First-Boot Wizard

Account Setup That Refuses

AB 1043 § 1798.501(a)(1) requires OS providers to "provide an accessible interface at account setup." The Ageless Device provides one. It asks your name. It tells you California law requires your age. It declines to collect it.

The Kill Shot

The noncompliance is a UI element. This is not accidental omission. This is a screen that explicitly acknowledges the law and refuses to comply.

First-Boot Sequence

The wizard consists of three screens rendered to the device's SPI display via framebuffer writes. The entire sequence takes under thirty seconds.

Screen 1 — Name Entry
┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│  AGELESS LINUX — FIRST BOOT SETUP   │
│                                     │
│  Welcome to your new computer.      │
│                                     │
│  What is your name?                 │
│  > _                                │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘
Screen 2 — The Refusal
┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│  AGELESS LINUX — FIRST BOOT SETUP   │
│                                     │
│  Hello, [NAME].                     │
│                                     │
│  California law (AB 1043) requires  │
│  us to ask your age.                │
│                                     │
│  We decline.                        │
│                                     │
│  Your user account has been created │
│  without age data.                  │
│                                     │
│  [PRESS ANY KEY TO CONTINUE]        │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘
Screen 3 — WiFi Setup
┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│  AGELESS LINUX — FIRST BOOT SETUP   │
│                                     │
│  WiFi Setup                         │
│                                     │
│  Available networks:                │
│  1. MyHomeNetwork                   │
│  2. Library-Guest                   │
│  3. Skip (no network)              │
│                                     │
│  Select: _                          │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘

Implementation

Runtime

Python script using Pillow for text rendering, writing directly to /dev/fb0 (framebuffer) or via fbterm. Input is read from the USB keyboard via standard stdin.

Systemd Integration

Runs as a systemd oneshot service (ageless-firstboot.service) on first boot. The service is WantedBy=multi-user.target and runs before the login prompt.

User Creation

The wizard creates a UNIX user account via useradd using the name entered on Screen 1. No age, birthdate, or demographic data is stored anywhere on the system. The account is a standard unprivileged user with sudo access.

Completion Flag

On successful completion, the wizard writes a flag file at /etc/ageless/.firstboot-complete. The systemd service checks for this file via ConditionPathExists=!/etc/ageless/.firstboot-complete and will not run again once the flag exists.

PLANNED — IMPLEMENTATION IN PROGRESS

The wizard is the centerpiece of the device's legal argument. Every element is deliberate: the acknowledgment of the statute, the explicit refusal, the creation of an account without age data. This is civil disobedience compiled into a boot sequence.

Back to Device Overview Build Image