> Oracle have announced that, “after January 2019”, Java SE 8 public updates will not be available for “business, commercial or production use” without a commercial license.
This is blogspam and FUD. Java SE 8 will be past EOL at that point. Oracle has announced no intent to charge for updates to Java SE 11, which should be the current release, at that point.
Isn't this heavily misleading? This still seems like the charges for continuing to use old versions of Java <= 8. The article doesn't confirm or deny that staying on the latest version remains free.
A lot. For all practical purposes, it very hard to get projects to move to big version numbers in large enterprises.
Its not as simple as just recompiling code. Something like the entire ecosystem has to move, you will have plenty of compatibility problems, code breakage and catch-22 situations.
This is not good news for Java.
Also a lot of 'Architects' will be forced to think if they will be made to pay for Java later. Hence should they use something else to build their latest projects?
Either way, if it comes to a point where you have to pay for something like using a programming language. Pay whatever you have to now. But start moving to something other tech over time.
Note: this applies to new updates to Java 8, as a result of the upcoming Java 11 taking over as the LTS version. Oracle is not charging for Java in general.
As a result the headline and article come across as a bit FUDdy to me.
Even though the clickbait title is false, I wouldn't be surprised if Oracle at some point decided it makes sense to kill Java by "monetizing" current releases it in this way.
I'm not sure what the big deal is, they are charging for older version support. Not only this, I've been using and would recommend people switch to openjdk.
After all those years of endlessly arguing back and forth about which programming language is the best, the poor Java evangelists have had the blocks knocked out from underneath them, because now you can instantly counter any number of technical pro-Java arguments and win the argument in one word, by simply be saying the name "Oracle", and sadly shaking your head in pity.
And what a turnaround for the CLR. People used to say, "Sure, C# is a better Java, but Microsoft and closed-source etc..." Or, "Sure F# looks cool, pity about..."
Microsoft's reputation isn't what Sun's was, but it's miles better than it was under Ballmer and light-years ahead of Oracle's. Looks like the bulk of .NET code is released under permissive licenses, too (?)
I don't know how much "hacker goodwill" buys you when you make old-people tech, but Java has definitely lost ground to its main competitor. Maybe their recent uptick in language development velocity will help things.
You need "hacker goodwill" to hire and retain great people like James Gosling and Anders Hejlsberg. Oracle doesn't have a snowflake's chance in hell of ever hiring anyone who can hold a candle to them.
Beyond that, its also reasonable for them to charge for Java. Java is huge, the ecosystem, the libraries and the software built using it. Its like you have to spend money to build a technology which every one is using to build awesome things, and you have to not only continue investing in it, but give it away for free.
Sun spent like millions of dollars on Java, without earning a penny in return. At some point in time you are a company and have to make profits.
Sending all that big money down the drain for others benefits, and no profits for yourself is something no company will do.
This is blogspam and FUD. Java SE 8 will be past EOL at that point. Oracle has announced no intent to charge for updates to Java SE 11, which should be the current release, at that point.