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None of my criticism is regarding how Oracle has been managing Java at a technical level. I thought that would be clear from the context, but I am strictly conc
by ralmidani 6y ago
None of my criticism is regarding how Oracle has been managing Java at a technical level. I thought that would be clear from the context, but I am strictly concerned with the increasingly dark patterns in the licensing model; I had Oracle's Java 8 on one of my computers, and it worked fine, but then a few months ago I got a notification that I needed to update to a newer version. After it was done updating, I was presented with an ultimatum: accept the new licensing terms (no commercial use without paying) or uninstall the software. I chose to uninstall, and vowed to never touch Java again when I personally have the discretion. Yes, I know I can install OpenJDK, but given Oracle's past and present behavior, how can anyone be assured they won't attempt to extinguish OpenJDK, even in the near future? Oracle seems to be boiling the frog slowly, and it probably won't be long before it becomes impractical to use non-proprietary Java anywhere.
Edit: There was no warning that installing the latest "update" to Java would trigger an ultimatum screen, and no way to revert the installation. And as far as I know, there is now no way to download Java from Oracle without accepting the new license terms. It's pretty obvious what Oracle's endgame strategy is.
- pjmlp 6y agoAnyone with some knowledge of the Java eco-system knows perfectly well that Java is as free as ever, more so that it was under Sun, where it was only free beer without source. https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/overview/oracle-jdk-faqs.html https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/overview/orac... https://medium.com/@javachampions/java-is-still-free-2-0-0-6b9aa8d6d244 https://medium.com/@javachampions/java-is-still-free-2-0-0-6... Finally if you want top of the game JIT, GC, managed runtimes someone has to get the money. If you are afraid what Oracle might do with Java, better not touch any language handled by Apple, Google, Microsoft, IBM, Intel, SAP, ... It is not you that they care about, rather their shareholders.
- ralmidani 6y agoWhen Apple releases Swift under Apache 2.0, which includes an explicit, unequivocal patent license, it inspires a lot more confidence than all the shenanigans Oracle has been pulling with GPL2. Whom Apple cares about is less important than how they behave. With Swift, they're buying goodwill in the FOSS community. Oracle, on the other hand, keeps burning bridges.
- pjmlp 6y agoThe beauty of Apache 2.0 is that corporations don't have to contribute anything back to the community, really inspiring. Apple also enjoys making use of their lawyers by the way.