Aurora Support Forum: Aurora Freeware Edition

You may have noticed that Aurora development and support has been struggling since we missed our deadline at the end of last year. This is to let you all know what is happening.

Last year was a very bad year sales wise. By the end of the year, we took a serious loss. We've done several cost cutting measures with the hope of recovering from last year's slump, but even with the savings we can't pay the bills at our current level of sales (Year-to-date we've only sold three copies of Aurora). A business that does not make money is really a hobby, not a business. As a result, I have needed to timeshare the unprofitable Aurora development time with other projects. Combined with a couple development plan detours (like the installer), we've been unable to provide the level of product updates and support that we were once known for.

As a result, I am making the 1.x version of Aurora a freeware product. Updates will continue to be done, but on a hobby basis instead of a commercial product basis.

DMX:
The ultimate goal is to make Aurora DMX compatible in as short of time as possible under the circumstances. Hardware vendors (D-Light and LOR) are taking steps to make their products DMX compatible instead of using just their own proprietary protocols. As a result, the obstacle that once existed regarging multiprotocol support in Aurora is largely diminishing on its own. Version 1.1 of Aurora will fix copy/paste and a handful of other issues. Version 1.1 will be the last version of Aurora 1.x to support the D-Light and LOR protocols. Starting with version 1.2, Aurora will become a DMX only product. This greatly simplifies the continued development and support of Aurora into the DMX era. Support for the proprietary protocols will not return until version 2.

Version 2:
The future of version 2 remains uncertain. If the high end Christmas display market turns around, then development on 2.x may resume. If so, version 2.0 will be a commercial product just as 1.0 was.

The key to unlock Aurora 1.x as freeware is:
[Key Removed - Aurora is no longer freeware]

Edited by LightsOnLogan - 30 Nov 2011 at 9:09am

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Slinkard Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List DMX Joined: 10 Dec 2007 Location: El Cajon CA Online Status: Offline Posts: 243	Quote Reply Posted: 12 May 2010 at 2:57pm
	I am a big fan of how Linux works. Can we help the development? Go team????
	Coming soon www.computerizedlights.com

ChrisL1976 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Beta Testers Joined: 01 Sep 2008 Location: Kankakee, Ill Online Status: Offline Posts: 1341	Quote Reply Posted: 12 May 2010 at 2:40pm
	Completely understandable, but still...WOW.
	Chris www.lightsonsixth.com

Comporder1 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List DMX Joined: 11 Dec 2007 Location: Brookhaven, MS Online Status: Offline Posts: 163	Quote Reply Posted: 12 May 2010 at 2:05pm
	wow
	www.williamsonworkshop.com

LightsOnLogan Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 11 Oct 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3187	Quote Reply Posted: 12 May 2010 at 1:15pm
	You may have noticed that Aurora development and support has been struggling since we missed our deadline at the end of last year. This is to let you all know what is happening. Last year was a very bad year sales wise. By the end of the year, we took a serious loss. We've done several cost cutting measures with the hope of recovering from last year's slump, but even with the savings we can't pay the bills at our current level of sales (Year-to-date we've only sold three copies of Aurora). A business that does not make money is really a hobby, not a business. As a result, I have needed to timeshare the unprofitable Aurora development time with other projects. Combined with a couple development plan detours (like the installer), we've been unable to provide the level of product updates and support that we were once known for. As a result, I am making the 1.x version of Aurora a freeware product. Updates will continue to be done, but on a hobby basis instead of a commercial product basis. DMX: The ultimate goal is to make Aurora DMX compatible in as short of time as possible under the circumstances. Hardware vendors (D-Light and LOR) are taking steps to make their products DMX compatible instead of using just their own proprietary protocols. As a result, the obstacle that once existed regarging multiprotocol support in Aurora is largely diminishing on its own. Version 1.1 of Aurora will fix copy/paste and a handful of other issues. Version 1.1 will be the last version of Aurora 1.x to support the D-Light and LOR protocols. Starting with version 1.2, Aurora will become a DMX only product. This greatly simplifies the continued development and support of Aurora into the DMX era. Support for the proprietary protocols will not return until version 2. Version 2: The future of version 2 remains uncertain. If the high end Christmas display market turns around, then development on 2.x may resume. If so, version 2.0 will be a commercial product just as 1.0 was. The key to unlock Aurora 1.x as freeware is: [Key Removed - Aurora is no longer freeware] Edited by LightsOnLogan - 30 Nov 2011 at 9:09am