Andreas started this project to keep himself busy out of rehab for drug abuse. I did something similar out of rehab for alcohol. He named it Serenity OS from the Serenity Prayer for this reason. Being responsible and earning income to support your family is an important part of recovery. Beyond that, he's doing it for spiritual reasons. Sometimes the most debilitating feature of addiction is isolation and loneliness. He's created a community that is warm and friendly.

I think what he's done is amazing for these reasons:

    He's created a viable operating system with hundreds of contributers
    He's supporting his family
    He's got himself well out of isolation with a big community of people
    Edit: forgot one. He's staying sober