I would interpret an internal deprecation notice as saying that consumers of X should start planning to migrate away. If instead, X is in maintenance mode but with no plans to drop support, to me that is not deprecated?
It sounds like perhaps X was in the earlier state of not being recommended for new projects?
> I would interpret an internal deprecation notice as saying that consumers of X should start planning to migrate away.
Yes, everyone (internally but privately) was told to not touch it with a ten-foot and migrate away. Mentioning that it was "deprecated" apparently took it a step too far (even if internally but not privately).
It sounds like perhaps X was in the earlier state of not being recommended for new projects?