Maybe a weird but honest question: How is/was software even able to finance itself without subscriptions? People expect updates and support which are continuous

Maybe a weird but honest question: How is/was software even able to finance itself without subscriptions? People expect updates and support which are continuous expenses. One alternative, I guess, are full-price major revisions at semi-regular intervals. But won't that result in many people never getting an upgrade because they feel it's not worth it?