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Isn’t Java a pay-to-play runtime now? I thought Oracle changed the licensing model after Java 8?

aseipp 8y ago
What they did was change the update model for paid versions of the standard Oracle JDK -- you must have a commercial license with Oracle in order to receive security and bugfix updates for copies of the Oracle JDK. OpenJDK, on the other hand, was unaffected by this change; things like security mitigations/fixes land in OpenJDK, and make their way to other versions (like older JDK versions, or Oracle enterprise copies) from there. So, you can go download Zulu or OpenJDK binaries from your distributor (such as your Linux distribution) and you'll be fine (assuming they update promptly). There are also feature distinctions between the Oracle JDK and OpenJDK, but they have been getting smaller over time -- AppCDS and Flight Recorder, which were Oracle-customer-only features, for example, are now in OpenJDK proper (FR will come in JDK 11), and many features such as ZGC (and originally G1, too, I think) were developed in the open and went into OpenJDK directly, right from the start. If you're just running a bog standard Linux/BSD system with some Java software on it, you're almost certainly OpenJDK already anyway, and your distribution maintainers handle security updates for you.
dig1 8y ago
That is for Java SE8. Not affected for later releases. Beside, ZGC is part of OpenJDK, which is under GPL.
koolba 8y ago
No it’s still free, they (Oracle) are just not supplying the free JVMs. There are plenty of alternatives for OpenJDK builds that are FOSS.
- antonvs 8y ago
  Oracle still supplies free JVMs. The change was that to get updates for older versions of the JVM, you need to pay.
  - pjmlp 8y ago
    And even here, it is something that Sun used to do as well.
antonvs 8y ago
No. The change was that you need to pay to get updates for older versions of the runtime.
DannyB2 8y ago
Get your JVM from Oracle, Azul, Adopt Open JDK, Red Hat. You can either: 1. Update it every six months, for free, if you want to keep current with security updates. 2. Pay for updates on versions older than six months. 3. Not pay, not upgrade, and live with unsupported versions. Adopt Open JDK has indicated their intention to back port patches to older versions for several years past their expiration for free.
Twirrim 8y ago
ZGC is going to be in OpenJDK, the fully open source, reference implementation, of Java: http://openjdk.java.net/projects/zgc/ http://openjdk.java.net/projects/zgc/ All of the proprietary bits in Oracle's Java implementation are also being fully open sourced: https://www.infoq.com/news/2017/10/javaone-opening https://www.infoq.com/news/2017/10/javaone-opening
matt_heimer 8y ago
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/eol-135779.html http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/eol-135779.htm..., The Oracle JDK will cost for production deployments but free for development beginning with Java SE 11. OpenJDK will be interchangeable with the Oracle JDK and Oracle will provide OpenJDK builds for free.
tw3lv3 8y ago
Woah, buddy. Asking questions? Here on HN? Look at all these downvotes. Every single frowning disapproval is totally justified. Because you’re useless.
_old_dude_ 8y ago
No, Stephen Colebourne has recently written a blog post [1] on that subject. [1] http://blog.joda.org/2018/08/java-is-still-available-at-zero-cost.html http://blog.joda.org/2018/08/java-is-still-available-at-zero...

What they did was change the update model for paid versions of the standard Oracle JDK -- you must have a commercial license with Oracle in order to receive security and bugfix updates for copies of the Oracle JDK. OpenJDK, on the other hand, was unaffected by this change; things like security mitigations/fixes land in OpenJDK, and make their way to other versions (like older JDK versions, or Oracle enterprise copies) from there. So, you can go download Zulu or OpenJDK binaries from your distributor (such as your Linux distribution) and you'll be fine (assuming they update promptly). There are also feature distinctions between the Oracle JDK and OpenJDK, but they have been getting smaller over time -- AppCDS and Flight Recorder, which were Oracle-customer-only features, for example, are now in OpenJDK proper (FR will come in JDK 11), and many features such as ZGC (and originally G1, too, I think) were developed in the open and went into OpenJDK directly, right from the start. If you're just running a bog standard Linux/BSD system with some Java software on it, you're almost certainly OpenJDK already anyway, and your distribution maintainers handle security updates for you.

dig1 8y ago

That is for Java SE8. Not affected for later releases. Beside, ZGC is part of OpenJDK, which is under GPL.

koolba 8y ago

No it’s still free, they (Oracle) are just not supplying the free JVMs. There are plenty of alternatives for OpenJDK builds that are FOSS.

antonvs 8y ago
Oracle still supplies free JVMs. The change was that to get updates for older versions of the JVM, you need to pay.
- pjmlp 8y ago
  And even here, it is something that Sun used to do as well.

antonvs 8y ago

No. The change was that you need to pay to get updates for older versions of the runtime.

DannyB2 8y ago

Get your JVM from Oracle, Azul, Adopt Open JDK, Red Hat. You can either: 1. Update it every six months, for free, if you want to keep current with security updates. 2. Pay for updates on versions older than six months. 3. Not pay, not upgrade, and live with unsupported versions. Adopt Open JDK has indicated their intention to back port patches to older versions for several years past their expiration for free.

Twirrim 8y ago

ZGC is going to be in OpenJDK, the fully open source, reference implementation, of Java: http://openjdk.java.net/projects/zgc/ http://openjdk.java.net/projects/zgc/ All of the proprietary bits in Oracle's Java implementation are also being fully open sourced: https://www.infoq.com/news/2017/10/javaone-opening https://www.infoq.com/news/2017/10/javaone-opening

matt_heimer 8y ago

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/eol-135779.html http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/eol-135779.htm..., The Oracle JDK will cost for production deployments but free for development beginning with Java SE 11. OpenJDK will be interchangeable with the Oracle JDK and Oracle will provide OpenJDK builds for free.

tw3lv3 8y ago

Woah, buddy. Asking questions? Here on HN? Look at all these downvotes. Every single frowning disapproval is totally justified. Because you’re useless.

_old_dude_ 8y ago

No, Stephen Colebourne has recently written a blog post [1] on that subject. [1] http://blog.joda.org/2018/08/java-is-still-available-at-zero-cost.html http://blog.joda.org/2018/08/java-is-still-available-at-zero...