This article focuses on the relationship between state and civil society in Latin America through the involvement of free software movements in public action. Three modalities of participation have been observed: rejection (Peru), integration (Uruguay) or co-optation (Argentina). Adopting a historical institutionalist perspective, we explain these distinct logics according to the political, social and institutional configurations that have structured the relationship between State and civil society in the past and continue to influence the contemporary processes of citizen inclusion and social participation in public action.