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Ageless Linux is Debian Linux, but with any age verification taken out. This is a protest of laws like California’s that require “operating system providers” to provide “age bracket information” on any user to any software that requests it.

Aside from how creepy it is that our operating systems are required to tell anyone who asks that a child is using them, this law is ridiculous. It’s a compliance exercise and if we allow it there will be more where this came from.

Ageless Linux takes a stand by refusing to comply.

The downloads page (agelesslinux.org) does not yet have installer images available, but there is a shell script (agelesslinux.org) that will convert any Debian based system into Ageless Linux.

I looked over that code. I do not recommend running it because it changes almost everything in /etc/os-release and /etc/lsb-release. Those are used by some software to identify what kind of system you are running—ironically, even this Ageless installer script uses them.

The installer is an interesting look at how this ridiculous legal requirement might be carried out though. Debian and other distros have no standard way of doing it yet, so this script doesn’t remove any existing software. It adds its own dummy age verification API command that spits out some error text and exits.

The site also has a lot of information on these laws. They track which US states have them, who is sponsoring them, and the official responses of Linux distros. It’s a good site for keeping track of this nastiness (their RSS feed is broken though).

Ageless Linux is Debian Linux, but with any age verification taken out. This is a protest of laws like California’s that require “operating system providers” to provide “age bracket information” on any user to any software that requests it. Aside from how creepy it is that our operating systems are required to tell anyone who asks that a child is using them, this law is ridiculous. It’s a compliance exercise and if we allow it there will be more where this came from. Ageless Linux takes a stand by refusing to comply. The [downloads page](https://agelesslinux.org/download.html) does not yet have installer images available, but there is a [shell script](https://agelesslinux.org/become-ageless.sh) that will convert any Debian based system into Ageless Linux. I looked over that code. I do not recommend running it because it changes almost everything in `/etc/os-release` and `/etc/lsb-release`. Those are used by some software to identify what kind of system you are running—ironically, even this Ageless installer script uses them. The installer is an interesting look at how this ridiculous legal requirement might be carried out though. Debian and other distros have no standard way of doing it yet, so this script doesn’t remove any existing software. It adds its own dummy age verification API command that spits out some error text and exits. The site also has a lot of information on these laws. They track which US states have them, who is sponsoring them, and the official responses of Linux distros. It’s a good site for keeping track of this nastiness (their RSS feed is broken though).
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[–] • 1 pt

Then you are an operating system provider who has distributed an operating system to a child without collecting their age at account setup. But here's the thing: you don't have an "affected child." You have a person whose age you don't know. The law fines you per "affected child" (§ 1798.503(a)), but can only identify a child as "affected" through the age bracket data (§ 1798.500(b)) that the law requires you to collect. You can't be fined per child until you've counted the children. You count the children by asking their age. You're being fined for not asking their age. The law eats its own tail.

The ouroboros.

[–] • 0 pt

That’s the easy, obvious way to catch violators. I’m sure that’s what they’re hoping for down the road: an OS that reports tips off the police when it’s not complying with something.

The harder way to catch violators still works though. If an authoritarian school teacher ever catches a child viewing something age restricted and calls the police the “operating system provider” will be fined.