Blog

May is buzzing—both in the apiary and in Michał “Staszek” Staszewski’s busy calendar, which is as packed as a honeycomb. As our Sales Manager, Staszek oversees commercial activities across all our brands: Sidnet, Centuran (help desk systems based on OTRS), and theStore.studio (consumer behavior research in a 3D store simulator).

Despite a tight schedule, Staszek found the time to choose two open‑source and non‑profit initiatives for our #SidnetDonations program. And his picks won’t surprise anyone.

Redmine

Redmine is a free, open‑source web application for project management and issue tracking, built with the Ruby on Rails framework. It supports multiple concurrent projects, project wikis, advanced file and permission management, time tracking, and a notification system. Redmine also integrates with popular version control systems, and is available in 49 languages. At Sidnet, every team member uses Redmine—enhanced with the RedmineUP plugin—in their daily work.

“I use Redmine every day to monitor project progress and stay on top of deadlines. Supporting its development is crucial to me because it helps our distributed team collaborate, stay organized, and continuously improve how we work,” says Staszek.

Ratujmy Pszczoły (“Save the Bees”) Foundation

Bees are vital to both ecosystems and humanity. They pollinate the plants that feed us and maintain biodiversity. Without bees, many fruits, vegetables, and crops would disappear—and with them, the balance of entire ecosystems.

The “Save the Bees” Foundation is committed to protecting these essential pollinators. Their work includes planting nectar‑rich flowers, supporting beekeepers, promoting Polish bee products like honey and propolis, and educating the public about the importance of bees. They also organize training sessions to help beekeepers expand their skills.

“This foundation is especially close to my heart because I’m a beekeeper myself, and I understand the critical role bees play in nature. This year, we faced a late winter and a drawn‑out early spring—both tough for bees. On top of that, some farmers still apply pesticides during flight hours, despite regulations. Supporting the Foundation is one way to protect bees and preserve biodiversity,” says Staszek.

Recruiting specialists in niche or less popular technologies can be a real challenge—so much so that sometimes, the talent pool in Poland or even Europe isn’t enough. This was the case when we were looking for an experienced Perl Developer. Our search led us to Robin, who works remotely from Canada on a project for our long‑term partner. At THG, he develops the backend of an application for purchasing and managing hosting services.

Find out which open‑source and charity projects will receive financial support this month thanks to Robin’s thoughtful choices.

MetaCPAN

The Perl programming language relies on the MetaCPAN project—a vast open-source library containing over 220,000 software modules and documentation for 45,500 distributions. This repository is co‑created by over 14,500 contributors, and the ready‑to‑use, proven solutions it contains make developing software in Perl much easier and faster.

“CPAN (Comprehensive Perl Archive Network) maintenance is a thankless job that is vital to the survival of Perl as a language. Donated funds support the servers, data storage, third‑party system support, and other critical areas. I’m happy to do my part and help develop this key infrastructure,” says Robin.

Stand with Ukraine Foundation

Waging war is never justified, and those who suffer from it need all the help they can get, whether in the form of humanitarian aid or funds for rebuilding programs. The Stand with Ukraine Foundation is an NGO dedicated to supporting immigrants and war victims, helping them integrate into Polish society and rebuild their lives. It also promotes Ukrainian culture and provides reliable information about the ongoing situation—especially valuable amid disinformation.

“In a world that’s growing darker every day, we need to be a light of hope and stand against war, whether it’s in Ukraine or anywhere else. As I work for a Polish company, it’s even more crucial for me to support Poland’s neighbors,” states Robin.

While the Tor Project and the Rak’n’Roll Foundation work in different areas, they share a common mission—empowering people with freedom. The Tor Browser ensures online anonymity and security, while the Rak’n’Roll Foundation helps people struggling with cancer regain the courage to live life on their own terms. Both initiatives fight for independence—one in the digital world, the other in the face of illness.

These projects will receive our financial support in February, thanks to Gabriel Spytkowski, an Unreal and C++ developer involved in the development of our product, theStore, a virtual shopping simulator designed for consumer research.

Rak’n’Roll Foundation – Fighting cancer with courage

Cancer is not a death sentence—it’s an obstacle that can often be overcome. The Rak’n’Roll Foundation works to break the cancer taboo, challenge stereotypes, and improve the quality of life for cancer patients by restoring their courage and helping them rediscover the beauty of life. Through initiatives like the well-known “Give Hair!” campaign, the foundation has gained widespread media attention and used bold advertising campaigns to bring the conversation about cancer into the public eye, changing how society views the disease.

Tor Project – True privacy online

For 19 years, the Tor Project has been protecting anonymity and privacy online, developing free, open-source solutions that keep users safe. They created the Tor Browser, which shields against online surveillance and enables access to otherwise restricted content. At the heart of the Tor Project is true freedom of speech online—even in countries where it is limited.

“This project is important to me because freedom of speech and privacy are fundamental rights that the Tor Project defends,” says Gabriel, explaining his choice.

In a month, we’ll be unveiling the next edition of our #SidnetDonations initiative, featuring new projects that will benefit from our support. Stay tuned!

A new year brings a new edition of the #SidnetDonations initiative! Check out which open-source project and non-profit organization will receive our support, as chosen by Gosia Łaszczych, our Office Manager.

The Office in Good Hands

The smooth operational functioning of Sidnet is largely supported by Gosia Łaszczych, who has been serving as Office Manager for over two years. Gosia is committed to managing administration, recruitment, employee-related matters, and organizing notable company events.

Sidnet Joins Forces with WOŚP

Supporting The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity (WOŚP) is a long-standing tradition for Gosia. She regularly donates through bank transfers and by contributing to donation boxes during the organization’s annual finale. This year, thanks to Gosia, WOŚP will receive additional support by becoming the beneficiary of January’s #SidnetDonations initiative.

The 2025 WOŚP finale focuses on ensuring the safety and health of children, with funds going to pediatric oncology and hematology wards.

Would you like to join Gosia and Sidnet in supporting WOŚP? Here’s how you can help:

• Volunteer with the Peace Patrol
• Donate directly to WOŚP’s bank account
• Drop a donation into one of the many collection boxes across Poland

Thunderbird – An Office Manager’s Essential Tool

Gosia’s laptop is one of Sidnet’s command centers, and email is her most critical tool. It’s no wonder that this month’s #SidnetDonations support went to Thunderbird, a free and open-source email client developed by Mozilla Foundation.

Thunderbird is a must-have for office management, making it easy to organize emails and prioritize issues. Thanks to Gosia and Thunderbird, Sidnet’s operations stay seamless and chaos-free.

We’ve kickstarted another year of supporting impactful initiatives. Stay tuned—over the coming months, we’ll unveil more open-source projects and non-profit organizations set to receive our support!

December and the upcoming holidays are perfect times for the next edition of the #SidnetDonations campaign. This time, Kamil Głuszak, our indispensable Perl Developer and Team Leader, has chosen to support the Kundelek Dog Shelter in Rzeszów and the Open Source Initiative.

Five Years of Collaboration with Kamil

Kamil recently celebrated his fifth work anniversary at Centuran, a subsidiary of Sidnet Solutions. From the start, he distinguished himself as someone who embraces challenges and is always ready to take on even the most demanding tasks. His determination, perseverance, and leadership skills inspire the entire Centuran team.

We’re grateful for these shared years and excited about the milestones yet to come!

The Kundelek Dog Shelter – Helping Animals in Need

Kamil’s first choice is the Kundelek Dog Shelter in Rzeszów, which holds a special place in his heart. He remembers it from his school days when food drives were organized for the shelter. Next year, Kundelek (Mongrel in English) will celebrate 20 years of dedicated work helping animals. The shelter not only facilitates adoptions but also offers virtual adoption options.

Winter is an especially challenging time for shelters. Increased heating costs, shortages of warm blankets and bedding, as well as high-calorie food, pose significant challenges. That’s why Kamil decided to support Kundelek—to help provide animals with decent living conditions during the harshest months of the year.

Open Source Initiative – Supporting Free Software

The second beneficiary is the Open Source Initiative (OSI), an organization dedicated to advancing open-source software and supporting developer communities worldwide.

Kamil has been working primarily with open-source tools for the past decade, making this organization a natural choice for his support.

He especially appreciates OSI’s efforts to shape AI-related regulations, including the Open Source AI Definition, which emphasizes transparency, ethics, and reproducibility (interpreted as consistency in obtaining the same or similar results when using the same dataset and AI algorithm) in AI system development. This is a crucial step toward the responsible advancement of technology that transforms our lives.

We thank Kamil for five years of collaboration and for his thoughtfulness in choosing the organizations supported as part of #SidnetDonations! The new year is just around the corner, and with it, the next chapters of our initiative! Stay tuned!

November has arrived, bringing another opportunity to support those in need as part of the #SidnetDonations campaign. This time, Patryk has chosen the Open Cages Association and the Kolibri educational platform.

Third Anniversary at Sidnet

Patryk recently celebrated the third anniversary of our fruitful collaboration. During this time, he has established himself as a skilled Frontend Developer, with productivity and a work ethic that is second to none. He navigates React, NextJS, and TypeScript with remarkable ease and has an exceptional eye for detail—nothing escapes him, and projects are always polished to perfection.

Kolibri – Time to Say Goodbye to Educational Exclusion

Educational exclusion is a serious problem that hinders children and young people living in remote, poorly connected areas with limited access to educational materials. Kolibri, an open-source educational platform designed and managed by Learning Equality, aims to address this issue. Technology-based yet operating on an offline-first model, Kolibri provides a solution to gaps in educational access and the lack of internet connectivity.

Open Cages Association – A Chance for Animals

Industrial animal farming, while considered by many to be an essential part of the economy, is also an area where abuse and even crimes frequently occur. The Open Cages Association has set itself the goal of driving systemic changes and regulations to curb illegal and unethical practices in farming, ensuring the highest possible standards of animal welfare. At the same time, the association actively promotes a vegetarian lifestyle, educating the public that meat and animal products are not as essential to us as we have become accustomed to believing.

Soon, in December, we’ll have the holiday #SidnetDonations – join us in watching for the first star.