[HN Gopher] Oracle Free Java License
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       Oracle Free Java License
        
       Author : bironran
       Score  : 25 points
       Date   : 2021-09-15 19:26 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (blogs.oracle.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (blogs.oracle.com)
        
       | merb wrote:
       | did Larry Ellison leave oracle?
        
       | AdmiralAsshat wrote:
       | I can see why they did it. We saw _alot_ of customers move from
       | OracleJDK to Red Hat 's OpenJDK after the previous licensing
       | change a few years back.
       | 
       | As an aside, I originally read the title as "Oracle-Free Java
       | License" and wondered why it was coming from Oracle's website.
        
       | commoner wrote:
       | This new "Oracle No-Fee Terms and Conditions" (NFTC) license[1]
       | is still not a free or open source software license due to its
       | following provisions:
       | 
       | > (a) internally use the unmodified Programs for the purposes of
       | developing, testing, prototyping and demonstrating your
       | applications, and running the Program for Your own personal use
       | or internal business operations; and
       | 
       | > (b) redistribute the unmodified Program and Program
       | Documentation, under the terms of this License, provided that You
       | do not charge Your licensees any fees associated with such
       | distribution or use of the Program, including, without
       | limitation, fees for products that include or are bundled with a
       | copy of the Program or for services that involve the use of the
       | distributed Program.
       | 
       | Both the Free Software Definition[2] and the Open Source
       | Definition[3] require the license to allow the user to modify and
       | redistribute the software, including for commercial purposes
       | (such as selling it to other individuals or businesses for a
       | fee). The NFTC does not allow this, so if you are able to use
       | OpenJDK instead of Oracle JDK, you might prefer OpenJDK's less
       | restrictive free and open source software license (GPLv2 with
       | Classpath Exception[4]).
       | 
       | [1] https://www.oracle.com/downloads/licenses/no-fee-
       | license.htm...
       | 
       | [2] https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
       | 
       | [3] https://opensource.org/osd
       | 
       | [4] https://openjdk.java.net/legal/gplv2+ce.html
        
       | donmcronald wrote:
       | > Oracle is making the industry leading Oracle JDK available for
       | free, including all quarterly security updates. This includes
       | commercial and production use.
       | 
       | > Oracle will continue to provide Oracle OpenJDK releases under
       | the GPL on the same releases and schedule as it has since Java 9.
       | 
       | Are there technical differences or is it only licensing that's
       | different?
       | 
       | My uninformed guess at what's going on here is their licensing
       | changes drove all new development to alternate JDK vendors and
       | they finally realized they blew up the pipeline that delivers
       | customers to their high priced commercial support offerings.
       | 
       | After watching them mismanage JavaFX I don't think I'd trust them
       | for anything.
        
         | kasperni wrote:
         | > Are there technical differences or is it only licensing
         | that's different?
         | 
         | From
         | https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/javase/17-relnote-i...
         | 
         | -----
         | 
         | Although we have stated the goal to have OpenJDK and Oracle JDK
         | binaries be as close to each other as possible there remain
         | several differences between the two options.
         | 
         | The current differences are:
         | 
         | - Oracle JDK offers "installers" (msi, rpm, deb, etc.) which
         | not only place the JDK binaries in your system but also contain
         | update rules and in some cases handle some common
         | configurations like set common environmental variables (such
         | as, JAVA_HOME in Windows) and establish file associations (such
         | as, use java to launch .jar files). OpenJDK is offered only as
         | compressed archive (tar.gz or .zip).
         | 
         | - Usage Logging is only available in Oracle JDK.
         | 
         | - Oracle JDK requires that third-party cryptographic providers
         | be signed with a Java Cryptography Extension (JCE) Code Signing
         | Certificate. OpenJDK continues allowing the use of unsigned
         | third-party crypto providers.
         | 
         | - The output of java -version is different. Oracle JDK returns
         | java and includes the Oracle-specific identifier. OpenJDK
         | returns OpenJDK and does not include the Oracle-specific
         | identifier.
         | 
         | - Oracle JDK 17 and later is released under the Oracle No-Fee
         | Terms and Conditions License. OpenJDK is released under
         | GPLv2wCP. License files included with each will therefore be
         | different.
         | 
         | - Oracle JDK distributes FreeType under the FreeType license
         | and OpenJDK does so under GPLv2. The contents of
         | \legal\java.desktop\freetype.md is therefore different.
         | 
         | - Oracle JDK has Java cup and steam icons and OpenJDK has Duke
         | icons.
         | 
         | - Oracle JDK source code includes "ORACLE
         | PROPRIETARY/CONFIDENTIAL. Use is subject to license terms."
         | 
         | - Source code distributed with OpenJDK refers to the GPL
         | license terms instead.
        
       | leeuw01 wrote:
       | Now I don't get it at all anymore... I'm happy I moved away from
       | Java.
        
       | mrtweetyhack wrote:
       | it free every other day
        
       | hanlec wrote:
       | Does this mean that tools like sdkman can include the Oracle JDK?
       | (I haven't found any PR for it yet)
        
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       (page generated 2021-09-15 23:02 UTC)