RE: Oracle JAVA licensing

Hopefully we can get somebody from Oracle to make an official statement on a public site clarifying these (and I'm sure other) points.

 

You pulled in the right info, esp this bit:

 

If I use another Oracle product that relies on the Oracle Java SE runtime, how will a Java SE Subscription affect me? If you use any Oracle product that requires Java SE, you are already licensed to use the Oracle Java SE runtime with, and for the sole purpose of running, that Oracle product

 

That’s from an oracle.com site, and written by the Oracle Java Product team. There’s also a reference there to a MOS article that gets into the particulars.

 

 

As the PM for SQL Developer with about 5-7,000,000 users worldwide, I’m obviously expecting a lot of questions around this.

 

This info is what we have today to assure those users they don’t need to pay for Oracle JDK to use SQL Developer – since it and the Oracle Database are both Oracle products that require Oracle JDK to use.

 

I’m working with said Java PM team to get a more explicit language version of the above to directly call out our products as being exempt from the $-licensing requirement. But under the current terms, you’re already covered.

 

You should always contact your Oracle account manager for clarification on all things licensing. However, if you run into problems with my products (sqldev, modeler, sqlcl, ords) – please feel free to contact me ASAP.

 

Jeff

 

 

 

From: Bill Ferguson <wbfergus_at_gmail.com> Sent: Friday, April 5, 2019 9:51 AM
To: jbeckstrom_at_gcrta.org
Cc: oracle-l-freelist <oracle-l_at_freelists.org> Subject: Re: Oracle JAVA licensing

 

I was debating about asking this question myself as well. There is a hell of a lot of mass confusion and hysteria about this, especially in my Federal Government organization. The idiots in charge, that can barely spell "Java", let alone "Oracle" issued an edict that all installations of every version of java, must be removed in a couple months, or each office would have to make it's own arrangements to pay a separate license fee. It appears to me that non of them bothered to do even basic research on the subject. I started Googling and then conducting searches within the Oracle namespace, and it appears that (though I could be wrong): 1. JAVA SE is going to be a new name for the Java JRE

2. the OpenJDK is still going to be free and supported

3. Most people and installations don't need to worry, this primarily effects Java developers, but the licensing cost is still fairly minimal considering the money the developers charge for their final products

and 4, if you use Java to interact with any of your licensed Oracle software, you are already covered by the new java licensing.

But, with those assumptions of mine out of the way, I am still confused a bit on several areas.

It seems like all Oracle products use java as part of the Oracle Universal Installer (OUI). The documentation I've found so far states java doesn't need to be licensed on the server where your database resides, but I haven't found anything clear cut about client-side software. It seems to fall into the nebulous area between (paraphrased): JDBC connectivity is not covered under the non-licensed agreement, and the unexplained part about SQL Net, like TOAD uses. And since most (all?) database licenses also require named user licenses or x amount of user licenses, does mean those individuals are covered under the vague concept of "connecting to the database" with SQL Net? And the license states it is free to utilize to connect to the Oracle database (or other oracle software), but if in the future I move my databases into the cloud (Amazon's or Oracle), and keep my Tomcat (java-based) web server locally, do I then need to pay the $2.50 for a java license on the server, which no longer hosts Oracle? Or is it still covered since I use that to connect to Oracle?

I asked these questions in a couple other places, but no answers or clarification as of yet.In this area, Oracle is about as effective as by doctors are in getting back to me with the results of my biopsy. Took almost 4 weeks to find out the lab results didn't match what they were seeing on the CT Scan, so now I need another three weeks for surgery to remove one of the masses, then who knows how to wait for the results of that lab testing.

But in the meantime, here's a couple things I found during my searches:

One source (https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/overview/faqs-jsp-136696.html) says :

Is Java still free?

The current version of Java - Java SE 11 is available from Oracle under an open source license at HYPERLINK "https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__jdk.java.net_11&d=DwMFaQ&c=RoP1YumCXCgaWHvlZYR8PZh8Bv7qIrMUB65eapI_JnE&r=N2hWu5HFsaIjmMkjQbnlokJ7uinNZMgPVk8rqPT9esM&m=F5rKR6YzTuWcukgiHc7y69IscC0gZG5IiEdxIl1sYZQ&s=Feq2-FA1sm5IsScZsbQ-Bb4ppTJfF_oUv8oxTDpXBZ4&e="http://jdk.java.net/11/. Java SE 8 remains free of charge for general purpose desktop and server use and is available under the Oracle Binary Code License (BCL) at https://www.oracle.com/javadownload.  

 

 

Another page (https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javaseproducts/overview/javasesubscriptionfaq-4891443.html)  at the bottom, clearly states:

 

If I use another Oracle product that relies on the Oracle Java SE runtime, how will a Java SE Subscription affect me? If you use any Oracle product that requires Java SE, you are already licensed to use the Oracle Java SE runtime with, and for the sole purpose of running, that Oracle product.  Java SE Subscription provides licensing and support if you need to use the Oracle Java SE runtime for running products not licensed by Oracle. For more information see HYPERLINK "https://support.oracle.com/epmos/faces/DocumentDisplay?_afrLoop=375227495255176&id=1557737.1"My.Oracle.Support Note 1557737.1 - (Support Entitlement for Java SE When Used As Part of Another Oracle Product – Requires Support Login).

HYPERLINK "https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__java.com_en_download_faq_distribution.xml&d=DwMFaQ&c=RoP1YumCXCgaWHvlZYR8PZh8Bv7qIrMUB65eapI_JnE&r=N2hWu5HFsaIjmMkjQbnlokJ7uinNZMgPVk8rqPT9esM&m=F5rKR6YzTuWcukgiHc7y69IscC0gZG5IiEdxIl1sYZQ&s=NqW8AXcXtgzVbE0ABcOwj2RDXAr-fxkQ3MR2Wms9kpA&e="https://java.com/en/download/faq/distribution.xml

https://community.oracle.com/community/groundbreakers/java/java_desktop/java_runtime_environment

Hopefully we can get somebody from Oracle to make an official statement on a public site clarifying these (and I'm sure other) points.

Bill Ferguson

 

 

On Thu, Apr 4, 2019 at 12:28 PM Jeffrey Beckstrom <HYPERLINK "mailto:jbeckstrom_at_gcrta.org"jbeckstrom_at_gcrta.org> wrote:

With all Oracle now charging for updates to Java SE, is using Java JRE still free or do you need to license that as well? Is only JDK being charged for?

 

Jeffrey Beckstrom
Lead Database Administrator

Information Technology Department

Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority

1240 W. 6th Street
Cleveland, Ohio 44113

 

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• Bill Ferguson

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