"...Arturo di Corinto, a sharp and ebullient Italian media activist, writer and film-maker, set out a bold vision of free software as a common resource: ‘Thanks to its characteristics, the free software is a distributed property that is capable of evolving into a common good’, he declared. [...] Can ideas, both inspirational metaphors and actual experiences, from the free software movement provide any guide for turning public services into commons? [...] Free ... software is not just an inspirational metaphor but also a material tool for facilitating this kind of collaboration between individual users and public sector workers, shifting the balance of power from centralised public service management towards the user and the skilled service provider. It is also a tool for shifting co-ordination between different parts of a public service, moving us from a hierarchical to a co-operative model. [...] creating the conditions for autonomous social creativity – the emerging social economy, promoting free software and resisting the commercialisation of the web..."