| ▲ | bitwize 2 days ago |
| It's already the law in Brazil that online services and "terminal operating systems" must perform age verification in a secure, auditable manner. This presumably includes smartphones and computers, meaning you can't just run an arbitrary Linux distro in Brazil anymore. I expect similar laws to pass in at least a few U.S. states by 2030—places like Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, maybe Florida... When I say "the future is signed, verified code from bootloader to application level" I mean it will likely be backed up by force of law. No one complains about the mandatory safety features various governments require cars to come equipped with. The voices of a handful of nerds will go unheard when the law starts insisting computers come equipped with safety features also. |
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| ▲ | wkat4242 2 days ago | parent | next [-] |
| While that's really terrifying about Brazil, is it actually enforced? I can't really imagine there being a "Linux Police" kicking down the door of a hooded teenager and prying the Ubuntu DVD from his clammy hands. I mean this is the country of favelas where even the police don't dare to enter. |
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| ▲ | bitwize 2 days ago | parent [-] | | No, but Brazil can (and did) exercise strict import controls over what kind of electronics can get into the country. For the longest time the only game consoles you could legitimately get in Brazil came from Sega through special arrangement with Brazilian manufacturer TecToy—in particular, the Master System and Mega Drive. When the market finally did open up, import consoles were subject to stiff tariffs. Piracy was rampant. That's why the Brazilian gaming market is... weird to this day, and until recently was generally avoided by major manufacturers creating openings for also-rans like the Zeebo. So while police arresting a kid for having an Ubuntu DVD is unlikely, the Brazilian government twisting the arm of PC manufacturers to prevent the installation of any but approved operating systems on hardware sold to the Brazilian market is highly plausible. Since this already aligns with Microsoft's eventual goals, Microsoft and the PC manufacturers will just hasten the rollout of Palladium 2.0 and nothing will stop it. | | |
| ▲ | wkat4242 2 days ago | parent [-] | | Wow thanks, I didn't know any of that. It feels alien to me and yeah I'm sure that MS wants this to happen. Now that windows has only become an advertising vehicle for their cloud services, Linux is a way for customers to avoid that tax. |
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| ▲ | BlueTemplar a day ago | parent | prev [-] |
| Wait, isn't in that movie... what was it called... ah ! «Brazil» |
