There was lots of news in the land of Java yesterday. If you have not already seen the posts by Mark Reinhold and Donald Smith of Oracle, I encourage you to read:
- Moving Java Forward Faster
- Accelerating the JDK release cadence
- Faster and Easier Use and Redistribution of Java SE
There has been an enormous number of articles written about this news, most of which have focused on the new time-based release cadence. Obviously coming from an Eclipse background, I’m a big believer in the idea of release trains. After all, Eclipse Foundation projects have been doing this for over a decade. I believe that this is going to be a good thing for the Java platform, once the teams inside Oracle get into the groove of producing time boxed releases.
But relatively little has been written about what I think is the really big news:
“…Oracle plans to ship OpenJDK builds under the GPL…” and “…within a few releases there should be no technical differences between OpenJDK builds and Oracle JDK binaries.”
Which means that Java will finally be freed of the explicit and implicit field of use restrictions which have dogged it since its invention. Developers will be free to use Java on any device, without requiring any additional licensing or other permission. I believe that this is going to lead to a resurgence of innovation in the Java ecosystem. And I am particularly optimistic about what this could mean for Java as the language of choice for many solutions in the Internet of Things.
The license that Java binaries are currently distributed under today is the Oracle Binary Code License, which states (emphasis added):
“General Purpose Desktop Computers and Servers” means computers, including desktop and laptop computers, or servers, used for general computing functions under end user control (such as but not specifically limited to email, general purpose Internet browsing, and office suite productivity tools). The use of Software in systems and solutions that provide dedicated functionality (other than as mentioned above) or designed for use in embedded or function-specific software applications, for example but not limited to: Software embedded in or bundled with industrial control systems, wireless mobile telephones, wireless handheld devices, kiosks, TV/STB, Blu-ray Disc devices, telematics and network control switching equipment, printers and storage management systems, and other related systems are excluded from this definition and not licensed under this Agreement.
Making Java binaries available directly from OpenJDK is going to free the Java platform for developers. Getting these directly from the platform owner, and (more importantly) having them be identical to the commercial binaries is a radical step forward. OpenJDK-based binaries will be exactly on par with, and equivalent to, the commercial ones. Although almost all of the Java source code has been open source at OpenJDK for many years, the subtle differences in content, performance, and reliability have prevented mainstream adoption of OpenJDK binaries by enterprises and industrials.
A little over a decade ago, Sun Microsystems started the process of open sourcing Java. It seems that Oracle is finally finishing the job. Good for them.
