Petition in Germany to recognize unpaid contribution to free and open source software projects as 'society-beneficial volunteering' (ehrenamt)!

This will give volunteering for e.g. @postmarketOS , @freifunk , @kde , @nextcloud , @Mastodon and other libre projects the same legal status as taking care of an elderly family member or volunteering for a youth association, which provides tax benefits and relaxes requirements for receiving unemployment benefits.

Interested people may sign it using one of the two following links.

The petition in german language: https://www.openpetition.de/petition/online/anerkennung-von-open-source-arbeit-als-ehrenamt-in-deutschland#petition-main

The petition in english language: https://www.openpetition.de/petition/online/recognition-of-work-on-open-source-as-volunteering-in-germany

News article (German): https://www.heise.de/news/Petition-Open-Source-Arbeit-soll-als-Ehrenamt-gelten-11094436.html

News article (English): https://www.heise.de/en/news/Petition-Open-source-work-should-count-as-volunteer-activity-11095357.html

The petition is organized by @webvision.

If you're not a resident of Germany, go ahead and use this thread to organize similar initiatives in your country of residence.

#deutschland #foss #floss #volunteer #ehrenamt #freiwilligkeit #openSource #freeSoftware

Anerkennung von Open-Source-Arbeit als Ehrenamt in Deutschland - Online petition

Open-Source-Software bildet heute das Fundament großer Teile der digitalen Infrastruktur – in Verwaltung, Wirtschaft, Forschung und im täglichen Leben. Selbst im aktuellen Koalitionsvertrag der Bundesregierung wird Open-Source-Software als elementarer Baustein zur Erreichung digitaler Souveränität genannt. Bei vielen Bürgern ist leider kein Bewusstsein vorhanden, wo sie überall mit Open-Source-Software in Verbindung kommen. Egal ob es eine Website im Internet ist, der Ticket-Automat für die Bahn

openPetition
@papiris hmm is there a reason this isnt on the petitions platform from the bund?
@4censord @papiris I simply wasn’t aware of the official platform in the beginning. The petition was already shared across social media and had 100+ signatures. I simply didn’t want to create more confusion. Please sign and share anyways. 🙏

@webvision @4censord oooh, you're the organizer! Awesome initiative Boris!

It has already spread to Denmark: https://infosec.exchange/@nieldk/115638833313737795

If you've got acquaintances in Denmark who'd be interested in this, maybe point them there? 

PhreakByte the Octopus (@[email protected])

Lad os lave samme i DK! Måske et #borgerforslag? Kræver at et par stykker er med på at sætte navn på forslaget før det kan oprettes. Jeg deltager gerne!

Infosec Exchange
@papiris
In Denmark if you do anything other than apply for jobs when on kontanthjælp they will deduct you. The law is made for making your chances as small as possible for being of use to society. This even applies if doing it would increase your chances of getting a job.
@webvision @4censord