Comment by germandiago

They would exist, but would be less spread. I am not saying it is good or bad. I am saying that if the barrier to entry is lowest, more people can reach it.

This is a fact with almost anything that you look at around you, not only software. Any incentives in general.

Also, people prefer to have ads than to pay for something. You will say ads are worse or whatever, and you can be right. But the fact is that people that do not pay for software have no problem in being monetized. Otherwise free apps would not have users and paying apps would have a lot. But the reality is that paid apps have a higher barrier to entry from the point of view of users reached.