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What is the practical difference between Oracle Java SE and OpenJDK? That is, why would you pay for it instead of immediately switching to OpenJDK?

by geofft 8y ago

tyingq 8y ago
They (mostly) didn't used to charge for their JDK. Up until recently, there were code differences. As of v11, there's supposedly no difference. So, basically, companies need to move from Oracle JDK 8 to OpenJDK 11. And pay Oracle until they are done. It's a fair amount of testing and verification for some big companies. Now that it's costing them license money, they'll do it. Edit: And, of course, many will also be incented to move off Java altogether.
monocasa 8y ago
Support contract in order to have a lightning rod for blame if/when shit hits the fan.
bradleyjg 8y ago
There are a few odds and ends—IIRC some fonts, some gpu accelerated widget implementations for swing, and some obscure crypto options. But the OpenJDK is the reference implementation and almost certainly has everything you need. The only reason to use OracleJDK is if you want to buy a support contract from oracle (NB there are companies, including very big ones, that will sell you a support contract for OpenJDK.)
- vbezhenar 8y ago
  There are almost no visible differences between Oracle and Open JDK now. Here's list of differences: https://jaxenter.com/oracle-jdk-builds-openjdk-builds-difference-149318.html https://jaxenter.com/oracle-jdk-builds-openjdk-builds-differ... basically it's some legacy support and their commercial offerings.
vbezhenar 8y ago
You would pay for it if you need support from the very creators of that software. Otherwise you would use free version. It did not change conceptually. All they did is made their offering more visible (and probably they will blackmail those who download stuff without thinking and reading licenses). You could buy support and use proprietary software before that change.

What is the practical difference between Oracle Java SE and OpenJDK? That is, why would you pay for it instead of immediately switching to OpenJDK?

by geofft 8y ago

What is the practical difference between Oracle Java SE and OpenJDK? That is, why would you pay for it instead of immediately switching to OpenJDK?

tyingq 8y ago

They (mostly) didn't used to charge for their JDK. Up until recently, there were code differences. As of v11, there's supposedly no difference. So, basically, companies need to move from Oracle JDK 8 to OpenJDK 11. And pay Oracle until they are done. It's a fair amount of testing and verification for some big companies. Now that it's costing them license money, they'll do it. Edit: And, of course, many will also be incented to move off Java altogether.

monocasa 8y ago

Support contract in order to have a lightning rod for blame if/when shit hits the fan.

bradleyjg 8y ago

There are a few odds and ends—IIRC some fonts, some gpu accelerated widget implementations for swing, and some obscure crypto options. But the OpenJDK is the reference implementation and almost certainly has everything you need. The only reason to use OracleJDK is if you want to buy a support contract from oracle (NB there are companies, including very big ones, that will sell you a support contract for OpenJDK.)

vbezhenar 8y ago
There are almost no visible differences between Oracle and Open JDK now. Here's list of differences: https://jaxenter.com/oracle-jdk-builds-openjdk-builds-difference-149318.html https://jaxenter.com/oracle-jdk-builds-openjdk-builds-differ... basically it's some legacy support and their commercial offerings.

vbezhenar 8y ago

You would pay for it if you need support from the very creators of that software. Otherwise you would use free version. It did not change conceptually. All they did is made their offering more visible (and probably they will blackmail those who download stuff without thinking and reading licenses). You could buy support and use proprietary software before that change.