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THE GIFT CULTURE IN MODERNITY Freeware communities In recent years an abundant literature has been devoted to characterizing the sphere of freeware production perceived in terms of 'community/ies'?. Despite their numbers, most analyses seem to be unsatisfactory in light of available data on these communities. The author explores the 'community phenomenon'? by mobilizing the frame of analysis of the modern gift. This enables her to show that the concept of community fits the freeware movement, to question individuals' motivations for participating in these communities, and to examine the relations it has with the commercial sphere. She distinguishes two communities with differing aims concerning the software industry.