Open-Source Community Launches MinIO Fork

After months of controversy that many felt contradicted the spirit of open source, MinIO has effectively reached the end of its open development era.

Its GitHub repository has been archived and set to read-only, formally closing the chapter on active open-source work for the widely adopted S3-compatible object storage server.

As many anticipated, the community responded quickly. An independent fork has been launched to preserve the open version of the software. The project is now hosted under the Pigsty account on GitHub. Pigsty is an open-source platform focused on automated PostgreSQL deployment and operations.

The maintainers make their position clear:

“This is a community-maintained fork of minio/minio, maintained by Pigsty. This project is NOT affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by MinIO, Inc. ‘MinIO’ is a trademark of MinIO, Inc., used here solely to identify the upstream project.”

The fork restores community governance while maintaining API compatibility with the original S3 design. Among the notable changes:

• Reinstatement of the embedded management console version reference that had previously been removed
• Updated module paths and build configuration for long-term sustainability
• Re-enabled packaging and container image distribution workflows
• Continued public development under the existing AGPLv3 license

Documentation has been mirrored at silo.pigsty.io, container images are published on Docker Hub, and the fork remains compatible with the original upstream mc CLI. Pigsty also provides APT and YUM repositories for distributing the server and mcli binaries, allowing users to deploy and update through standard Linux package management systems.

Following MinIO’s discontinuation, several alternatives have gained traction. Notable options include Garage, SeaweedFS, and RustFS, all of which are increasingly being considered as replacements.

What the future holds remains uncertain. However, for users caught off guard by the company’s abrupt shift in direction, this community fork offers reassurance. It restores continuity and preserves the functionality many relied on.

The next step will depend on broader community involvement—particularly around timely security updates and future feature development. Still, launching the fork is already a significant milestone and a strong first move toward sustainability.