Docker Hub: Clarification on the deletion of Docker Free Team

“We apologize. We did a terrible job announcing the end of Docker Free Teams,” Docker wrote in a blog post that aims to clarify a few details. The author of the report admits that the “how” of the communication really frightened the open source community.

The affected members of the “Free Team” organizations contacted would lose functionality unless they switched to one of the free or paid plans, the email was to announce. Less than two percent of Docker Hub users are affected.

Docker Hub: Free teams not targeted enough

“One of the reasons the Docker Free Team subscription was phased out was that it was not well targeted,” explains Docker. “In particular, it wasn’t as well suited to the open source audience as our recently updated Docker-Sponsored Open Source program, which offers benefits beyond those of the legacy Free Team subscription,” the project adds in the blog post .

Docker would also like to point out an important point that caused too much criticism: “We also want to clarify that public images are only removed from Docker Hub if maintainers decide to delete them. We are sorry that our initial communication didn’t make that clear.” The blog post ends with a kind of FAQ. Open source images on which other projects are based would only be removed if the providers did it themselves.

It should not be possible to take over old project names, for example in the event of an attack by cybercriminals. Even if Docker shuts down, deletes, or leaves an organization of its own accord, the namespace will not be released. The migration path to a personal Docker account is possible by creating a support ticket. Docker once again emphasizes that open source projects should apply for the Docker-Sponsored Open Source program; even if a project has previously been rejected.

The FAQ is much more extensive, those affected should check it for their own needs. Docker announced last week that it would remove the free “Docker Free Team”. Open source projects using this must act with 30 days notice. Even if the images are not otherwise deleted, they become stale and eventually become unusable or even a security risk if included components have vulnerabilities. The short time frame that those affected have for their reaction is likely to continue to cause criticism.

(dmk)