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California lawmakers unanimously pass Linux exemption from age-verification law

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Re: California lawmakers unanimously pass Linux exemption from age-verification law

#211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I credit Minecraft with getting an entire generation comfortable using command line statements.

when a coworker asked how i remembered the argument for increasing java heap size, i just said "oh from a previous job" :X

and I had to smile when asked about the intention behind the META-INF directory during an interview with JetBrains. Got the job, thanks Mr Persson

Re: California lawmakers unanimously pass Linux exemption from age-verification law

#212
post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find the gunplay in Minecraft very limited, so I'm surprised that is how you got into Counterstrike ;)

If they’re American, guns are just part of our education system.

Not as much anymore. Sure, trap teams are common, but we used to have school rifle clubs that taught safe handling of firearms.

Now we've decided that if we don't talk about something, people won't get curious about it. Sadly, without being properly taught how to be safe, that generally ends tragically.

Re: California lawmakers unanimously pass Linux exemption from age-verification law

#213
post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The obvious answer is to slice up your gun model into a number of sub-parts which individually aren't detected by the algorithm but collectively still form a functioning gun. And there's an unlimited number of ways to slice up a model, so it is impossible to create an algorithm which catches everything. What's next, keep track of all printed parts and invent the math to recombine them in every way possible to see if…

Or ya know, make a gun using a cnc machine, or are they gonna ban those too? It’s so ridiculously easy to assemble a 3d printer from individually sourced parts, and find some open source firmware to run it. How is this going to stop anyone who’s dishonest and slightly motivated? What’s next is thinking about guns is a thought crime. There’s a cynical part of me that sees this as having nothing to do with guns. Techno…

Most sensible explanation to me is that it is getting something that does scanning on the 3d printers. Next step is to make it apply to copyrighted designs. As that is lot more doable. And fascists like to be in control and allow big corporations to exercise their power.

Re: California lawmakers unanimously pass Linux exemption from age-verification law

#214

Laws 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,…

Engineers and scientists would like to imagine our society operates off a specification. But laws are only justifications for what people in power want to do. All of what you’re talking about reinforces the myth that the text matters and is precisely defined.

Re: California lawmakers unanimously pass Linux exemption from age-verification law

#215

We got into this mess because people wanted Facebook to have age verification, and MZ decided to push the responsibility on to OSes. The result looks to me like Facebook will ban access from non-approved OSes like Linux. Android will still be allowed, GrapheneOS probably not.

TBH, OS based parental filters are the optimal solution here, especially if implemented in a proper way.

Kids don't buy phones and computers, parents do. When setting up the account for the first time, the parents could set the account to be an "underage one", all the apps, browsers, etc., would get the USER_IS_UNDERAGE flag and filter content according to that. No need for every site to ask and verify the age, just set the date of birth at the time of purchase, set a parental password (for possible future changes, reselling, etc.) and prohibit formats/wipes/factory resets without a parental password being entered. The clerks in telco stores could even help with the first setup of that.

Same could be easily implemented in linux, via some user flag set by the su/sudo user during the first eg. ubuntu install.

Re: California lawmakers unanimously pass Linux exemption from age-verification law

#216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no problem with that as long as it's not the government controlling the age verification. It should be a parent. And as a parent I want the ability to properly control my children's devices - the fact that Apple, and especially Google pretty much ignored this feature until now is a big part of why we have these dumb laws in the first place. Think about it - if every phone you got asked you at first config "are…

> And as a parent I want the ability to properly control my children's devices * https://www.apple.com/uk/child-safety/ * https://families.google/familylink/ * https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-365/family-safety You already have the ability, all parents do, that some (or most) haven't is why this crap gets proposed in the first place and used as a justification for invading everyone's privacy. If (some) paren…

I thank my concerned parents for locking down my computer as a young teen, for giving me motivation to study computer security in detail :)

Re: California lawmakers unanimously pass Linux exemption from age-verification law

#217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

when a coworker asked how i remembered the argument for increasing java heap size, i just said "oh from a previous job" :X

It’s three letters, one of which is common to all the extra options. Are your coworkers really impressed by this?

[flagged]

Re: California lawmakers unanimously pass Linux exemption from age-verification law

#218
This law is still worthless. A burden on those who follow it, an excuse to attack those who don't, and completely ineffective at best. You think every child doesn't quickly learn to click "I'm over 18"? I've been doing that since I was 13.

"Protect the children" is the most common refrain of fascists across the political spectrum. It's used, uncritically, to attack your rights, to take away your power, with a fragile appeal to morality. Just like the war on terror. And the war on drugs. And the war on poverty. Funny how all of these efforts have failed while increasing government interference in our lives. We never get the rights back, and we don't improve the situations on any of the above.

A reminder that the fear mongering around children is just that. It is the safest time for children in history: https://www.chadaldeman.com/p/the-world-is-safer-than-ever-s... https://www.unh.edu/ccrc/trends-child-victimization

Re: California lawmakers unanimously pass Linux exemption from age-verification law

#219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah most OSes contain open source code, but that doesn't make them open source as a whole.

But if Ubuntu bundles an Nvidia graphics driver that is not open source does that disqualify it? It's normal for there to be a mix of both open and closed source code in an os.

A better example is: I install Debian and later, somehow, the Google Play Store. Maybe that’s the only way to get some driver. Who is responsible for asking my age: Debian or Google?

Re: California lawmakers unanimously pass Linux exemption from age-verification law

#220

We got into this mess because people wanted Facebook to have age verification, and MZ decided to push the responsibility on to OSes. The result looks to me like Facebook will ban access from non-approved OSes like Linux. Android will still be allowed, GrapheneOS probably not.

I'm not sure it is very bad that facebook won't be accessible from Linux.
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