[Spinfusor]

Not true. You can use the OpenJDK for free until the end of time. If you want ongoing updates beyond six months, there are a bunch of free distributions: Azul Zulu Community (7/8/11/13/14), AdoptOpenJDK (8/11/14), etc.

[fgonzag]

The whole subject is about Oracle's JDKs here, and that's a very recent development too.

[pron]

Oracle distributes two JDKs: one for support customers and one 100% free, forever: http://jdk.java.net/