209 points · numeri · 1 day ago
openpetition.demschild
palata
Volunteering is defined by its charitable purpose for a public good, not by the specific skill used.
Let me try an analogy:
A chef who cooks a free meal for a homeless shelter is volunteering. That same chef publishing a recipe online or making a cooking tutorial is sharing knowledge, not volunteering. The act of 'cooking' or 'publishing' is neutral. It becomes volunteering only when the primary, direct, and organised purpose is to serve a charitable cause without expectation of personal gain.
Disclaimer: I have been consistently doing a lot of open source in the last 10 years. I would consider none of that as volunteering.
zamadatix
rendx
The petition only makes legal sense if it were to ask to extend the set of charitable goals as specified in the Abgabenordnung, but the existing set already allows for FOSS projects as part of e.g. the "national education" category (public code is educative).
And, to be frank, I also don't get the "recognition" part. The tangible benefits of volunteering for a charity are limited; what does it even mean to get recognition for it.
ggm
If the code is under restrictive clauses, or gets tokenistic input and the quotient of time and money is spent doing something else, then I think this is a licence to cheapen out contracting rates for-profit.
How does an auditor know?
dhruv3006
thaumasiotes
phendrenad2
I think this is the real killer feature here. Software companies could save money by simply open-sourcing parts of their software.
on_the_train
nephihaha
It also needs to specify which kind of open source work is being done and for what ends.
The other problem is that if everyone works for free then most of us can't pay our bills.
mytailorisrich
system2
vasco
On an individual basis I don't think giving tax breaks to anyone with a chatGPT tab open makes sense.
Uptrenda
If you make a petition with the official website and it passes they have to deal with it, even if its a rejection.
https://epetitionen.bundestag.de/epet/peteinreichen.html