Why I'm supporting the petition to recognize open-source work as volunteering in Germany

Disclaimer: This post reflects my personal opinion and is published on my own website. I'm speaking as a Community Manager / DevRels who works at the intersection of developers and open source, not on behalf of my employer. 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 — including many online stores — and supports most 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 often do not receive the same legal or fiscal recognition as volunteers in more traditional civic roles. This is why I'm adding my voice to support a petition that aims to change this: Recognition of Work on Open Source as Volunteering in Germany . A c