PENDING — NO IMPLEMENTATION SHIPPED
The debian-devel mailing list has seen active discussion on age reporting compliance, with 30+ messages across multiple threads. Jamie Null proposed making any age reporting functionality a separate, removable package — consistent with Debian's long tradition of giving users control over what's installed.
If Debian implements age reporting, the most likely path is an optional package selectable
during the Debian Installer (d-i) process, similar to how tasksel offers optional software
collections. It may also arrive as a dependency of a desktop metapackage (e.g.,
gnome or task-desktop).
A preseed configuration that instructs the Debian Installer to skip installation of the age reporting package. This prevents the software from ever reaching the system during fresh installs.
apt purge removes the package and its configuration files. Unlike
apt remove, purge ensures no configuration data lingers in
/etc/.
After removal, use dpkg --set-selections to mark the package as "hold,"
preventing it from being pulled back in by dependency resolution during
apt upgrade.
echo "age-verification-package hold" | sudo dpkg --set-selections
The actual package name will be substituted when an implementation ships.
Debian's tradition of optionality works in our favor. If age reporting ships as a separate
package — as Jamie Null proposed — removal is trivial: apt purge
the package, hold it with dpkg, and optionally install the
stub daemon to keep dependent applications
working.
Debian's social contract and its emphasis on user freedom make it one of the less likely distributions to make age reporting mandatory or difficult to remove.