I’ve spent years championing Linux as the only escape from Big Tech, but I’m starting to get twitchy.
While we’re distracted by the Steam Deck making Linux “mainstream,” the corporate players and politicians are busy building a digital cage. Between California’s AB-1043 mandates and Microsoft’s “Face Check” infrastructure, I’m worried we’re heading for a hard schism: “Sanitised Linux” vs the “Free Rebel” distros.
If the compliant, age-gated version becomes the industry standard, where does that leave the rest of us? Digital exile?
I’ve put some thoughts together on why the “Golden Cage” is closing in and why education, not mandates, is the only real fix.
The systemd age-storage drama was a massive red flag. It showed how easily a “safety” mandate can be used as a wedge into the lower levels of the stack.
My worry is exactly what you said: politicians creating “compliance” requirements that are fundamentally toxic to the GPL or the way community distros operate. It’s not about making Linux better; it’s about making it legally unviable for anyone but a massive corporation to maintain. Digital enshittification via regulation.