And also on Windows, and even on DOS, before Windows.
Googling terms like "shareware" and its history (not the only model, there were, of course, outright paid products too), will show some stories, maybe not a lot, since some of this was before the web, so not archived. But will show enough to get an idea. Jim Button was a classic example, but there were many other indie devs (many of them one-man shows), who may not have made it so big, but made good money from desktop apps.