think given there is an actual documented, non-iso…
> A quick search suggests that 3D-printed guns being used in crime is an actual, for-real, and growing problem. Making actual firearms from steel is trivial. In fact you can look up Kalashnikov designs online and then replicate it with a relatively simple mill/lathe/tapping setup.
>relatively simple mill/lathe/tapping setup
To be honest, as someone familiar mostly with computers, I have no idea where to start with this and it sounds a bit intimidating. Buying a 3D printer and using some 3rd party design sound very easy in comparison.
You're certainly right that it's possible for someone determined to make their own firearm, but raising the bar still has immense value.
Tradeoffs between freedom and safety are another, unrelated discussion.
Re: California lawmakers unanimously pass Linux exemption from age-verification law
#127Excellent. From now on all kids will become linux natives. The decade of the linux desktop is coming!
I've been hearing about this since the late 90s.
I've been ignoring Linux since the early 90s.
Would always install some variant, think it was "pretty cool" for a few days, then revert back to "whatever MacOS was offering" (for my daily driver).
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2026: I just finished building my third Ubuntu Linux machine, this year (gave the first one to my brother). An Ubuntu running a 5070Ti is now my main operating system.
Re: California lawmakers unanimously pass Linux exemption from age-verification law
#128Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's also hilarious how poorly defined so many laws are. So many loopholes and bugs everywhere. Probably because most lawyers/politicians are effectively illiterate when it comes to logic.
> Probably because most lawyers/politicians are effectively illiterate when it comes to logic. Unfortunately the “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity" is completely wrong in politics. In politics and lawmaking, always attribute to malice, not stupidity. Lawmakers appears extremely dumb on TV for the most part, but the teams behind them are actually very smart (pure evil, but smar…
I don't disagree with you, but I think it's important to remember that ambiguous laws are also a feature of modern societies. Laws have to be ambiguous, for one because the real world cannot be codified into abstract laws perfectly, and because separation of power is a fundamental part of how our society works. Judges are supposed to apply the law to specific cases. Thus lawmakers get to decide the wording but judges get to decide how to use it. If there was no room for ambiguity, we would not need any judges.
That's how it should work on paper anyway...
Re: California lawmakers unanimously pass Linux exemption from age-verification law
#129Laws need to be managed like software: There should be a process for testing, user feedback, quick patches for bugs or conflicts, and regular updates to fix issues. If you think about it, both laws and software are called "code". The problem is our legal system is still based on the waterfall method. Lawmakers try to plan for everything, laws meant to solve one problem face feature creep and create a thousand others,…
California is a common law jurisdiction. Judges evaluate cases and make rulings based on the intent of the law instead of the literal text as written in order to avoid absurdities, setting precedent for future similar cases. If the lawmakers disagree with case law, they amend the law.
Re: California lawmakers unanimously pass Linux exemption from age-verification law
#130Excellent. From now on all kids will become linux natives. The decade of the linux desktop is coming!
Is 2027 the year of the Linux desktop?