ejs

Your example relies on some assumptions:

• User has chosen to opt into filling in their actual DOB (not some nonsense date)
• User has app installed that fetches the DOB from userdb

None of these assumptions are garunteed by the merged code into systemd. The following are optional, and not required as a result of the code merged into systemd:

• Merely setting data into the DOB field
• Attesting DOB honestly
• installing some prying application that queries

It’s possible to put your full first and last name into your user, so by your logic the first and last name fields of the user profile should not exist.

Did that help identify the absurdity of your argument?

I’m still not convinced there is a direct casual link between the merged attestation and some future surveillance. Your speculation that this is some deliberate political strategy for some gradual escalation from attestation to surveillance is not logical evidence, but some belief you have, which holds no weight in an argument; it stands that you have no concrete evidence against your logic being a slippery slope fallacy.

You did concede to my argument by admitting “by itself the attestation is pointless.” Good to know we agree that there is outrage over nothing.

By saying “PR vs merge is a moot point”, you’re running away from a logical/technical debate by being dismissive; you are openly stating you don’t care how the mechanics of these foss projects actually work. Again, you can have a speculative opinion, but that is not a logical argument.

When you argue parents should be using OS parental controls, you do know that that’s exactly what the systemd age attestation PR is building, right? It seems you’re fighting against the very infrastructure needed for your preferred solution.

Finally, you conflate local infrastructure with cloud APIs (vindicating my claim that people opposing this are ignorant to the actual code being merged): Systemd is a local init system. Connecting the local userdb age integer to an external, network reliant govt API is a monumental leap in implementation and architecture, not a simple “add this API” patch that can be quietly slipped in without the entire foss community noticing and revolting. The attestation PR, for instance, had around 200 comments, of back and fourth refining of implementation and discussion, before merge.

Benefits:

• avoids a fragmented, disorganized, DE level implementation of storing user age
• allows distros to choose to comply with law

I maintain that optional self reporting of age is not a privacy violation. Would you clarify: what specific privacy concerns does the merged systemd PR create? Be specific about the material consequences it has on the privacy of users.

To be clear, I would also be outraged if some personal privacy nightmare got merged into foss projects I used.

However, adding an optional field to userdb for self reporting of age is definitely not a privacy concern. I honestly have not heard a valid argument against this addition of an optional field. Most are just appeals to emotion/outrage not grounded in the reality of what code was actually committed/merged.

Honest question: are you sure this thinking is not a slippery slope fallacy?

You seem to imply that adding self age attestation inherently necessitates ID verification.

I do not agree with this line of thinking. Instead, I reason that this PR was merged because it is not harmful, and a potential future PR implementing ID verification would not be merged. These are two separate things (PRs/merges), which are not in any way tied to each other causually.

i think subset of people online who are vocally upset about his code contributions (and harassing him, committing fraud, and so on) are ignorant to the actual charges in the PRs and only read the headline and assume he’s shoving ID verification down our throats. I primarily blame media outlets and social media accounts trying to capitalize on this outrage over nothing.

He was a cyber pimp, exploiting sex workers online by stealing from their earnings. He also is one of the largest donors to the pro israeli lobby in the US

Lots of controversy around Vercel, recently. Highlights include

• CEO being buddies with the Netanyahu, having discussions of AI with him
• Freaking out over someone forking open source code like it’s the end of the world

Until AMD stops releasing their software such as drivers and acceleration firmware (ie rocm, fsr, freesync), i will continue to support their business for their mere contribution/dedication to open source alone. Unfortunately, AMD stocks would probably have crashed in 2025 had they not pivoted so hard towards AI. Hate the game, not the player

social media laws are a treatment of a symptom, not the cause.

meta/tiktok/google capitalize by maximizing engagement, most lucratively outrage (risking ideological polarization) and addiction (many health harms associated). five years ago, this was very different, before the sudden takeover of short form media. now, surveys are indicating that average screen times of children are nearing 8 hours a day.

the need to address this dire situation is the greatest is has ever been historically.

yet, banning it outright (aside from the heinous privacy violations) does not entail any accountability whatsoever for these large corporations in creating highly addictive and harmful social media platforms that have consumed our youth

further, without changes to the structural incentive of maximizing profit, these companies will continue to maximize engagement, and thus addiction to what is a harmful way to spend 8 hours of a day.

i am hopeful that the lawsuit happening in northern CA against meta will result in some decision ruling these engagement maximizing tactics illegal.

i also hope that voters will choose candidates in the future that will pass legislation preventing these products from existing, leaving platforms that are actually productive to society, decentralized, and (most importantly) non-profit.

anyone have any experience using ghost on activitypub? it’s another blogging/publishing platform similar to substack, but have never heard of it until i googled around

https://activitypub.ghost.org/

from a design perspective, consistency is key. light mode is on? then light mode means light mode, and apps should be in light mode.

do you want both your terminal to be dark theme and your gtk apps (including all of the gnome UI) to be light theme at the same time?

do you want settings within every single app in order to change from light mode to dark mode, as opposed to a global toggle that applies to every UI on your computer?

alternatively, is the terminal the only exception to this global toggle, and this design inconsistency by having the default contradict the default of the rest of your desktop environment is your preference?

i think you need to look into routing. Specifically, split tunneling.

https://tailscale.com/learn/what-is-split-tunneling-secure-critical-data-vpn

https://protonvpn.com/support/protonvpn-split-tunneling

https://mullvad.net/en/help/split-tunneling-with-the-mullvad-app

I’d recommend installing those python dependencies using apt, so that when you update your system packages, the python libraries get updated, too. Pip, on the other hand, is useful for development but is detatched from apt and you will definitely forget to pip update unlike apt update which you hopefully do frequently. Use the names of the packages the readme provides in the pip install … instruction. For example, for numpy, you can install this.

Then, since that python script has a shebang at the top, you can add it to a directory in your $PATH and mark it executable with chmod, and you can invoke the script in your shell from any directory with just the file name.

Most arguments people make against AI are in my opinion actually arguments against capitalism. Honestly, I agree with all of them, too. Ecological impact? A result of the extractive logic of capitalism. Stagnant wages, unemployment, and economic dismay for regular working people? Gains from AI being extracted by the wealthy elite. The fear shouldn’t be in the technology itself, but in the system that puts profit at all costs over people.

Data theft? Data should be a public good where authors are guaranteed a dignified life (decoupled from the sale of their labor).

Enshittification, AI overview being shoved down all our throats? Tactics used to maximize profits tricking us into believing AI products are useful.

Jordana Cutler, Meta’s public policy director for Israel, at the 2025 JNS summit :

We updated our policies to recognize that the term Zionist can be used as a proxy for Jews and Israelis. We banned content claiming Zionists run the world or control the media and we do not allow for dehumanizing comparisons of Zionists.

Although Tik Tok had a mass exodus of users from the US on acquisition by Larry Ellision, Meta has yet to see this, and honestly it deserves more. Let’s hope the lawsuit in CA about minors being addicted holds Meta accountable and more people see the evil doings of that company.

Yeah. This functionally worked before without gps. It leaves very little other reasons for them to suddenly need gps, now. This implicates there’s little motive to use the gps data for a local feed but the true motive is something else. The writing on the wall is that this is going to be sold to US immigration “enforcement” agencies. Shameful and disgraceful.

Although I uninstalled the app after the finalization of the sale to those among Oracle, I used to be a long time user of Tik Tok and recall this being a feature years ago.

Interestingly, when this was rolled out, it did not require gps services from the devices, probably using geoIP lookup, and location tags on posts, either set by the creator when posting (i remember this more often than not being a feature for shitpost using absurd locations like gayville) or maybe through some machine learning audio or video to text algorithm interpreting if the post might be relevant to some geographical location if the poster didn’t tag it. I tried to find any mention of gps or location services in the article I linked and its other references, but didn’t find anything, corroborating that it was probably geoIP and some algorithmic detection.

I also like

• Ben Palmer (@palmertrolls)
• The Good Liars (@tglnyc)
• Jordan Klepper on the Daily Show

We’re seeing the reality of what is entailed by ICE’s dangerously aggressive and reckless hiring, especially under the demand for more and more agents. Reminds me of the journalist who unexpectedly was hired by ICE and had fully received a position with no submission of any legal forms.