I think you need to speak to a lawyer. I believe there are a number of those who specialise in software licencing. On Jul 15, 2012 1:22 PM, "Grant Robertson" <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Saturday, July 14, 2012 9:40:43 AM UTC-7, jddarcy wrote: >> >> There are some blog entries from Oracle on the JDK licensing situation >> including >> >> "JRockit is Now Free (and Other Java License Updates)" >> https://blogs.oracle.com/**henrik/entry/jrockit_is_now_**free_and<https://blogs.oracle.com/henrik/entry/jrockit_is_now_free_and> >> > > A) That blog post continuously conflates a JDK and a JVM, so how am I > supposed to trust the accuracy of the rest of what he says? > > B) It continuously obfuscates the answers in corporate double-speak. for > instance: > > Q: Are you planning on making JRockit open source? >> A: The converged JVM will be made available through >> OpenJDK<http://openjdk.java.net/>. >> We will not open-source the current JRockit implementation. >> > > Note that he does not say that JRockit will be open source. Only that it > will be made available through the OpenJDK web site. If Oracle was truly > planning to make the converged HotSpot/JRockit code open source, don't you > think they would have just come out and said so? > > Plus look at these two snippits from the blog post: > > JRockit is now free (gratis) for development and internal production use >> on general purpose computers. >> > > Q: I am a developer, does this mean I can now use JRockit Mission Control >> for free? >> A: Yes, there is no cost for development use. See the >> license<http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/terms/license/index.html>for >> details. >> > > Note how he says it is free "for development" but says nothing about "for > distribution." So, it doesn't cost me anything to write the code (ain't > that sweet of them), but it may or may not cost me if I want to distribute > that code anywhere outside of my company? For clarification he directs us > to the license agreement that caused me the confusion in the first place. > > > >> >> > How the heck am I supposed to make sure that a particular garbage >> collector >> > does not end up being used when my program runs? >> >> On that point in particular, quoting from "Java 7 Questions & Answers >> " >> https://blogs.oracle.com/**henrik/entry/java_7_questions_**answers<https://blogs.oracle.com/henrik/entry/java_7_questions_answers> >> >> "Q: I read the JDK 7 license. It mentions something about Commercial >> Features, what does that mean? >> A: Sun versioned the end user license together with the binary, which >> made it clear what terms applied for a particular release. However, it >> also meant that a Java user would have to re-review the license for >> every new release (including update release), which lead to >> uncertainty around future licensing conditions. Oracle's approach is >> to minimize the number of licenses used for Java - ideally getting it >> down to only one. This means a more predictable and stable licensing >> situation, at the cost of a slightly more complex license text since >> it needs to be able to cover more scenarios. When we made JRockit free >> we modified the Binary Code License to make it cover all versions of >> Java, as well as JRockit. This was announced in one of my previous >> blog posts. The "Commercial Features" clause is there to allow us to >> port over value-add features from JRockit to the converged >> Hotspot/JRockit JVM starting with JDK 7. Full details on what features >> are non-free can be found in the product documentation. In the >> standard JDK 7 GA binaries, there are no commercial features so there >> is no risk that you use them by mistake. As we move such features to >> JDK 7 in a future update, our plan is to require an explicit flag to >> enable them. Note that these features are only restricted "for any >> commercial or production purpose" so individual developers need not >> worry. For full information, read the license text itself. " > > > Well, this is where I read that the "Full details on what features are > non-free can be found in the product documentation." But I don't see how it > addresses how to specify whether a particular garbage collector does or > does not get used when my code runs. > > In the end all this verbiage from Oracle just sounds like a bunch of > gobledegook corporate-speak designed to make it sound as if it might be OK > to write code in Java but to never be entirely clear so they can always > jump in and say, "Oh your program violates our terms, you have to pay us > money." > > That is why I posted in this group asking for a better explanation. So > far, it seems my options are: > > A) Use Oracle's JVM & JDK. Know that everything will work according to the > documentation but always be in doubt as to whether I am legally allowed to > distribute my code without paying Oracle money. > > B) Use OpenJDK. Accept that I will have to work through bugs and > incompatibilities and be concerned as to whether I am legally allowed to > distribute my code without violating the GPL (which could still cost me > money if I had wanted to profit from keeping that code proprietary). > > > Perhaps I will contact some companies who are selling proprietary programs > written in Java as well as some open-source projects written in Java and > see if they had to become a "Licensee" or if they had any trouble avoiding > the "commercial features." > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Java Posse" group. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msg/javaposse/-/vXGmoK4ZEhsJ. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Java Posse" group. 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