@Plan-A

The issue is escalation. It is easier to amend a law than to create it. If they came out in the beginning demanding proof then no one would approve of it. So they try to make a law which has requirement for an age signal. This gets their groundwork done. Let me give you an example.

In the United States the attempt to pass a law for Income Tax, which is unconstitutional in the the United States, was defeated over three times. When they finally made a condition that it only effected millionaires it got passed. Over the years just taxing the incomes of millionaires was not enough. So they extended the law to the middle class, and then to everyone. It is much easier to amend an existing law to their purpose than to get one passed that is as restrictive as they want it to be. Yet, they know when they get their foot in the door their mission is on the way to fruition.

Given time they will find, as they already know, that an age signal is not enough to protect the children (as they are selling it), so they will make the requirements more stringent until there will be a whole industry of Age Verification Providers. Anyone that wants to use a device with an operating system on it will have to verify with a provider which will demand a copy of their ID, Birth Certificate, etc. Our use of these devices will then be irrevocably connected to our Identification. Privacy will no longer exist.

This is what the so-called hype is about.

@Plan-A @Fou

By the way, this effects us directly as Fedora users. Fedora is funded by Red Hat and Red Hat is owned by IBM. Because IBM is based in Colorado where such laws are being passed as we speak you can be assured that Fedora will have no legal choice except comply or end their distribution.

@Plan-A @Fou

I may be going back to home rolled (Linux From Scratch) Gnu/Linux after all. As it is not effected as long as you are not distributing an OS this age verification does not apply. We can still use our own OSes that we build, on our hardware.

@Fou mhm,
search engine AI
Yes, building your own operating system is a viable — and increasingly relevant — way to maintain full control over your digital environment, especially as laws like California’s AB 1043 lay the groundwork for system-level user tracking.

You can create a custom Linux-based OS tailored to your privacy, performance, and usability needs.

Most approaches fall into two categories:
1. Remix an Existing Distro (Recommended for most)

Use tools like:

Debian Live (live-build): Customize Ubuntu/Debian ISOs, add/remove packages, apply branding.
Archiso: Build from Arch Linux, ideal for lightweight, rolling-release systems.
SUSE Studio (web-based): Create custom openSUSE images with GUI tools.
Cubic (Ubuntu-focused): GUI tool to modify Ubuntu ISOs easily.

These let you strip out telemetry, enforce encryption, harden the kernel, and embed privacy tools (e.g., firewall rules, Tor, OpenSnitch) by default.

this is the easy approach instead building from scratch.

@Plan-A @Fou

Keep in mind that moving forward some distros packages may require age signaling to work. So you would need to build your own packages anyway. This is probably not going to happen in the near future. Yet, that is what I would have said about OS age verification last year too ...