Re:JDK 21 Release Notes
by freeone3000 on Tuesday September 19, 2023 @12:01PM
(#37571901)
The JDK is GPLv2, which means it can be legally redistributed without charge. Oracle puts their JDK release under a different license. Microsoft distributes the binaries under the GPL. It’s the same code going into the binary, but different license terms.
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OpenJDK (maintained by Oracle) is GPL, but Oracle JDK is a different codebase with different features under a commercial license. Oracle's OpenJDK builds are distributed under the GPL, like Microsoft's.
You would be right, if you would have made this comment a bit more than a decade ago.
The only remaining differences between OracleJDK and OpenJDK are logo, and trivial things - Oracle has opened up everything else.
As far as I'm aware, Oracle JDK gets fixes that OpenJDK doesn't, and is under a commercial license that's not GPL (even if it's free-as-in-beer under certain circumstances)? Is that wrong?
Oracle provides their builds for free, given you use their latest LTS release. But that’s apples to oranges comparison - that is an actual support release, meant for big enterprises that wants to point their fingers at someone on Christmas eve.