Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
Yes, I confess, I have paid for software to use on Linux. When I crossed the border 8 years ago and escaped from Windows, I relished the availability of first class, free, software. I felt a little guilty and couldn't understand how programs like LibreOffice, GIMP, VLC, Clementine and Shotwell could be supplied gratis. I was a Windows developer myself so I knew the many hours/weeks/ months of work that were involved in their development.
However, sometimes I could not find exactly what I wanted. I bought a new printer and could not install it without first downloading drivers from Epson and installing them with Gdebi, something a novice may not be able to do; the Gnome printer installer could not find the drivers itself. Then the printer would not use the optional duplex unit, and would not select the photo tray when required. The solution was Turboprint; it solved all my problems and has since worked well with other printers. I only once needed tech support and received a fix within 24 hours.
My other problem was when I moved from MariaDB 5 to MariaDB 10. The latter would not work with MySql Workbench, and there was no other decent GUI available. The answer was JPDB Admin which makes setting up databases as simple as ABC.
Both of these programs cost money, but it is such a small amount, less than the cost of a mouse! I have no commercial interest in them, but mention them because I admire their professionalism. They do exactly what they promise without fuss or failure, and they are supported. They have licenses but no crippleware, so I have been able to install them on every distro I have tested.
I respect and admire all the work done to produce free software and the support from the wider Linux community to solve problems. However, when non-free software solves my problem, I cannot begrudge a few dollars.