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Comment by klodolph | Hacker News Reader

It’s still true for Java 8, because a lot of people still use Java 8, because Oracle changed the licensing model.

Yes, Oracle changed the JDK's licensing model from part-proprietary/part-open, part-free/part-paid to 100% open and free (as of JDK 11). What confused some people is that the old website for the semi-free JDK is now for Oracle support customers who pay for support (even though that page directs non-customers to the free version) and Oracle provides the free JDK over at http://jdk.java.net/

Hi Ron. If you're still employed by Oracle, it might not be a bad idea to disclose that, either in the specific comments where you may be talking (semi-)authoritatively about Java and its licensing / commercial model, or within your HN profile. I recall the last talk I saw from you was an AMA at QCon London in 2019 about Java, where you were with Oracle.

I found the comments really clueful but also appreciate when others like e.g. @_msw_ are very overt with disclosure of their employment and interests whilst talking about $employer's stuff on HN (and in his case that'd be AWS and EC2).

Hey Alex! Yes I am with Oracle, and indeed I always make sure to disclose my affiliation: I do so on HN every couple of months or whenever it's relevant (when saying something that could be biased/controversial). It's not just a nice thing to do, but it's also company policy.

It is… definitely not that simple. Not for everyone, at least.

What is the less simple part?

OpenJDK is still available under the GPL.

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