I'm a reader of this email and have never responded or asked anything but.....
I've heard a lot of the ideas people are thinking off the top of their heads currently and realize this is just getting started but I wanted to raise a possibility that may apply to Arch and not the common distributions. I've heard several comment their intentions to not approve their distro for use in California which is my favorite. But Arch, to me, is very different in that you do not download and push a button and log in and you're done. You download enough to build a system a system using the parts and pieces available in the repositories. It's the same model from the beginning days when you downloaded a floppy image from a guy name HLU and used that to build the drive then compile what pieces you needed wanted.....except instead having having to having to gather up the various pieces of code from different universities and compile everything from source, we've got that incredible repository. Anyway, it occurs to me that any "package" which supplies the age labeled spy code would need to be installed and like most other packages the user/builder installs them.. Arch supplies the slim virtual system to build the actual installation,. Arch supplies the instructions describe how to install packages available to use on the system you are building, not Arch building, the user is building. So..... why would Arch be responsible for what components a user uses to build their system...... I suppose they could expect that initial slim virtual system to ask how old you are.... but how could Arch be responsible for what others do......... In the end California will bury everyone in legal costs unless some freedom legal nonprofit steps in. Large corporations don't have pockets as deep as a government so I don't think it's about how the mpouse trap works, at this point, it's more about teaching everyone how to jump through the hoop like nice little boys and girls.... On Sat, Mar 7, 2026 at 8:45 PM Ralf Mardorf <[email protected]> wrote: > Everything I have to say now is 100% political and has nothing to do > with Arch Linux. Nevertheless, I would like to point out one thing: it > is impossible to obey the laws of one country without violating the laws > of another. > > Every morning when I wake up, I wonder what new political nonsense has > been added overnight. > > Political age barriers are an issue in themselves. > > I would like to point the finger at other nations, but unfortunately I > am a citizen of a country that started two world wars and is one of the > few countries in the world that still recruits soldiers under the age of > 18. The politician who fully supports an army including minors is the > politician with the highest approval ratings in my country. > > Therefore, I would rather hold back when it comes to another country > that believes that every operating system must register its users and > verify their age. > > Although I have nothing further to contribute on this topic, I will > nevertheless continue reading with interest. >
