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Nanny state discovers Linux, demands it check kids' IDs before booting

theregister.com

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Re: Nanny state discovers Linux, demands it check kids' IDs before booting

#221

Post by joquarky »

tzs wrote: post #170
Arch485 wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or lots of parents will put their ID into their kid's computer so that they have full access.

What ID? Most of these laws don't require any ID. They require that when the administrator of the computer sets up an account for a user the admin can enter an age or birthdate for the user, and that the OS provides an interface so that apps that user runs can ask based on that admin provided information what age bracket the user is in ([0,13), [13,16), [16,18), [18,∞)). Apps that need to make age based decisions can…

Once a mechanism is in place, they can easily "refine" it.

Re: Nanny state discovers Linux, demands it check kids' IDs before booting

#222

Post by gzread »

slopinthebag wrote: post #217
gzread wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it's very useful to parents who want to restrict their children's computer use. Some of those parents use Linux. Yes, it does.

It's not, you need actual parental controls. Furthermore if this was just for the children it would be a setting you opt into, fully optional and unregulated, like parental controls are now. And no, there is absolutely no argument for a slippery slope here. Especially considering we've had OSS for what, 50 years now? And corporations are doing just fine. Unlike the vast history of authoritarianism and government oppr…

How long have we had parental controls for? R-rated movies?

Re: Nanny state discovers Linux, demands it check kids' IDs before booting

#223

Post by gzread »

xboxnolifes wrote: post #203
gzread wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are there any other places this argument could apply or is it specifically this one? Like if I said "Yes, the university reserves the right to expel students who defecate on the teacher's desk. But we all know where this is going." that'd be pretty crazy, wouldn't it?

If universities didn't have the right to expel students at all and that was proposed, and they had a history of turning small law into totally encompassing law, I would fairly confidently say that the university is on the path to obtain the ability to expel students for any reason it seems fit. So yes, we all know where this is going.

Do open source operating systems have a history of turning small law into totally encompassing law? I guess systemd.

Re: Nanny state discovers Linux, demands it check kids' IDs before booting

#224

Post by soulofmischief »

gzread wrote: post #222
slopinthebag wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not, you need actual parental controls. Furthermore if this was just for the children it would be a setting you opt into, fully optional and unregulated, like parental controls are now. And no, there is absolutely no argument for a slippery slope here. Especially considering we've had OSS for what, 50 years now? And corporations are doing just fine. Unlike the vast history of authoritarianism and government oppr…

How long have we had parental controls for? R-rated movies?

In the 80s, you'd see nudity and heavy swearing in PG movies. You know, "parental guidance". The Overton window has shifted greatly since then.

Re: Nanny state discovers Linux, demands it check kids' IDs before booting

#225

Post by eddd-ddde »

whywhywhywhy wrote: post #27
wongarsu wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The California law only stipulates that there's an "accessible interface at account setup" to set the birthday or age at account setup, and an interface to query the age bracket. Plus the crap for "application stores" I don't think it's a very well thought-out law. But realistically this will end up as setting some env variable for your docker containers to assure them that you are 99 years old. And yes, maybe transm…

So once my application is running I can just keep querying an age bracket until it flips and then I've successfully determined a date of birth.

And then do what? Date of birth is essentially public information.

Re: Nanny state discovers Linux, demands it check kids' IDs before booting

#226

Post by jrey36 »

gzread wrote: post #112
parineum wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gavin doesn't make laws and should have vetoed this one.

Why, what's wrong with it?

for one, it bans linux as these distros do not have centralized user account data bases and the resources to comply

Re: Nanny state discovers Linux, demands it check kids' IDs before booting

#227

Post by xboxnolifes »

gzread wrote: post #223
xboxnolifes wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If universities didn't have the right to expel students at all and that was proposed, and they had a history of turning small law into totally encompassing law, I would fairly confidently say that the university is on the path to obtain the ability to expel students for any reason it seems fit. So yes, we all know where this is going.

Do open source operating systems have a history of turning small law into totally encompassing law? I guess systemd.

The one imposing this is not open source operating systems. Its government.
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