this post was submitted on 24 Mar 2026
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Will we have to choose between privacy-friendly Linux distros vs legal Linux distros? (lemmy.ca)
submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by pglpm@lemmy.ca to c/linux@lemmy.world
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/62278765

Software changes for compliance with age-verification laws are being pushed a bit everywhere in Linux-development; for example:

It's interesting that it's the same small group of people behind these pull requests, and that discussion threads in them have been locked owing to a great amount of negative criticisms.

They say "we have to comply with the law". Which also means that if "the law" in the future will require proper verification, handling to 3rd-parties, or whatnot, then they will comply.

Well, it's their right to. They don't owe anything to anyone, and are under no obligation to report to users or to the community, nor to pay heed to anybody's wishes.

If things proceed in this direction, we users may at some point have to choose between privacy-friendly Linux distributions or legal Linux distributions. People who, like me, are worried, need to start thinking about concrete actions to take before it's too late: where to develop such distros? which channels to download and distribute them from? And so on. (And of course, more generally we need to write and protest to politicians, organize protest marches, go on strike, refuse to comply...)

It's good to remind to those who keep on repeating the words "legal" and "illegal" that for example Nelson Mandela was, technically speaking, a criminal who did and promoted illegal activity. This happens when laws become immoral.

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[–] chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 day ago

People who, like me, are worried, need to start thinking about concrete actions to take before it’s too late: where to develop such distros? which channels to download and distribute them from? And so on

My ideal outcome here is that this stuff sparks a renaissance in covert, anonymous software development and distribution, and various infrastructure to support it. Ideally this should be standard; your work may at some point in the future be deemed illegal, at which point you can be forced to comply if you haven't protected yourself from the start. The most obvious solution is to manage projects from the start as if it was already illegal; carefully conceal your identity before it's technically required to do so, then when draconian laws show up just carry on as normal.