It's not "painting it as normal." This is the actual normal. It's just that there has always been an update. It is also not true that you cannot continue an updated version past the end of update period.
> Azul seems to disagree. They have a JRE7[1] and JRE8[2] offering.
They really don't. They have an offering of something they call a JRE, but isn't. Try to run Applets or Web Start on it.
> Old Legacy Java5 Applets aren't going to run on Java9+ without other significant changes anyway.
Most Java 1.0 applications run on Java unchanged, and the JRE is to run Applet's and Web Start. Now there are custom Java runtimes created with jlink.
> If I go to Oracle's website, it's difficult to find where to download any version of Java JRE or JDK without being bombarded with a plethora of "Subscribe and protect your Java investment!"
Nope. Here's the official JDK from Oracle for non-support customers. You'll get bombarded with nothing: http://jdk.java.net/
> Nothing is wrong with Oracle wanting to charge people to use their binaries
But we don't. You're looking at the support subscription. The website clearly links to the 100% free JDK for people who aren't interested in support: http://jdk.java.net/
> but I do not believe the distinction of contributing more code matters for the point I am raising.
Oracle is to OpenJDK what Google is to Chromium. It is the main developer of OpenJDK (by a huge margin), and the steward of Java. That it's changed how it funds its investment in OpenJDK didn't change any of that. This is easy to see if you follow OpenJDK's development.
> the Java8 thing was quite a fiasco
What fiasco? You mean that some people insisted on using unmaintained libraries, ignored warnings about undocumented APIs for years, and then, when Oracle upped the investment and things started changing some ill-maintained dependencies broke? You realise that this hadn't happened before because they platform wasn't changing much because of a decline in investment in Sun's dying years?
> They're OpenJDK source compiled and offered in a binary for free without any strings attached
That's great, just like Oracle's binaries, which, again, are here: http://jdk.java.net/
People panicked because, unlike before, it didn't just say "we're no longer updating this, but you can continue to use it". No, instead it was a shakedown for money if you continued to use it past some specific date listed in the popup. Painting that as normal is disingenuous, and rightfully led to a very public Oracle JDK exodus.
> First of all, none of those companies offer an 8 JRE, because OpenJDK was not yet open-source in version 8, and OpenJDK 8 doesn't have the JRE
Azul seems to disagree. They have a JRE7[1] and JRE8[2] offering.
> (it's missing Applets and Web Start, for example, the very things people need a JRE for).
I doubt people need a JRE for Applets or Web Start anymore. So that's not the reason. Old Legacy Java5 Applets aren't going to run on Java9+ without other significant changes anyway.
If I go to Oracle's website, it's difficult to find where to download any version of Java JRE or JDK without being bombarded with a plethora of "Subscribe and protect your Java investment!" and many other calls to pay for support and what-not. That's their prerogative. Nothing is wrong with Oracle wanting to charge people to use their binaries - and this reinforces my earlier points about Oracle stepping back into "just another JDK vendor" role. You may disagree with that exact phrasing, but I do not believe the distinction of contributing more code matters for the point I am raising.
If what you say about Oracle and their flavor of the JDK is true... well then Oracle has a massive optics problem because out here, outside the inner OpenJDK circle, the Java8 thing was quite a fiasco and definitely led to many organizations trying out Oracle's JDK "competitors" for the first time.
> they're not ports
Never said they were. They're OpenJDK source compiled and offered in a binary for free without any strings attached - far from what Oracle's messaging was at the time of all this.
[1] https://www.azul.com/downloads/zulu-community/?version=java-...
[2] https://www.azul.com/downloads/zulu-community/?version=java-...