Not everyone has to buy the pro version, or view the ads. Have you ever taken a business course? The aim is not to have every single person to purchase pro, but to have a large user base, and naturally with that, some will not disable ads, and some will buy the pro version. How do you think web developers make money? Would it be ok for them to sell all your information, as "You are complaining about them selling your information, and not offering another way for the developers to get paid"?

I cant believe that installing harmful software on ones computer, which not only makes their hardware components break faster, but also uses their electricity, and resources you see as a viable way for the developers to get paid. (I would say it is a suicide mission to kill the program, and not a way to ensure the developers get paid.)

The problem you fail to see is that not every developer will make money on everything they do. The point is that they do not have to continue - I do a lot of free projects as this makes me better at making applications, and also it builds my portfolio. The same thing could be said about utorrent developers - I would gladly work (in the past) for them even for free, as this would be amazing on a resume.

There are plenty of people willing to help make a free product better (Just look at apps like popcorn time which have gotten huge help from the community - you don't see them installing malware and saying "its to pay the developers"), but once they start installing ads, and having paid versions, is when people start to expect quality. Once you install malware with your program, it shows that you do not give a shit about the users; and thus the users should not give a shit about the developers. (I am sure utorrent devs will make a lot of money, on the dozens of users it has left.) If you ask me; from a profit point of view, I would solely work on adding additional features, and polishing it, making it the best software around (there is a lot of competition - if you want to get paid, you better make something that people want to pay for) and sell it as a 'bonus pack' for $1. With it being so cheap, just about everyone loyal to the product will buy this. This would be a much better PR move, and even give them more money, not only up front, but also in the long run. (But why do that, when you can pay a developer $50 to add a silent malware install on your computer, and make more profits without doing any work).