Recognizing Open-Source Work as Volunteering in Germany

Most people never notice when they’re relying on open-source software. It runs behind video and audio streaming, powers ticket machines in public transport, drives countless websites, and supports many of the digital services we use every day. Germany’s Federal Government has repeatedly acknowledged this, and has explicitly named open source as a key requirement for achieving digital sovereignty.

Yet despite this recognition, the people who build, maintain and secure these technologies do not receive the same legal or fiscal recognition as volunteers in more traditional civic roles.

A new petition calls for open-source work to be formally recognized as volunteer work in Germany. The petition was initiated by TYPO3 Association Board member Boris Hinzer, who has contributed to TYPO3 for more than two decades and is a long-standing advocate for open-source communities.

If adopted, this change would place digital volunteerism alongside long-established categories such as youth work, rescue services, and civic association roles. It would acknowledge that contributing code, documentation, translations, security fixes, and community support is every bit as valuable to society as volunteering offline.

Read the Petition

At the time of writing, more than 6,000 people have already signed. The petition aims for 30,000 signatures and will remain open until May 2026.

The TYPO3 Association Board and the wider leadership fully support this initiative. The Board members will sign the petition — and we encourage our community to do the same.

TYPO3 has always been built on volunteer effort. Every release, every improvement in the backend, every documentation update, every event, and every new idea starts with individuals who give their time because they believe in open knowledge and shared responsibility.

Recognizing this work as volunteering is not only fair — it is overdue.

Add your voice. Support the volunteers who support the digital world.

• Open source clearly serves the common good. Volunteers create secure, transparent, and auditable software that everyone can use. This work forms the backbone of systems that protect digital independence and security.
• Open-source contribution is unpaid civic engagement. Most open-source development, maintenance, and documentation happens in personal time. It mirrors the responsibilities and social value of other recognized volunteer roles.
• Society depends on open source but overlooks its maintainers. Incidents like Heartbleed and Log4Shell show how essential volunteer maintainers are — yet they often work without support, resources, or acknowledgment.
• Legal recognition would bring clarity and stability. It could enable tax-exempt compensation, safer liability conditions, expense reimbursement, and the ability for projects to issue donation receipts.
• Digitalization depends on skilled volunteers. Governments invest billions in digitalization. Supporting the people who maintain the underlying infrastructure is a cost-effective and highly impactful step.
• Germany lags behind international practice. Other countries already offer tax benefits, institutional support, and public-good recognition for open-source contributors. Germany risks falling behind if it does not act.

TYPO3 exists because volunteers show up — with expertise, creativity, curiosity, and the desire to build something that benefits everyone. From long-term maintainers to first-time documentation contributors, from UX designers to marketing volunteers, our ecosystem runs on people who care.

This is why the issue strikes so close to home. Formal recognition would validate the work our community has been doing for more than two decades. It would also help create a more stable and sustainable environment for future contributors, ensuring TYPO3 — and open source in general — remains strong.

Supporting this petition is one small but meaningful way to strengthen open-source culture in Germany and beyond.

• Sign the petition
• Share it with your colleagues, clients, and peers
• Post about it on social media, such as LinkedIn or Mastodon
• Support the people who keep open digital infrastructure alive

Open source is community. Open source is public good.

Together, we can make sure governments recognize what we already know.