Petition: Recognition of open source work as voluntary work in Germany

Today, open source software forms the foundation of large parts of the digital infrastructure - in administration, business, research and everyday life. Even the German government 's current coalition agreement mentions open source software as a fundamental building block for achieving digital sovereignty.

Nevertheless, the work that thousands of volunteers do for this purpose is not recognized as voluntary work in Germany under tax and funding law. This imbalance between social importance and legal status needs to be corrected.

On the page of the petition "Recognition of open source work as voluntary work in Germany" you will find the exact reason for the petition and lots of great comments from open source users and developers. Please sign and share the petition.

Thank you very much!

Boris Hinzer

The following media outlets are currently reporting on the petition and I would like to thank them for their support:

• Cashy's Blog: "Open source work as an honorary position: Petition wants legal recognition"
• Linuxnews: "Petition: Recognize open source work as an honorary position"
• Heise: "Open source developers demand equality with association work"
• Reddit: "Open source developers demand equality with club work"
• ComputerBase: "Petition: Open source work should be recognized as an honorary position"
• Winfuture "Strengthening open source work: Petition calls for recognition as an honorary position"
• Reddit English "Petition: Open-source work should count as volunteer activity"
• Mikrocontroller.net "Petition: Open-source work should count as volunteeractivity"
• Interview with radio station “Deutschlandfunk Kultur - Breitband” starting at minute 17:45
• German Podcast Engineering Kiosk #237 “Open-Source-Arbeit als Ehrenamt mit Boris Hinzer”
• German YouTube Livestream with NeverCodeAlone “Anerkennung von Open-Source-Arbeit als Ehrenamt in Deutschland - Livestream”
• TYPO3 Association “Recognizing Open-Source Work as Volunteering in Germany”

Last Tuesday I had the chance to talk to Roland Golla from NeverCodeAlone in a YouTube livestream about #OpenSource software, the work of the many #volunteers behind it and my #petition to recognize open source commitment as #volunteering.

Among other things, we discussed the following topics:

• What does #OpenSource actually mean - and why do so many people not know what's behind it?
• #Volunteering: Why does volunteering need recognition?
• What motivates people to volunteer in open source projects?
• What added value do the public, companies and the state gain from using open source?
• And why does the vendor lock-in have nothing to do with the vendor folder? ?

Of course, we also talked about #TYPO3, my personal motivation - and how you (yes, you!) can actively support it.

We covered all these topics in just under 30 minutes.

You can find the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYamTK64bUA

I look forward to your feedback, likes and sharing the video! ?

Dear supporters,
dear friends, dear open source community,

Thanks to you, we have reached our first major milestone: after just 1.5 weeks, we have already achieved over 5,000 signatures.

Thank you very much for your sensational support, the many consistently positive comments in the petition and to the numerous people who have contacted and supported me in the meantime. This shows me how important the issue is to many people.

What has happened so far?

Short presentation at the TYPO3 conference: At the T3CON last week, I was able to spontaneously present the petition to the audience in a 5-minute slot and show the petition's QR code on the projector. Thanks to the organizers for the opportunity and to Wolfgang Wagner for the photo.

Media coverage:

The petition has already been picked up in several major online media outlets, including Heise, ComputerBase, WinFuture as well as in discussions on Reddit and in various open source and specialized forums. I'm trying to collect the links to the articles and post them in the "News" section of the petition page, which you can find here: https://www.openpetition.de/petition/blog/anerkennung-von-open-source-arbeit-als-ehrenamt-in-deutschland#petition-main

Petition in other countries and languages

The petition is now also available in English: https://www.openpetition.de/petition/online/recognition-of-work-on-open-source-as-volunteering-in-germany (thanks to Hennig Lammert for the translation) and is currently being translated into Spanish. Furthermore, the idea has spilled over to Denmark(https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sec1-dk_anerkendelse-af-frivilligt-arbejde-med-open-activity-7400911746036592640-xL4A) and an initial exchange with colleagues from Switzerland has already taken place.

Upcoming interview on Deutschlandfunk Kultur

A recording for the Deutschlandfunk Kultur program "Breitband" will take place on Friday. It will be broadcast on Saturday from 13:05 and will also be available as a podcast afterwards. Here is the link to the program: https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/breitband-100.html

Miscellaneous & background work

• Sending emails to various media, news sites, democratic parties and well-known open source people and projects.
• Many good conversations with committed and helpful people. Feel free to network with me via LinkedIn, Mastodon or Bluesky.

Please help spread the word about the petition

Every additional voice increases visibility and political pressure.

Here are a few ideas on how you can support:

• Download the PDF, print it out and hang it up - e.g. in sports clubs, supermarkets, cafés, schools, universities, etc. Here is the direct link to the PDF: https://www.openpetition.de/pdf/abrisszettel/anerkennung-von-open-source-arbeit-als-ehrenamt-in-deutschland
• If you are media contacts, multipliers or influencers (or know any): Very happy to post and/or network on LinkedIn, Bluesky or Mastodon - I'm happy to share ideas, comments etc.
• Start discussions about open source work - at work, in your family, at university, at school or with friends and in clubs. Many people out there don't even know what it is and where open source software can be found.

What happens next?

I am currently clarifying the method of submission with the Bundestag Petitions Committee. I have already received confirmation that the petition can definitely be submitted by post; I hope to find out soon whether an electronic upload is possible after registering on the federal government's platform.

An update e-May to all media and contacts from the first phase who have not yet responded is in preparation.

Once again, many thanks to every single person who supports this petition. Together we can make a big difference! If you have any ideas on how we can get more people to sign and circulate the petition, please get in touch.

Best regards

Boris Hinzer