A Linux Hardware Maker Is Convincing Colorado to Leave Open Source Alone

Carl Richell, the founder of System76, has shared that Colorado’s Age Attestation Bill (SB26-051) is set to be amended to exclude open source software from its requirements.

The proposed amendment would exclude open source operating systems and apps, code repositories like GitHub and GitLab, and containers like Docker and Podman.

We covered this bill back in February, when it made no such distinction. Carl has been working directly with Colorado Senator Matt Ball, the bill’s co-author, to push for these exclusions since then, and it looks like his efforts are paying off.

When Neal Gompa (of Fedora fame) followed up, asking whether there was any outreach to California and New York over their age verification bills, Carl replied by saying that the community now has a template to take the fight elsewhere.

And that the next step is a letter to Colorado representatives to pass the bill with the amendments in place, and then adapting that letter for other states while working with the open source community to raise awareness.

Before any of that, though, Carl has to testify. 🏛️

He’s scheduled to appear before lawmakers tomorrow, on April 23, and is asking the community for backup. He’s specifically looking for stories where kids have built or made things thanks to having unhindered access to open source software.

You can share them on the Fosstodon post linked above or DM him directly.

As for the bill itself, it passed the Colorado Senate 28-7 back in March and is currently waiting on a House vote.

Speaking up helps!

All this is proof that speaking up against something detrimental and fighting for your rights does work if there’s enough noise and disruption surrounding it.

And while users of Linux distros and other open source platforms in Colorado will hopefully breathe a sigh of relief, those in the other states are still at risk of being affected by age verification laws.

Maybe Carl’s template is something you could apply in your state? 😉

And then there’s also the proposed federal bill pushing for OS-level age verification across the US, with no exemptions for open source, potentially overriding any state-level exclusions.

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