The Linux Age verification situation is escalating & Other Linux Weekly News

Linux & Open Source News

Mar 28, 2026•28 min•Season 3Ep. 62

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01:47 GrapheneOS won’t comply with age verification laws https://www.tomshardware.com/software/operating-systems/grapheneos-refuses-to-comply-with-age-verification-laws

03:27 SystemD adds date of birth field for age verification https://itsfoss.com/news/systemd-age-verification/

05:13 SystemD forked to remove date of birth field https://itsfoss.com/news/systemd-fork-strips-out-age-verification/

08:11 Fedora project lead suggests using standard Age check API https://itsfoss.com/news/fedora-leader-suggests-age-verification-api/ https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/t/a-practical-architectural-solution-to-os-level-age-verification-laws/183387

10:33 SteamOS adds Steam Machine support, Wayland by default https://www.phoronix.com/news/SteamOS-3.8-Preview https://www.techradar.com/gaming/steam-deck/valves-steam-machine-gets-its-first-support-update-ahead-of-launch-via-steamos-preview-3-8-0-and-it-includes-one-major-fix-ive-been-waiting-for

12:16 electron details their work on Wayland support https://www.electronjs.org/blog/tech-talk-wayland

14:03 LibreOffice adds donation banner https://www.phoronix.com/news/LibreOffice-26-Donation-Banner

15:23 Firefox 149 is a big update https://linuxiac.com/firefox-149-now-available-for-download-brings-split-view/

17:13 GNOME starts their fellowship program https://blogs.gnome.org/foundation/2026/03/24/introducing-gnome-fellowship/

19:17 Ubuntu makes changes to GRUB for security https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/streamlining-secure-boot-for-26-10/79069 https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2026/03/ubuntu-security-center-ubuntu-pro

20:58 Ubuntu 26.04 beta released https://documentation.ubuntu.com/release-notes/26.04/changes-since-previous-interim/

22:43 Plasma 6.6 beats GNOME 50 in graphics performance https://www.phoronix.com/review/ubuntu-2604-gnome-kde/4

24:11 NVK + Nouveau makes massive progress https://www.phoronix.com/review/linux-70-nouveau/7

25:45 Github will use all your user data to train Copilot https://github.blog/news-insights/company-news/updates-to-github-copilot-interaction-data-usage-policy/