True but also, what actually is the best alternative that's also free? Non-rhetorical question, because I am averse to paying for what feels like a universal/commons piece of tech.
Someone must put in the effort to make something. Should they not be compensated for their time?
If they inform and ask after the fact, compensation should be voluntary.
When I was a Mac user, I found the built in Preview adequate to my needs.
I'm not an advanced user of pdfs so I'm not sure if there's anything major missing from these, but either Okular or just the built-in browser ones works well enough for my basic needs of reading and the occasional form filling for the desktop, and on android I use muPdf.
I had assumed it went the way of Adobe Flash many years ago.
Well, you know what they say about assume...
Accidentally Turing complete?
It's still alive and kicking in anything government. Third party support for forms and other kinds of interactive stuff is ... lacking.