I think the problem here is the announcement from Brain Fox feels intentionally obtuse and almost meant to confuse people into upgrading to Community.
It’s important to note that our open source EPL core (OSS) is not and has not changed. You can still benefit from the exact same core functionality and formats (apt, Maven, raw) that have been available for more than a decade. Most free users will likely transition to the more feature-rich Community Edition, but those who prefer to use the OSS tier are welcome to do so. We simply want to provide a clear path to additional capabilities and a greater degree of reliability for those seeking it.
IMO, this isn’t true at all but he hides behind what was most likely very careful word choice like “same core functionality”. The truth is that OSS is available as raw code only and there is no reasonable/safe/documented way to upgrade a prior OSS version to the latest OSS version. The only documented upgrade path is from OSS to Community. The communication has been disingenuous from the start. Just be straight with people and let them make educated decisions. Of course “Most free users will likely transition to the more feature-rich Community Edition” because that is the only clear upgrade path available!