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7 years later, Valve's Proton has been an incredible game-changer for Linux
(www.gamingonlinux.com)
this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2025
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As they need to be installed on Apple hardware, there's an implicit cost associated with it.
If you want to be super pedantic for no reason, you're correct, it is technically free.
So is windows for most users. I technically have so many windows licences that I don't use because the system has long ago been wiped...
There used to be a big movement to get windows refunded if you didn't use it. I think you could get 20 euros if you managed to jump through all the hoops. And I'm not even sure it's still possible.
Technically not. MacOS wouldn't be what it is today if apple didn't get any money out of it. They get that money from selling the hardware the software is exclusively on among other things. Let's say i. e. Ubuntu: When it first got released then it relied on its owners personal revenue for a long time. None of the hardware sold financed Ubuntu, because Ubuntu didn't earn money through hardware. It's obvious that the money earned by apple through its sales also go back into macOS, because if the hardware didn't make any money, macOS ceases to be developed as well.
With OPs logic, every software is technically free. But no, you pay for macOS with the hardware you purchase. You purchase the hardware because of the OS, not because of the hardware. Technically, you could spin the argument and say that you pay for the OS, and for it to be run a certain way and the hardware that comes with it is free. If that sounds like bogus it's because it is bogus.