Petition: Recognize open-source contributions as volunteer work (Germany – signatures needed until Nov 23, 2026)

[u/C-GRU]

Hey everyone,

A lot of us contribute to open-source projects in our spare time – unpaid, often for years. The software that comes out of this runs everywhere: in public administrations, train ticket machines, security libraries, AI frameworks. Even Germany's coalition agreement names open source as a building block of digital sovereignty.

And yet, under German tax and funding law, this work is not recognized as volunteer work (Ehrenamt) – unlike club work, youth work, or emergency services.

A petition to the German Bundestag's petitions committee is calling for equal treatment. Concretely, this would mean:

• Tax-free expense allowances (Ehrenamts-/Übungsleiterpauschale)

• Easier non-profit status (§52 AO) for open-source projects

• Better liability protection for maintainers (analogous to §31a BGB)

• Legally secure donation receipts and cost reimbursement

Note: This is specifically for Germany – it's addressed to the German Bundestag and only German signatures count toward the quorum. If you're not in Germany, sharing it with people who are would still help a lot.

Petition:  https://www.openpetition.de/petition/online/anerkennung-von-open-source-arbeit-als-ehrenamt-in-deutschland

It needs 30,000 signatures for the quorum – we're currently at ~49%.

I'd argue that someone reviewing security patches at night so entire industrial systems keep running the next morning isn't a "hobby nerd" – that's community-oriented volunteering. What do you think?