I've been the primary maintenance person for an SMF 2.0.X forum, and I must confess that my confidence in SMF's future had been low. However, the team's recent progress has compelled me to give SMF 2.1 another look. After taking that second glance and comparing it to other popular free* forum software, I am convinced that SMF still offers a first-rate combination of features and traditional design.
Now that I've been encouraged by the team, I felt it was time to encourage them. Each step forward is a step closer to completing a big comeback. SMF 2.1 looks to be well-worth both the work and the wait!
I would also like to thank the community members and developers who have worked on patching SMF 2.0.x for PHP 7.2+ environments; you bought the needed time for myself and others to wait for 2.1's release.
It's been a difficult journey and a long time coming. But after all your work, the future looks bright for SMF and its many users and supporters!
* I can't fairly compare its features to paid software I've never used, but it's enough to compare the price tags!