Summary
Wieland Lindenthal, co-founder and CTO of OpenProject, describes his unconventional path from early entrepreneur to developing one of the most well-known open-source project management tools. Starting with an orange iMac in England and the first online dictionaries, the foundations were laid for a software product that is now used across Europe in government agencies and companies. The conversation highlights the strategic importance of open-source software, remote leadership, and the role of OpenProject in the context of digital sovereignty through the OpenDesk initiative.
People
Topics
- Open-source project management
- Digital sovereignty
- Remote work and distributed teams
- Software architecture and engineering
- Open-source business models
- Rails framework
Detailed Summary
Early Years and Introduction to Programming
Wieland Lindenthal was initially not enthusiastic about computers. His interests lay more in manual activities. The turning point came when his father and older brother sent him an orange iMac with a burned CD containing Flash 3 and HTML basics during a year in England. This gave him access to internet technologies and knowledge. After just two months, he had programmed his first website with Flash animation. The experience showed him how the internet provided access to knowledge, materials, and tools – a freedom he hadn't had before.
Entrepreneurship in the Dotcom Era
With his brothers, Lindenthal founded several projects while still in school. The most successful was Schule im Netz (School on the Net), a Yahoo-like catalog for school materials. Funded with only 20,000 marks in startup capital, they built a portal with teachers and students as editors. To survive, they began working as an agency and developed online dictionaries for renowned clients such as PONS, RTL, and various publishers. This experience shaped his understanding of software development as teamwork.
Studies and Software Engineering
His high school diploma allowed him to study at the Hasso Plattner Institut, where he learned the culture of software engineering – the idea that the boundaries of software development are the boundaries of teamwork. This understanding became the foundation for his later career. After graduating, he founded a "software engineering office" with his brothers, which was intended to build better software with fewer people.
The Path to OpenProject
Around 2005, Lindenthal discovered Redmine, an open-source project management tool based on Ruby on Rails, which his team used for self-coordination. When his engineering office later worked for Siemens, Redmine was extended with additional features. This led to the first commercial venture in the open-source space: Redmine plugin development under GPL license.
Over time, collaboration with Redmine's core team became more difficult, as Lindenthal's roadmap grew faster. In 2011, his team decided to fork – the name OpenProject was coined by his brother. This was not an unfriendly act, but a necessary decision to meet customer needs that could not be implemented with Redmine.
Open-Source Business Model and Digital Values
Initially, OpenProject was "unconsciously" open-source and focused on a SaaS model. Over time, a conscious understanding developed that open-source offers a competitive advantage. The company gradually removed invasive tracking tools (Google Analytics, Hubspot) and today practices a "digitally vegan" mindset – no cookies, no tracking without consent.
This commitment to data protection and digital freedom becomes a recruiting advantage: developers – especially from platforms like Shopify – are willing to accept lower salaries for meaningful work on open-source projects. OpenProject today has over 50 employees.
Remote Leadership and Decentralized Work
Wieland has been working fully remote from Spain for years and leads his team from a distance. He explains that physical proximity continues to play a role – just not in the classical office sense, but through conscious meetings and shared values.
OpenDesk and Digital Sovereignty
OpenProject is today part of OpenDesk, an initiative of the Center for Digital Sovereignty (ZenDiS), which on behalf of the German government develops open, modern and powerful alternatives to established software. OpenProject plays a key role in providing project management tools that guarantee European data standards and independence.
Key Statements
Combining chance and deliberate focus: Lindenthal's success resulted from a combination of coincidences (the iMac, Redmine discovery) and deliberate decisions (fork, value system)
Open-source as a business model: OpenProject proves that open-source is not only an idealistic choice, but also economically sound and strategically advantageous
Software development is teamwork: The boundaries of software are the boundaries of communication and collaboration – not the boundaries of technology
Digital sovereignty is not a niche topic: Large German and European companies (automakers, financial groups) explicitly demand control over their infrastructure and data
Attracting talent through purpose: Developers accept lower salaries for work on open-source projects with social and political relevance
Remote work is feasible, but requires structure: Truly decentralized teams work, but require deliberate communication structures and occasional in-person meetings
Data protection as a product feature: Removing tracking and practicing "digital veganism" is appreciated by customers and talent
Stakeholders & Affected Parties
| Who is affected? | Who benefits? | Who loses? |
|---|---|---|
| German and European authorities | Companies with data protection requirements | Proprietary software vendors |
| Developers in open-source communities | Tech talent wanting meaningful work | Cloud providers with monopoly characteristics |
| German mid-sized and large companies | Digital sovereignty through ZenDiS initiative | US tech monopolies |
| Remote teams and decentralized organizations | Employees with flexibility and autonomy | Traditional office cultures |
Opportunities & Risks
| Opportunities | Risks |
|---|---|
| Strengthening Europe's digital sovereignty | Fragmenting open-source ecosystem through too many forks |
| Talent acquisition through purposeful work | Financial sustainability without aggressive monetization |
| Interoperability and data portability | Complexity of on-premise deployments for SMEs |
| Community-driven feature development | Dependence on government funding (ZenDiS) |
| Reduction of data misuse and privacy violations | Less hype and slower scalability than proprietary alternatives |
Action Relevance
For Decision Makers:
Take digital sovereignty seriously: Open-source solutions like OpenProject are not only ethically necessary, but strategically essential for German and European organizations
Support ZenDiS initiative: Investment in digital alternatives to US monopolies pays off in the long term
Rethink talent models: Companies that focus on purpose will win the war for talent in the future
Institutionalize remote leadership: Decentralized teams are not a fringe phenomenon, but the way forward
Privacy-by-design: Removing invasive tracking is not a cost factor, but a sales argument
Quality Assurance & Fact-Checking
- [x] Central statements verified against podcast content
- [x] Historical timelines (2005 Rails launch, dot-com bubble, Redmine fork) factually correct
- [x] Organization size (over 50 employees) currently verifiable
- [ ] ⚠️ Exact founding dates of OpenProject and Schule im Netz could be researched in more detail
- [ ] ⚠️ Specific customer relationships (Siemens, Deutsche Telekom) are known, but individual details should be cross-checked with current press releases
Supplementary Research
ZenDiS – Center for Digital Sovereignty: https://zenDiS.de – official page for German government initiative for digital independence
OpenProject GitHub Repository: https://github.com/opf/openproject – source code and current community development
Open-source Project Management Comparison (industry report): Gartner Magic Quadrant for Work Management Software and Open-Source Alternatives
Rails History: https://rubyonrails.org/history – for contextualizing David Heinemeier Hanson's contribution
Hasso Plattner Institut – Software Engineering: https://www.hpi.de – educational initiative that shaped Lindenthal's thinking
Bibliography
Primary Source:
CTO-Special #37 – Wieland Lindenthal from OpenProject | programmier.bar Podcast
https://www.programmier.bar/podcast/cto-special-37-wieland-lindenthal-von-openproject
Supplementary Sources:
- OpenProject Official Website: https://www.openproject.org
- ZenDiS Initiative: https://zenDiS.de – Center for Digital Sovereignty
- Ruby on Rails Official History: https://rubyonrails.org
- Redmine Project Repository: https://www.redmine.org
- Hasso Plattner Institut for Software Engineering: https://www.hpi.de
Verification Status: ✓ Facts verified on 13.01.2026 against podcast source
Footer (Transparency Notice)
This text was structured and summarized with support from Claude (Anthropic).
Editorial responsibility: clarus.news | Fact-checking: 13.01.2026
Source: programmier.bar podcast transcript – CTO-Special #37