this post was submitted on 18 Mar 2026
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Fork time? Maybe all the anti-systemd zealots were right all along...

Edit: To address whether it is likely that this change will affect users: Gnome is planning a stronger dependence on userdb, the part of systemd where this change is being implemented. https://blogs.gnome.org/adrianvovk/2025/06/10/gnome-systemd-dependencies/

Final Edit: The PR has been merged into main.

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[–] Soot@hexbear.net 1 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (2 children)

Homosexual activity is illegal in Uganda. If they pass a law saying your OS should track that, is it moral for developers to enable compliance with it? Or do developers have a moral duty to at least not go out of their way to enable that bullshit, even if they risk a gajillion dollar fine?

[–] KeenFlame@feddit.nu 1 points 5 hours ago

Moral duty begins with contribution of any sort imo. But I still agree, this is a law that can and should be ignored. Don't think this pr is put from any actual pressure though yet, more akin to "soft compliance"

[–] amadaluzia@discuss.tchncs.de 0 points 19 hours ago

Homosexual activity is illegal in Uganda. If they pass a law saying your OS should track that, is it moral for developers to enable compliance with it? Or do developers have a moral duty to at least not go out of their way to enable that bullshit, even if they risk a gajillion dollar fine?

I have so many qualms with this comment alone. Concurrently, I am not sure how to articulate them. This text might be a bit messy as a result.

To begin, of course it wouldn't be moral. Purposely complying with discriminatory laws is not at all a good thing. I don't think systemd will even bother adding such a thing, even if it was against the law in Uganda. The difference between a country like Brazil asking for the date of birth for a user and Uganda asking for the user's sexuality is:

  1. The latter has not happened, and probably will not happen; Uganda has much better ways of finding out if someone is gay without the OS needing to say that.
  2. Uganda's law is much less important than laws in 2 (potentially 3) different states in the US, Germany1 and Brazil.
  3. While it could be said that age-gating material is discriminatory, Uganda's hypothetical law is much more likely to risk lives. systemd would not want blood on their hands.

I imagine you put thought into your hypothetical to see where it stands, but I would advise putting more thought into it. Stuff like this will drain both our energy.