5 ms·

I'm genuinely curious what kinds of companies pay for Java SE, other than out of goodwill. Do some of them have frequent problems with the VM, for example?

blueshirt 3y ago
If your company is selling a product and you want to package the JRE with it, you have to pay for the license
- Nathanba 3y ago
  it is strange why anyone would pay for the oracle jre when you can pick from one of many implementations that are free. There are some tiny differences in the oracle jdk but just try to swap them out, it should be pretty easy
- tetromino_ 3y ago
  But couldn't you package an OpenJDK JRE build with your product instead of using the Oracle JRE, and thus not need to pay anything?
  - blueshirt 3y ago
    Probably yes, depending on the license of OpenJDK, but if you want Oracle JRE, you have to pay
    - krzyk 3y ago
      Buy why you would want OracleJDK instead of OpenJDK? Those are nearly identical. Also is this the case if you use jlink (and/or jpackage)? BTW. JRE is no more since JDK 9, and Oracle doesn't offer it (but other vendors do) - so in case of Oracle builds one hase to use jlink or package whole JDK.
      - blueshirt 3y ago
        My guess would be you have some kind of safety net by having a company to turn to in case of issues, you probably can request new features, you may have better performances (since the implementation is different) etc... Not saying what is best/worst, it's mostly a matter of opinion / contracts in the end.
        piperswe 3y ago
        The implementation isn't different, so there shouldn't be any performance difference - the Oracle JDK is a lightly modified build of OpenJDK.
- SpaghettiCthulu 3y ago
  Why not just auto-download the openjdk?
- microflash 3y ago
  That only applies if you're using a commercial distribution. You can always use a free distribution like Eclipse Temurin or Amazon Corretto for most of the usecases.
wongarsu 3y ago
My guess would be ones where the cost of internal processes to change to a different JRE/JDK is more expensive than the cost of Oracle's license. Or where incentives are misaligned enough that it appears that way for whoever has to make the decision. Probably some overlap with companies using Oracle's Database.
OJFord 3y ago
I imagine one case is those that outsourced app development to some consulting firm, get the software back complete with 1y licence (+licence admin fee for the consultant's trouble, naturally) and then just renew it when prompted because of course. Or it's not supplied with one, but when contacted by Oracle the only negative thought they have is directed it at the consulting firm (grr why didn't they tell us about this).
mrighele 3y ago
From what I understand, a Java SE Universal Subscription (which should be the one at 180$ /year per employee) gives you the right to use GraalVM Enterprise [1], which has a number of feature not available in the Community Edition [2]. This may be worth something to some, although it may be cheaper to use Oracle Cloud which gives you the same right. (This is assuming that I understood the things correctly, which is not a given at all with Oracle) [1] https://www.oracle.com/java/graalvm/ https://www.oracle.com/java/graalvm/ [2] https://www.oracle.com/a/ocom/docs/graalvm_enterprise_community_comparison_2021.pdf https://www.oracle.com/a/ocom/docs/graalvm_enterprise_commun...
- kaba0 3y ago
  You can use Graal Enterprise for free, since a few months ago.
  - mrighele 3y ago
    Ah good to know, although I am a bit wary of a license from Oracle that is not a standard open source one :-) (The FAQ says it is free also for commercial use, so I will investigate)
- exabrial 3y ago
  I believe everything in Graal is now free to use, as of a month ago or so

blueshirt 3y ago

If your company is selling a product and you want to package the JRE with it, you have to pay for the license

Nathanba 3y ago
it is strange why anyone would pay for the oracle jre when you can pick from one of many implementations that are free. There are some tiny differences in the oracle jdk but just try to swap them out, it should be pretty easy
tetromino_ 3y ago
But couldn't you package an OpenJDK JRE build with your product instead of using the Oracle JRE, and thus not need to pay anything?
- blueshirt 3y ago
  Probably yes, depending on the license of OpenJDK, but if you want Oracle JRE, you have to pay
  - krzyk 3y ago
    Buy why you would want OracleJDK instead of OpenJDK? Those are nearly identical. Also is this the case if you use jlink (and/or jpackage)? BTW. JRE is no more since JDK 9, and Oracle doesn't offer it (but other vendors do) - so in case of Oracle builds one hase to use jlink or package whole JDK.
    - blueshirt 3y ago
      My guess would be you have some kind of safety net by having a company to turn to in case of issues, you probably can request new features, you may have better performances (since the implementation is different) etc... Not saying what is best/worst, it's mostly a matter of opinion / contracts in the end.
      - piperswe 3y ago
        The implementation isn't different, so there shouldn't be any performance difference - the Oracle JDK is a lightly modified build of OpenJDK.
SpaghettiCthulu 3y ago
Why not just auto-download the openjdk?
microflash 3y ago
That only applies if you're using a commercial distribution. You can always use a free distribution like Eclipse Temurin or Amazon Corretto for most of the usecases.

wongarsu 3y ago

My guess would be ones where the cost of internal processes to change to a different JRE/JDK is more expensive than the cost of Oracle's license. Or where incentives are misaligned enough that it appears that way for whoever has to make the decision. Probably some overlap with companies using Oracle's Database.

OJFord 3y ago

I imagine one case is those that outsourced app development to some consulting firm, get the software back complete with 1y licence (+licence admin fee for the consultant's trouble, naturally) and then just renew it when prompted because of course. Or it's not supplied with one, but when contacted by Oracle the only negative thought they have is directed it at the consulting firm (grr why didn't they tell us about this).

mrighele 3y ago

From what I understand, a Java SE Universal Subscription (which should be the one at 180$ /year per employee) gives you the right to use GraalVM Enterprise [1], which has a number of feature not available in the Community Edition [2]. This may be worth something to some, although it may be cheaper to use Oracle Cloud which gives you the same right. (This is assuming that I understood the things correctly, which is not a given at all with Oracle) [1] https://www.oracle.com/java/graalvm/ https://www.oracle.com/java/graalvm/ [2] https://www.oracle.com/a/ocom/docs/graalvm_enterprise_community_comparison_2021.pdf https://www.oracle.com/a/ocom/docs/graalvm_enterprise_commun...

kaba0 3y ago
You can use Graal Enterprise for free, since a few months ago.
- mrighele 3y ago
  Ah good to know, although I am a bit wary of a license from Oracle that is not a standard open source one :-) (The FAQ says it is free also for commercial use, so I will investigate)
exabrial 3y ago
I believe everything in Graal is now free to use, as of a month ago or so