Apr 17, 2026, 9:04 PMfeel free to fuck off with the “it’s just a field in a database, distros will make it a simple age gate during account creation” horseshit unless you come with an explanation of why that’ll work in a regulatory landscape where porn sites with age gates are currently under legal threat from states where an age gate isn’t a sufficient proof mechanism, to the point where some of them have started partnering with companies like (Thiel-backed) Persona for identity verification
Apr 17, 2026, 9:06 PMif your proof is that I should trust that the people currently complying will suddenly grow a backbone and it’s actually very punk rock to have a database field with PII in systemd: go fuck yourself
Apr 17, 2026, 9:08 PMalso, is it not plainly fucking horrid that your account creation experience on linux of all fucking things is getting worse due to an unjust, unconstitutional (in the US) law? are you not pissed that muscle memory and scripts will break and command line account creation will get much worse due to this? no objections from the fuckers who campaign against any improvements to the status quo on this one? no? only when doing so fucks over someone else? how weird!
Apr 17, 2026, 10:10 PM“it’s just a column in a database, aren’t you being dramatic” thanks fucker, believe it or not I know how software works and I know perfectly well the type of horrid crap we can build on top of a simple backend if it’s encapsulated in the right type of system
Apr 17, 2026, 10:56 PM“it’s just a column in a database” said presumably a full grown adult whose ability to live under capitalism is a column in their bank’s database
Apr 17, 2026, 10:21 PM@zzt "It's just a column in a database" is also a great rebuttal to any commentary about the Federal Reserve.
Apr 17, 2026, 10:23 PM@jwz I’m trying hard to not bring up the prison industrial complex or IBM’s role in automating concentration camps but shit these assholes really need the reminder
Apr 18, 2026, 1:34 AM
If René isn't your hero, you shouldn't be working anywhere near data.
Apr 18, 2026, 11:09 AM
@helielo @sabik @zzt anonymizing religion against a fascist government often requires more work than simply blanking out the fields (which would indicate data tampering) so i assume carmille as head statistician of the french census did something more complicated. anonymity is very poorly treated in research and deserves much more investment particularly as analogy to encryption
Even if I didn't already agree with you (which I do), I am a senior data engineer, and anyone saying "it's just a column in a database" makes me want to look at them over the top of my glasses until they learn the error of their ways.
Apr 18, 2026, 10:14 AM@zzt "It's just a column in a database" said someone at IBM back in '33
@zzt your whole thesis is that if we want to be in solidarity we should do nothing , while also acknowledging that the field in the database is basically a form of doing nothing. I like seeing the field as a form of plausible deniability, we done our job! — I believe there’s ways to interpret the current happenings in a light that’s much more aligned with your values, maybe take some time to try see it that way.
@TheEntity @zzt joke's on you, the warranty only applies to posts, not replies. it's a different jurisdiction!
Apr 18, 2026, 5:05 PM@eljojo @TheEntity groan. fuck off.
@zzt tbqh i'm surprised they are actually implementing the field instead of just asking an llm to guess my age and then never bothering to check if it works
Apr 17, 2026, 11:26 PM@cap_ybarra that’s effectively red hat’s mission statement at this point
Apr 17, 2026, 11:44 PM@cap_ybarra @zzt I heard that Linux is gonna make me try to ring the bell with a sledgehammer before I log in
Apr 18, 2026, 6:57 AM@zzt
One could ask ibm how they implemented the stamp cards for the holocaust. Yet this company still exists, let alone has gotten any form of punishment. Its the same logic for any nazi despite a select few for a show trial. The western states have systematically shielded the nazis from prosecution, same as they do now.
The issue is not the people saying "what should i do, I'm alone." Its the people who say "no mate, the nazis never lost control is a conspiracy theory."
@zzt if I remember correctly the law only applies to consumer operating systems meaning your script might (might) still work on the server/embedded but not the desktop version (which is kind of asinine because you can technically just install a desktop environment on the server edition and then they're basically indistinguishable but hey when did laws have to make logical sense)
Apr 17, 2026, 9:41 PM@zzt ❤️
Apr 17, 2026, 10:52 PM@zzt "it's just a little x, it's just one y"
IT IS NEVER "Just" ANYTHING IF IT IS MORE THAN NOTHING. FUCK YOU.
Apr 18, 2026, 7:10 PM
@zzt in this case, it is really just a field in a database, because the bootlickers have not understood that they're not part of the club that gets to implement age verification.
Why should a website trust an age indication from a piece of software that might have been installed by a minor?
It was useful to see who the bootlickers are, and we should focus on getting them to understand which side of the walls they will be on when they come up.
Apr 18, 2026, 2:28 AM@GyrosGeier it’s really embarrassing that you didn’t do even basic research on who implemented the feature (an odious little fucker who thinks google locking down Android is great too) or who approved it over the objections of his own community (a guy whose entire notable career has been with corporations that enable genocides) and have just assumed that the continuing fascist project to take over open source somehow stopped before it noticed linux
@zzt READ IBM AND THE HOLOCAUST MOTHERFUCKERS! THE NUMBER TATTOOS WERE AN ENTRY IN THE IBM HOLLERITH PUNCH CARDS
Seriously this is straight up fash creep and anyone with half a clue OR a heart should be fighting it.
There is no good way to implement this-- especially in the currently out of control corruption that's wrecking everything around us. It's just one more point of leverage they'll use to squeeze everyone for control. It's not worth it. More harm than good, and doesn't accomplish its stated goal anyway. This isn't how we protect kids, it's how we all (including, maybe especially, the kids) lose privacy.
@violetmadder @hipsterelectron @zzt It does what it is intended to, protect social media companies from liability. Without even mentioning social media.
@hipsterelectron @zzt Nazi Nexus by the same author is a good overview of US corporate inspiration for, collusion with, and enablement of the Nazis.
A lot of familiar notes ringing with the present and I was reading it in ~2017.
