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I don't agree at all with adding age "verification" parameters to Linux (in reality, the parameters just exist; I don't think you ever have to interact with them, so they verify nothing, but I hate the creeping surveillance anyway). This "project" nevertheless just seems like impotent dick-wagging preaching exclusively to a tiny choir and doing nothing useful technically. It comes across as petulant prattle from an LLC otherwise uninvolved in the Linux community and selling merchandise.
I mean they made some strong arguments for their existence. I don't think creating a technically novel piece of software was the goal. This is a technical solution to a legal issue that they expect will soon exist. The sheer existence of this acts as a warning and hurdle for politicians and those funding these laws for the next more invasive version of these laws. I don't expect I'll ever use this, but I'm glad it exists, as its existence is enough for it to work.
The sheer existence of this acts as a warning and hurdle for politicians
This will never be seen by federal or state-level legislators or executives. If you visited the website, you saw the unanimous support in California for the age verification bill. In the event it's sent to legislators as a link, there's almost zero chance they'll visit, let alone read it through. In the narrow chance that, like, one out of thousands actually reads it, it will not act as a warning to them, let alone a hurdle. It doesn't materially threaten anything they're doing – not in a technical sense and not in the sense that anybody but an excruciatingly tiny minority will actually adopt it.
Niche communities like this wildly overestimate their reach and influence among the people outside of them. I don't like it either, but I try to be mindful of it.
Dick-wagging to a tiny choir is still better than head-bowing in front of a large crowd.
I'll admit, I expected a LOT more griftiness before opening your link buuuut...I dunno, it doesn't seem worse than other projects that make a specific little "custom distro machine."
I agree it's a really niche action but, I like to be optimistic and I like the idealism.
¯_(ツ)_/¯
Someone else commented something about them being a "slop peddler" though, but haven't had a chance to look into that. (Obviously don't wanna support/ share slop peddling lol)
i love the message, too bad the guy who runs it is a slop peddler
Well... crap! Where'd you find that out? Admittedly I posted this because I thought it was cool, like, before my morning coffee so I didn't read the page 100%. >_<
On a semi related topic, is there any way to implement good parental control in Linux? I'm giving my old thinkpad to my 10yo, so I want to implement some controls in it.
For managing screen time on a per-user basis, timekpr-next is a pretty solid tool. I use it for the "family" PC (old Macbook w/ Linux Mint). We still keep an eye on their usage, of course.
Interesting, thank you!
Better off doing this at the router proxy level.
@nieceandtows@programming.dev
I like this suggestion. You can block adult content through just switching the router's DNS to a certain cloudflare address, and I THINK some routers allow blocking a connection from a certain MAC address from X to Y time.
There's also huge blacklists for PiHole to block that stuff, if you're open to self-host stuff.
But those lists, by nature of the vast Internet, won't cover everything, so I think computer use out in the open (like the family area) with set internet-open times would be best.
(A bit more advanced but I'm sure you can, say, permanently whitelist stuff like your distro's update domains, for example.)
And the best thing: Really just have open conversations about the dangers of this stuff on the Internet, and how things will try to hijack your brain. Kids are smart.
I'm about to be an any-day-now dad, so I've been trying to get ahead of this too! :)
Thoughtful comments and you spelled it out much better than I did... all of those things apply and keep surveillance away from your kid.
Thanks for the detailed info. Is there a way to provision a walled off youtube experience? I want her to leverage the vast knowledge stores on youtube for her various interests (blender tutorials for example), but also don't want her getting hooked on youtube itself, as I know how easy it can be to lose control. Currently I have a jellyfin server where I have a collection of hand selected youtube videos available as a library for her to watch, but I want her to gain the skills to find information/solution on the internet without getting exposed to its nastiness.
Those of us who lived through the Microsoft vs Linux debacle know that you don't need a large, popular distribution to manufacture a legal challenge. All you need is something that effectively undermines the opposition's legal basis.