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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/

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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?

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