This paper's goal is to discuss (using ethnographic data) the characteristics, contradictions and changes along time of the Brazilian free software community. The community is understood as a social movement and I seek to demonstrate how it interconnects politics, language, labor and identity. The fieldwork relies on both online and offline data. The research tried to comprehend the free and open source phenomena using from traditional ethnographic work but also observing the group's behavior on online discussion groups and mailing lists. The Brazilian free and open software movement showed to be of great efficiency if compared with other international FLOSS (Free/Libre/Open Source Software) communities: it became influential on political parties both locally and nationally; some of its members became part of governments; and have contributted decisively on the build of the imagination on what is "digital culture". This paper is the result of a PhD research effort and relies on ten years involvement with the free software community including fieldwork with the Free Software International Forum (Fisl).
cyberculture; free software; politics; social movement