this post was submitted on 25 Mar 2026
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An init system does not need to know my personal details; it’s for starting programs in a specific order just fuck off with this shit. You don’t even have to capitulate to this stuff and these freaks are out here doing it preemptively like they expect a fucking pat on the head for being first in line to dive tongue first on to that boot.
Systemd isn't an init system. Systemd-init is an init system and it is a part of the systemd suite.
It has been sold as just an init system to people who argued it's a Katamari Damacy. We now know who was right.
Whatever the fuck it is it doesn’t need to know how old I am to do its job.
It already has fields for personal information, though, and they're every bit as sensitive as your birthdate. realName, emailAddress, location, and timezone are already in there. The important part is that they're all optional, and you don't have to fill them in at all, or can fill them in with fake data. The system still serves you, not some outside party.
But the timing of it does have a lot of people freaking out about it.
I now fear it will one day be required for services on the internet (as it is by a rescent law in Calafornia). I want to make that less uikely, and more difficult to implement.
Having a principle the majority do not have and refusing to participate means being another step further out of society.
"I've already raped your mouth. Rapping your ass is not gonna be any worse, just accept it"
And it still doesn't, the blank space does not need to be filled
...until it becomes a requirement to be filled.
And then one can simply remove the requirement for it to be filled, because it's open source software.
It doesn't know how old are you, it just remembers a date you tell it. You can give your birthday, but you can choose any other day
This is step 1.
Final step: Scan your passport to verify and populate the date of birth field.
It doesn't need to know your age. It just provides a way to take a note of your birth date, only if you want to. The system already has a place to write your name and home address. All are optional and practically nobody uses them.
tell me you have only a passing understanding of how modern linux is architected without telling me you have only a passing understanding of how modern linux is architected
Enlighten us then. Why would an operating system management tool need to know the age of its user?
because whilst systemd-initd is the part that everyone is generally aware of, that’s linked to systemd-logind so that processes can be started as different users… process init, session management, and user management are intertwined
they don’t have to be for sure - sysv init proves that - but in modern linux, they are and that comes with a load of benefits
https://deepwiki.com/systemd/systemd/6-user-and-session-management
https://systemd.io/USER_RECORD/
I get that systemd also manages user data. I still fail to see how it needs that DoB.
because theyre being pragmatic… laws are starting to be introduced around the globe for parental controls - whatever that means in each jurisdiction. given that, there needs to be options available to people wanting to, or required to comply with said laws… the best place to do that is in a user record, as an optional field… extensible user records, in modern linux, are stored in systemd
it needs it in a similar manner to how it needs location, email, real name, etc: it doesn’t functionally need it, but it’s a place to store the metadata associated with a user such that other applications can use it
If they're pragmatic, they'd wait to confirm the requirement. Currently, they're more on the proactively bootlicking side than pragmatic.
Location is needed to set timezone. As for real name and email, they're both tied to history.
Why would it need to know your real name?
It doesn't. It just needs some name to display on the welcome screen and doesn't know what else to call it.
Welcome screen? Systemd doesn’t have a welcome screen. And even if it did, why would it need anything other than username?
Why does it need a field for location and email?
Because back in the 60s and 70s, people wanted to know whose print jobs were running and where the printed documents should be delivered.
So over 40 years before systemd was initially released?
I’m hearing a whole lot of mental gymnastics from both of y’all to explain away the “okay” fields while demonizing the (optional) “evil” fields.
What are you getting at me for? You asked a question and I answered.
I don't care about any new gecos fields because they're optional.
<.< Your answer makes no sense.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gecos_field#Format
https://docs.redhat.com/en/documentation/red_hat_enterprise_linux/4/html/introduction_to_system_administration/s2-acctsgrps-files#ftn.idm140081194521120
My point was that adding another optional field asking for DOB is just as “scary” as the optional fields asking for real name and location. It doesn’t need them, which was what the other user was alluding to.
What service should handle it instead?
NONE
Why is it need at all??
Because it's going to be a legal requirement, with fines of $7000 per affected underage user, which will instantly bankrupt the US-based non-profit representing Debian, Arch and others, and kill off community-maintained Linux.
Do note: The legal requirement is NOT for age verification. Only for having a field where you as the admin can enter whatever the fuck you want.
If you don't agree with the law, good. Neither do I. But the devs aren't the ones to apply pressure to, here.
They're forced to do this to keep the lights on, and they've implemented it in a way that keeps you as the admin in full control.
Literally no one forced them to do that yet. They just decided to get on their knees preemptively and start licking boots
Open source software has maintainers all around the world. Why the fuck would the rest of the world care about this fucked up law coming from ONE state?
Again, no one is forced to do anything. And if I was a maintainer on FOSS where I would be forced to implement something like this, I would just stop contributing to that project.
Fuck everyone going along with this state surveillance bullshit.
It takes a long while for a PR to make it into the distros. The law goes into effect in less than a year.
The organization distributing donations to the various distros (Software In The Public Interest) sits in the US and needs to follow US law in order to not be shut down.
Without them, Debian, Arch, LibreOffice, Systemd and dozens of others have no more funding.
Sounds like a reason to start a riot.
Why doesn't Debian do it instead of systemd? Let the distros decide on the plan of action, this is clearly not something that systemd has to decide. The people maintaining systemd are leveraging the fact that their shite software runs on more than 95% of Linux machines. What is weird too is compliance ahead of time. Compliance ahead of time makes sense with cars, but software can be updated immediately when necessary.
Debian takes the source code from upstream systemd and creates their own deb package. They're free to leave out the date field.