What does “deprecated” mean to you?  Usually it means something like

• “No one’s using these old features, so we’re removing them.”
• “This API has some problems, so we’ve released a new one, and the old one is deprecated.”
• “The world has changed and using this method is no longer best practice, and since everyone is using this other method now, we’re deprecating it.”

What it usually does not mean is “we’re stripping out features from the free community version.  It you want those features, you can pay $96,000 to get them back in the paid version.”

But that’s how MinIO is using that word.

What’s Being Taken Out?

According to the MinIO ChangeLog, “Community version is going back to be an object browser only.”

The following features are being “deprecated”:

• Account and policy management web UI
• Configuration management web UI
• Bucket management tools web UI
• Administrative console features

In short, while you used to be able to administer the product using a web interface, now you’re reduced to command-line only.  Or pay…wait for it…$96,000.

Per year.

Comments in their Slack are brutal:

Hey. I just wanted to say that, as a long-time paying customer (we started paying in 2020), your recent changes to the OSS version led us to collectively decide on switching to another solution as soon as possible. While these changes don’t impact us in any way, they show a huge disrespect towards the OSS community, which you have practically exploited for the last six years. Shame on you. I wish you all the best.

and

I would also underline the fact that the WebUI was part of the public OSS binary/core, so stating that “no features have been removed” is a colossal understatement, practically being untrue. Removing roughly 115k lines of code in a single PR is the definition of “removing features”.

Alas, seems the MinIO modus operandi there is to reply to such comments by making nonsense references to the “MinIO code of conduct”.  Which, of course, doesn’t say anything about discussing how the organization is turning its back on users, but…

Sigh.  There’s another word that perhaps describes this situation better than deprecation.

raindog308

Raindog308 is a longtime LowEndTalk community administrator, technical writer, and self-described techno polymath. With deep roots in the *nix world, he has a passion for systems both modern and vintage, ranging from Unix, Perl, Python, and Golang to shell scripting and mainframe-era operating systems like MVS. He’s equally comfortable with relational database systems, having spent years working with Oracle, PostgreSQL, and MySQL.

As an avid user of LowEndBox providers, Raindog runs an empire of LEBs, from tiny boxes for VPNs, to mid-sized instances for application hosting, and heavyweight servers for data storage and complex databases. He brings both technical rigor and real-world experience to every piece he writes.

Beyond the command line, Raindog is a lover of German Shepherds, high-quality knives, target shooting, theology, tabletop RPGs, and hiking in deep, quiet forests.

His goal with every article is to help users, from beginners to seasoned sysadmins, get more value, performance, and enjoyment out of their infrastructure.

You can find him daily in the forums at LowEndTalk under the handle @raindog308.