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Posted by WalterSobchak 14 hours ago

A new California law says all operating systems need to have age verification(www.pcgamer.com)
450 points | 430 commentspage 5
locococo 4 hours ago|
What is the reason fir this law, what problem does it try to solve. It's not clear to me what age gas to do with using an operating system.

They should also require background checks for gun safes.

rm30 5 hours ago||
This law perfectly demonstrates the constraint problem: regulators assumed age verification is a simple checkbox at account setup.

Right now I'm on an ESP32 with free RTOS, will I need to add a keyboard and display just for age verification?

cbsmith 4 hours ago|
I think it mostly demonstrates that people don't read laws before criticizing them.
982307932084 11 hours ago||
Looking forward to resisting the regime.
AnimalMuppet 9 hours ago|
I'm thinking that I should grab a current Linux distro image while I can...
Bender 5 hours ago||
A new California law says all operating systems, including Linux, need to have some form of age verification at account setup

Curious how they plan to do this. Maybe digital rights management tied to TPM. If so it will take 3 ... 2 ... 1 .... cracked ... spoofed. DVD's were cracked with Perl. Curious what language this will be cracked in.

MangoCoffee 5 hours ago||
It's funny that more and more Chinese style laws are being passed in the West.

What's next? Chinese style social credit? You’ll need 800 points to run a sudo command?

Free society? Mass surveillance. The West is becoming more of a nanny state like China every year.

ipnon 5 hours ago|
California is becoming more like a nanny state. I don’t think a law like this would pass in North Dakota or Texas in a thousand years.
bhewes 6 hours ago||
Fun to watch my generation who was raised by helicopter parents turn into tank parents using scorched earth techniques.
crumpled 11 hours ago||
Is Github an application store? Is npm? apt? yum?

If not, why not? You need age verification before you even create an account.

beej71 11 hours ago|
Is `ls` an application? Is `cat`?

This thing is so broadly-written, the only thing saving you from needing to give you age to your toaster is that it's not a "general-purpose" computing device. Never mind that it can run DOOM...

hn_acc1 8 hours ago||
Do you download `ls` from anything resembling an "app store"?
numpad0 7 hours ago||
like apt? or ftp.example.com?

also: what's download? in embedded sphere, flashing a firmware is often reffered to as download. That's an industry standard term.

CWuestefeld 7 hours ago||
It's not stated here, but is it implied that app platforms that, themselves, have an "app store", would be required to read this datum and pass it to their app store?

For example, I've got a map application on my phone that lets me download maps, widgets, POI lists, etc. from their app store. It seems like enabling that age signal through this exchange is exactly what the politicians are looking for.

hafthor 4 hours ago||
What about embedded RTOS, like WindRiver or Zephyr? What if I write a memory manager and flash storage file manager for a really barebones MCU like a PIC? It didn't even define what an operating system is. What constitutes an update? If a security patch to DOS 6 came out, would it suddenly be required to have this tech? Is z/OS going to have this tech?

Overall, I think don't think it's a bad idea for devices to be able to host an age verification system that offers requestable boolean proof of age, like if porn site demands over 18 to view, the user, regardless of age, is prompted and if they accept, it returns either a positive cryptographic claim or a cancel signal if not of age. If they don't accept the prompt, the same cancel signal goes back. The idea that this feature would need a mandate of law is dumb.

jamesgill 4 hours ago||
Since Linux is a kernel, not an operating system, it's unaffected by this law.
cm2187 7 hours ago|
so my smart microwave will require some age verification?
ceayo 6 hours ago|
Of course! Think of the dangers of an unsupervised child... (SHOCK WARNING) cooking... A gasp MEAL!
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