[pjmlp]

Because developers don't like to pay for tools.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excelsior_JET

https://www.ptc.com/en/products/developer-tools/perc

https://www.aicas.com/products-services/jamaicavm/

It is now getting adopted because GraalVM and OpenJ9 are available for free.

Also while not being proper Java, Android does AOT since version 5, mixed JIT/AOT since version 7.

EDIT: Fixed the sentence regarding Android versions.

[nikanj]

Developers pay for tools gladly when the pricing model isn’t based on how much money you’re making.

I’m happy to drop a fixed 200e/mo on Claude but I’d never sign paperwork that required us to track user installs and deliver $0.02 per install to someone

[jacquesm]

Especially not if those kind of contracts don't survive an acquisition because then your acquisition is most likely dead in the water. The acquirer would have to re-negotiate the license and with a little luck they'd be screwed over because they have nowhere else to go.

[Joel_Mckay]

I have seen worse, where people updated the EULA 6 months after being paid $14k/seat.

Now it is FOSS all the way... lesson learned... =3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpE_xMRiCLE

[jacquesm]

That is something that I never understood, that that's even legal. You enter into an agreement (let's call it a contract, because that's how the other side treats it) and then, retroactively they get to pull the rug right out from under you.

I made the 'FOSS all the way' decision somewhere in '96 or so but unfortunately our bookkeeping system and our own software package only worked on Windows (this was an end-user thing) so we had to keep one windows machine around. I was pretty happy when we finally switched it off.

The funny thing is that I wouldn't even know where to start to develop on/for mac or windows, Linux just feels so much more powerful in that sense. Yes, it has some sharp edges but for the most part it is the best thing that could have happened to the world of software development.

[Joel_Mckay]

I have done native cross-platform projects in https://wxwidgets.org/ and https://quasar.dev/ . Fine for basic interfaces, but static linking on Win64 gets dicey with lgpl libraries etc. YMMV For iOS targets, one must use a MacOS environment with a non-free Apple developer account.

Personally, I like Apache 2.0, and standard quality of life *nix build tools. Everything Windows runs off a frozen VM backing image KVM COW file now, as even Microsoft can no longer resist the urge to break things. =3

[Joel_Mckay]

Depends on the use-case, anyone that has seen the commercial host scaling cost of options like MATLAB usually ported to another language. lesson learned...

Commercial licensing is simply a variable cost, and if there is another FOSS option most people will make the right call. Some commercial licenses are just Faustian bargains, that can cost serious money to escape. =3

[fithisux]

I think what they do is correct. We also need to get paid this way.

[rjsw]

You could do AOT Java using gcj, it didn't need commercial tools.

[pjmlp]

If we ignore gcj was never production ready, and basically the only good case that Red-Hat sponsored was to compile Eclipse, which was usually slower than using the JIT anyway.

And that around 2009, most of the team left the project, some went to OpenJDK, others elsewhere, while GCC kept it around because gcj unit tests stressed parts of the GCC that weren't tested by other frontends, until the decision came to remove it completly.

As side note, I expect a similar outcome to gccgo, abandoned since Go added generics support.

[pjc50]

You don't have to pay for dotnet AOT.

[pjmlp]

Actually you do indirectly, via Windows licenses, Office, Azure, Visual Studio Professional and Ultimate licenses, C# DevKit.

Also you are forgetting AOT first came with NGEN, .NET Native, commercial, and on Mono side, Xamarin had some price points for AOT optimiztions, if I recall correctly.

However this is a moot point, you also don't pay for GraalVM, OpenJ9, or Android.

[vips7L]

You don’t have to pay for Java AOT either. Graal is free.