But one of the best comic book stories ever 
Well, as you asked, I feel conflicted by this news and it has kept me awake pondering it.
Corona has been “open source” for a while now but no-one really contributed. I can’t see this situation changing as, to be honest, we are game devs not framework devs. Interesting note, Vlad went from game dev to framework dev so he understands the problems and issue we face which is positive.
As I said earlier, I think initial support will be good but this will naturally decay over time (as all fundraising does). So awareness has do be raised otherwise I give it a year, maybe two. My other concern is Vlad will do what needs to be done to match the app stores constant changes but Corona as a toolset will never really improve and much needed features will never get implemented (I have quite a few on the 2018 road map).
@SGS There is always room for gloom and doom but at this point all that does is erode support for our one clear path forward which is to band together and make a go at this. As one of the visibly most success (and demanding) devs, I would expect you to see your name first on Vlad’s support page as you, ostensibly, have the most to lose financially if Corona 2.0 fails but you also gained the most from Corona 1.0.
I think we’re past the place where we wonder if our new endeavors will be fruitful. There is always room to cast doubt on the parts of our new journey that may fail but this is not the time wallow or shrink back, this is the time to fight. This is where we put down our money, volunteer our time and work together for a positive solution . . . or walk away.
Personally, I’m filling sandbags, putting on my helmet and fighting until the end or a new beginning. We all have a big task in front of us and I’m not suggesting that we close our eyes in a pollyanna-ish fashion and pretend everything is perfect or ignore the challenges we may never overcome, but I am suggesting that we need to feel inspired as a group, we need an esprit de corps - and this is not the time to take the wind out of anyone’s sails. Perhaps we are sailing to nowhere but if we stop moving the ship, we’ll never find out what’s over the horizon!
We need at least 4-500 users giving no less than 100€ per year for Corona to make it semi-sustainable. Not counting first year and those of you who make great succesful apps and can chip in more than that. Vlad and Rob should know how many active users there are on this forum… All of us who used or are using Corona SDK seem to love it, something Corona has forgotten over the years is not getting enough new users. I suspect experienced programmers in other languages might not rush to Corona now, but with great beginner tutorials, advertising focus on simplicity, on field/ in school courses etc., Corona can and should get that and many more users in no time. Once here it’s hard to leave, so get them while they are new at this. All the tutorials are dated and don’t inspire confidence - even though they are not outdated. Oh, and make the tuts practical - Hello World means very little for the novice.
The other focus that I haven’t seen enough of in Corona labs is on business apps.
It’s hard to compete in gaming alone with Unity etc, so focus on where you are better.
Corona by itself is quite stable and offers great features. 2d Game dev and business apps, with amazing delivery speed. Always enjoyed building bits with it, and never had issues. Any feature that was missing was fixed via native coding easily.
People who need very significant features should sponsor them, for the rest, just keeping it up to date with architectural or core changes / support features such as metal etc will be more than enough. More of the community should get involved in the framework part of things though whoever has the expertise.
We definitely have a very active community and people enjoy using Corona, so I’ll be supporting it fully and getting my clients to pitch in as well
I have several points to note: I’m not the only person who knows how engine works and most of the time we had more than one engineer on the core. We also have engineers beside myself working on various stuff, like server maintenance etc. btw, if you would look into github pull requests there are several rather involved ones which was made by people who wanted some fixing and thy got it. Some in deep parts of core engine.
My point is that having resources there would be people to develop and support engine, even if something bad happens to me.
Honestly, I don’t see AndroidX as a big problem. It probably just needs testing. It would mean new AdMob plugin.
Anyway. I am positive about this change.
Liked this article -_- -_- -_- -_-
Overall Corona going open source is a good thing
Clearly, the move to open source has some Corona developers wondering what the future looks like for them and if it’s time to consider another platform that supports the LUA language, such as LÖVE (also open source), Codea, or MoaiSDK.
But when you consider how well Corona interprets the markup you write in LUA, and the thousands of API calls to various layers of the development stack are interpreted automatically, the fact that it’s free, and that they don’t collect analytics any longer about your app’s usage, I think developers should take a breath and remember that even though the 9 years worth of building the platform to where it is today is an incredible foundation for the open source community, it’s not a death nail because ultimately Corona still controls the daily releases of the SDK, along with the app builds which requires horsepower, internal staff, and a relentless barrage of management to keep up with OS changes.
There are other Corona components that are not open-sourced such as some plug-ins, the build infrastructure, and as usual the Corona Marketplace.
When Corona was acquired by Appodeal in March 2017, it was subsequently made free for public use. The eventual transition to an open-source model has been reportedly in the works since then so this should come as no surprise. It shouldn’t be of disappointment to Corona users though, rather a chance to reflect on where Corona has come from. Aside from the new source-code release rule, most every Corona feature that has been free since 2017 will still remain free, and the likelihood of the platform going away is almost non-existent.
They will still commit daily builds, you are still required to build in the simulator (or nativaly) and send the code to Corona servers for signing / compiling, and there is no change to the echosystem of making, and publishing apps using Corona.
Richard Harris in Open Source Tuesday, January 8, 2019
Vlads, that’s cool, but this is the sort of thing that will have to be clearly communicated before people start handing over money. How many developers are needed? What will they do? What happens if they get a better offer?
There are people who are migrating to another platform and talk about the end of Corona or a gloomy future.
On the other hand there are people who stay with Corona and try to be positive.
@firerabbit - all true. I’m not trying to silence a diversity of ideas. I have the same worries as everyone else but there is no longer a CoronaLabs to obscure our understanding of what’s happening behind the scenes. There is also no CoronaLabs, there is one engineer, a bunch of devs and the solutions we bring from now on as we build Corona 2.0.
@SGS is a friend of mine and my response wasn’t to a single post but more to where I think the leaders in our community should be. There isn’t anyone left to complain to, there is just us and if we keep expressing the same doubts again and again with out offering solutions, ideas or financial contributions - it just feels pointlessly grim.
Like I said, I don’t want to silence ideas. I would welcome more ideas and solutions.
Right now, I only see one path forward and we need momentum!
Which group do you think is more likely to have the money required to sustain the project? Personally I’m pleased because I don’t rely on Corona apps for a living anymore, but those who do are going to need 100% transparency from the off, not just in response to speculative forum posts.
@firerabbit - sure, and I do agree with what you said that’s why I “liked” it.
@nick_sherman - I agree with you that we need 100% transparency and I think we have been getting that since the announcement of CoronaLabs closing ; the caveat being that it hasn’t closed yet and Appodeal is still paying salaries so there might be things that aren’t 100% discussable yet.
I see that - but May might be too late if key developers/contributors have already jumped ship. There’s no need to keep up a pretence of grandeur anymore, there are much bigger companies around who tell you exactly who works for them and what they do.
I really don’t care for the people in the first group.
Even if they have millions what’s the point?
They are migrating to other platform.
Good for them, but why making negative posts and predictions?
Let’s be realistic.
There is a nice plan with Vlad as engineer and the support of the community.
Also there are simple goals like keeping Corona alive.
I read so many posts about lack of new users, big studios that will not choose corona, not enough employees for new features…
Who cares?
All this is happening from and for people who don’t want to leave the platform!
Let’s keep Corona running for a year and we will see.
I really don’t get the drama and the negativity.
Btw I’m not relying on Corona either.
I agree on 100% transparency too.
Well I obviously wasn’t talking about people who have already left, more those who have to decide in the coming months whether they will or not. The question is why did those people leave and how do you prevent it from happening more? There’s probably a balance to be had between ‘we’re all doomed’ and ‘la-la-la-la-la-la’.
All platforms, they’re leaving and coming.
You shouldn’t quote my post then :p.
They leave because they don’t feel safe with Corona.
There is a starting plan (Vlad bla bla bla) and we are here to talk about it more and make it better.
Just to be clear, I don’t judge people jumping the ship.
Anybody should do what is best for him / her / business.
I dislike their decision to make negative posts for no reason.
Again, I don’t have any special attachments with Corona.
It’s a lot easier to keep a developer that earns money that can be put back into the engine than attract a new one.
@Aarbron where you see negativity, I see cautious optimism and perhaps some pointers of how to move forward.
I think the reason people still post despite leaving the platform is they still want to see it succeed. I didn’t touch Corona for about two years before returning, but still helped newcomers on the forums when I could.
Isn’t a good idea to listen to customers that have left you in spite of universally liking the actual product to understand the reasons why?