Paying the price for free software - Business - The Boston Globe

Lead paragraphs from a timely Hiawatha Bray reality check

"There’s a lot of money in the software business, but hardly any of it came from me.

I paid $99 last year for a subscription to Microsoft Corp.’s Office 365 suite, and spent a buck or two on some smartphone apps. But the great majority of my PC, phone and tablet apps haven’t cost me a cent.

Like nearly everyone else, I rely on software downloaded at no charge. Yet for unwary users, a lot of free software can end up costing quite a bit more than they’d expect."

Paying the price for free software - Business - The Boston Globe