Free Software Culture and Development: An Analysis on Potentials and Limits in and Beyond the Context of the “New Economy”

This article analyzes the potentials and limits of the free software culture and the products derived from it in what concerns the promotion of economic and social development in the context of the “new economy” and the alternatives to it. It examines the incentives and constraints to innovation, in its different senses, generated by free softwares as goods technically distinct from proprietary software and developed on the basis of specific values and interests. It also reflects on their limitations and capabilities in relation of the promotion of development strategies aimed not only at economic growth based on technological improvement, but especially at generating social opportunities.