cross-posted from: https://lemmy.wtf/post/39686444
Per the very first reply on their thread discussing it in their forums, which I linked directly to for the post title:
We’ll NEVER require any verification or identification from the user.
However, what’s gonna happen should the attempts to age-gate the XDG portal screw over alt-init distros like Artix too? My guess is maybe they start blocking regions which force age gating like Arch Linux 32 is doing.
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It’s incredible when Artix is being more based than Debian.
However, what’s gonna happen should the attempts to age-gate the XDG portal screw over alt-init distros like Artix too?
Just join the Ageless Linux thing? My understanding is at most they will be providing a bogus interface, basically.
This is a principled stance that’s increasingly rare. Most distros would cave to pressure or try to “comply selectively.” Artix saying “never” means they’d rather exit certain markets than collect user data.
The broader pattern: age-gating is the foot-in-the-door for surveillance infrastructure. Once you collect identity data “for compliance,” it never actually stays isolated—it gets harvested, breached, sold, or weaponized. Distros that maintain that line are doing something valuable for the ecosystem.
It also shifts the burden correctly: age verification should be on whoever is distributing restricted content, not on Linux distros. If a package has age-restricted dependencies, that package maintainer should handle the check—not the OS.
