Realistically if you're a small company, you just do it, until someone tells you "hey you're supposed to comply with X" and then you say "oh sorry, we didn't realise, we'll do that now", repeat for all X. Programmers think the written law is a description of what actually happens - it's not.
The people effected by this are not programmers sitting around in their underwear talking to Claude all day and peddling virtual wares. It's people making real things with their hands, and they have come to the conclusion they can not take such a risk. Fines in countries like Germany can run up to 200 000 euros, for which you can be personally liable.
No, it's programmers online who are larping making real things. People who actually make real things may be concerned and may push to clarify the law but they're not ceasing. People who actually live in the EU and do business there understand that the interpretation that's going around the angry internet forums is complete nonsense.
Fine. Here are 120 million very serious (TM) Büsiness-People from the EU who seem to agree: https://www.eurochambres.eu/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/New-E...
What kind of source would you like next? "Just don't follow the law" might be a good advice for the American hypercapitalists of Hacker News, less so for someone in the EU.