System76 published a statement today regarding the recent laws coming about in California and likely Colorado and New York too around requiring age verification on operating system accounts and ultimately exposing the information (or at least age brackets) to apps and websites. System76’s position is interesting given that they sell Linux-loaded desktops, workstations and laptops plus being an operating system vendor with their in-house Pop!_OS distribution and COSMIC desktop environment.
Besides System76 being a Linux hardware retail and Linux OS vendor, they are based out of Colorado as one of the states following California in such legislation to mandate operating system account user age requirements. System76 CEO Carl Richell opined in the blog post:
“A parent that creates a non-admin account on a computer, sets the age for a child account they create, and hands the computer over is in no different state. The child can install a virtual machine, create an account on the virtual machine and set the age to 18 or over. It’s a similar technique to installing a VPN to get around the Great Firewall of China (just consider that for a moment). Or the child can simply re-install the OS and not tell their parents.
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In the case of Colorado’s and California’s bills, effectiveness is lost. In the case of New York’s bill, liberty is lost. In the case of centralized platforms, potential is lost.
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The challenges we face are neither technical nor legal. The only solution is to educate our children about life with digital abundance. Throwing them into the deep end when they’re 16 or 18 is too late. It’s a wonderful and weird world. Yes, there are dark corners. There always will be. We have to teach our children what to do when they encounter them and we have to trust them.”
The post in full can be read on the System76 blog. It concludes with:
“We are accustomed to adding operating system features to comply with laws. Accessibility features for ADA, and power efficiency settings for Energy Star regulations are two examples. We are a part of this world and we believe in the rule of law. We still hope these laws will be recognized for the folly they are and removed from the books or found unconstitutional.”
While hopefully these laws will be struck down, in the interim Linux distributions are left figuring out how to cope with it. The California legislation is scheduled to go into effect on 1 January 2027.