I think the world would be better if people just expected to pay a small amount for software, but we don't live in that world, and so we get "free" software you can download "for free" that installs a bunch of crap so the developers can get paid.
Up until rather recently, it was hard to pay or receive sub-dollar amounts. This problem is solved on the two mobile platforms (though Apple still takes a much larger cut from payments). Paypal / Stripe / Square sort of solve it in the web space.
But we still lack a nice software store (or several) where you could pay a piece of software and pay a nominal amount (or more if you choose to donate), knowing that you won't receive any malware / nagware in exchange, and that a large cut of your payment goes to the authors and maintainers.
Similar things seem to happen around indie musical tracks, so probably the model could survive in the "indie" software area.
Yep, I love it when I find good music on youtube abd a link to bandcamp where I can pay a small minimum amount (or more). They seem to have done something right as me and others typically pay well over the minimum price
I think the world would be better if people just expected to pay a small amount for software, but we don't live in that world, and so we get "free" software you can download "for free" that installs a bunch of crap so the developers can get paid.