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Why does MKVToolNix cost money in the Microsoft Store?
Since 2021-03-24 you can install MKVToolNix from the Microsoft Store. There's one caveat, though: it actually costs money in the Store.
But why? Isn't MKVToolNix Open Source?
Let me start by saying that yes, MKVToolNix is Open Source and always will be. Let me further make it very clear that binaries of all variants of MKVToolNix, including the ones for Windows, will always be available from its home page free of charge. Functionally there will be no differences between the Windows binaries, no matter where you get them from.1
So why have a paid version in the Store? Simple: it's a way for you to support the development of MKVToolNix. In return you don't have to update it manually anymore as the Store will install them automatically for you.
If you want to support MKVToolNix this way, great, and thanks! Just head over to the Microsoft Store and buy it there. If you don't want to pay for it for whatever reason, that's perfectly fine as well! Nothing will change for you: head over to the downloads section on the home page & get it from there.
And in case you want to support MKVToolNix without having to pay, there are so many things you could do. Here are a couple of examples:
- interact in various forums such as the MKVToolNix sub-Reddit
- work on translations
- file or investigate bugs
- or simply spread the word about it.
I'm really grateful for all such contributions to MKVToolNix and its community.
Categories: misc
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One caveat: using the command-line applications with the Windows Store variant is currently not possible due to store policies. See this FAQ entry for details. ↩︎