Linux users have spent years warning that age verification laws could eventually creep beyond social media and adult websites into broader computing platforms. Now, System76 CEO Carl Richell says open source may have secured an important exemption in both Colorado and California.
In a lengthy public statement shared today, Richell explained how members of the open-source community, along with folks from Red Hat and others, worked with lawmakers to ensure that open-source software, code repositories, and container registries would not be swept into proposed age attestation requirements.
For Linux users and privacy advocates, that is a very big deal.
Richell argues that open-source software fundamentally differs from the kinds of platforms lawmakers are targeting. According to him, Linux distributions and open-source applications generally do not collect invasive personal data, inject targeted advertising, build addictive engagement systems, or profile children. Instead, he says privacy and user control remain central values in the open-source world.
He even pointed to systemd recently adding a birthdate field to user accounts as an example of that philosophy. Rather than embrace the added data collection, he says System76 simply ignores the field because combining usernames with birthdays could potentially identify individuals.
That stance will likely resonate with many Linux users, especially at a time when large technology companies continue pushing deeper into surveillance, advertising, behavioral tracking, and AI-driven profiling.
Still, there is another side to this story that deserves attention too.
If open-source software receives broad exemptions from age verification and attestation rules while proprietary platforms remain heavily regulated, lawmakers may end up creating an unfair legal advantage for Linux and open source over closed-source competitors.
Depending on your perspective, that could either be seen as overdue recognition of privacy-friendly software or as an uneven playing field.
A massive social media platform that harvests user data clearly operates differently from a volunteer-run Linux project hosted on GitHub. Treating them identically under the law probably makes little sense. At the same time, some commercial companies could potentially attempt to hide behind “open source” branding to avoid compliance burdens that closed-source rivals still face.
That means legislators will eventually need to define exactly what qualifies for these exemptions and where the boundaries exist.
Richell also used the opportunity to criticize modern mobile ecosystems, arguing that iOS and Android have reshaped public perception of computing into little more than app consumption platforms. In contrast, he says the open-source world remains centered around creation, collaboration, education, and software freedom.
Whether you agree with all of his arguments or not, it is hard not to respect the effort itself. Instead of simply complaining online, Richell describes a coordinated lobbying and educational campaign where open-source advocates worked directly with lawmakers, proposed language changes, identified loopholes, and collaborated across states to influence legislation.
That kind of engagement is relatively rare in the Linux community, which often prefers technical debates over political advocacy.
Richell closed with perhaps the clearest statement of all:
“Pop!_OS and the COSMIC Desktop Environment will not include Age Verification or Age Attestation.”
For Linux users worried about government-mandated identity checks becoming normalized across computing platforms, that sentence alone will probably earn applause.
