FreeBSD and Age Verification.

vannax · 2026-03-01T00:01:50+00:00

I can only pray that grandfathered OSs downloaded before this insane law was passed will be maintained until the insanity is over.

Robin

"You will own nothing and you will like it."

Bluey

vannax
"I like Omarchy's response: "

I do to.

The small independent projects located outside the orange curtain can thumb their noses but the big enterprise software suppliers are dropping their pants to comply in advance as fast as they can.

In January 2025 I moved all my data outside the former US and switched OS's to those developed in the remaining free world.

I worry about the future of the US based BSD's as this madness sweeps across their home country.

Only GhostBSD and OpenBSD are developed outside the orange curtain afaik? Please correct me if I am wrong.

While we are on the subject, GrapheneOS which is based in Canada has announced a partnership with Chinese company Lenovo (Motorola) to facilitate installation on that company's devices, so that is an option for mobile devices now.

ericbsd

Bluey Only GhostBSD and OpenBSD are developed outside the orange curtain afaik? Please correct me if I am wrong.

Yes, but we rely on FreeBSD, which is based in the US. That said, they could move the foundation to Canada. Ed lives in Canada.

ericbsd

Bluey Chinese company Lenovo

Ah, I have 3 Lenovo laptops, and I had no idea it was a Chinese company.

Bluey

ericbsd Yes, but we rely on FreeBSD, which is based in the US. That said, they could move the foundation to Canada. Ed lives in Canada.

FreeBSD foundation is based in Colorado, which is also passing these insane laws.

I don't know the financial structure of GhostBSD but moving it to a privacy respecting jurisdiction seems sensible.

The RHEL clones in Linux world sanitise their builds of (C) notices from their upstream. [lawyers please advise]

Thirdly, simply change the GhostBSD license terms, as MidnightBSD has, to not authorise use in jurisdictions which demand identification before installation.

Bluey

ericbsd Ah, I have 3 Lenovo laptops, and I had no idea it was a Chinese company.

Lenovo was founded on November 1, 1984, in Beijing, China, originally under the name Legend by a group of eleven engineers led by Liu Chuanzhi.
Lenovo acquired IBM's Personal Computing Division on May 3, 2005, for approximately $1.25 billion, which included cash and stock. This acquisition made Lenovo the world's third-largest PC maker.
Lenovo acquired Motorola Mobility from Google for approximately $2.91 billion in 2014.

gomadtoll

ericbsd

There was the IBM Thinkpad. IBM sold to Lenovo.

ericbsd

SteveM My big question in all this is if California can fine OS from another country that has no office in the US?

SteveM

Bluey The opinion that these insane laws may not apply to server installs probably is giving too much credit to the extremely vague language of the legislation.

I concur with you. Otherwise a child could connect to their account on a server and use it to access age restricted applications installed on it. It seems that for many people this is the first time they have experienced poorly written laws whereas some of us have been dealing with them for years. My favorites are the ones that put into place a requirement that the writers of the bill admit can't be met but everyone goes along and passes it into law because "We have to do something!"

ericbsd My big question in all this is if California can fine OS from another country that has no office in the US?

As far as I know, no. But that would probably depend on the laws and courts of the country that the developer lives in.

ericbsd

Bluey Thirdly, simply change the GhostBSD license terms

For now I am waiting on FreeBSD solution. I am not gonna touch the license.

Bluey

ericbsd For the discussion happening on the FreeBSD side. See https://lists.freebsd.org/archives/freebsd-hackers/2026-February/005867.html

Thanks for this Eric.

The opinion that these insane laws may not apply to server installs probably is giving too much credit to the extremely vague language of the legislation.

LizziAS

Jurisdiction is the word. California and Colorado and Brazil don't have the jurisdiction to enforce their laws on the rest of the world, If an os has offices in those places then that would be placing them in their jurisdiction to be able to enforce compliance. Brazils law goes into effect in less than 2 weeks.

Bluey

LizziAS

California probably has enough resources to go after people outside their jurisdiction, but at a federal level there certainly is plenty of existing legislation to be misused against any entity or person. I recently heard there is new legislation being drafted to take this even further.

I think the MidnightBSD, Adenix and others have taken the simplest most effective route and that's all I am going to say about it now.

"‘Flying the Dollar Flag’: U.S. Extraterritorial Jurisdiction and International Law Challenges in the Société Générale Case"

https://jhulr.org/2025/01/31/flying-the-dollar-flag-u-s-extraterritorial-jurisdiction-and-international-law-challenges-in-the-societe-generale-case/

"NOT FOR USE IN CALIFORNIA OR ANY OTHER REGIONS WITH AGE VERIFICATION LAWS THAT AFFECT OPERATING SYSTEMS. OUR DISTROS WILL NOT HAVE AGE CHECKS IN PLACE."

https://sites.google.com/view/adenix-gnu-linux

LizziAS

ericbsd truly any project that is forking another can certainly afford to wait to see what their base does. These laws will be challenged in court before the dust settles and everyone complies or doesnt.

SteveM

During installation if the USA us selected as the country then a subsequent question could determine if any age verification laws apply then enable that "feature" if required. Keeping in mind not just the OS is affected but also the package management system and any covered applications.

Edward1978

SteveM Just the US is doing this Age var., BS? Who knows how far this will go, blocking websites, or a state doesn't like a word ok that to. I can see at a publixc ________, but home, parents/caregivers take care of that. So what does xBSD use?
https://itsfoss.com/news/systemd-fork-strips-out-age-verification/

Purshing

Hope we gonna have news from FreeBSD soon. I won't comply with any brainless BS. If there's a fork count on me to provide good servers in order to support freedom. Cheers

ericbsd

vannax

Looks like MidnightBSD has decided to comply, despite their bluster:
MidnightBSD/src302

ericbsd

vannax If you put a restriction like that into the license, your project is not an open source anymore.

SteveM

I was actually surprised when MidnightBSD came out with what appeared to be a strong stance against it. This is more in line with what I would expect from them given their stance on other issues such as their refusal to consider Xlibre. https://xcancel.com/midnightbsd/status/1939122911303909876

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