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Comment by mumblemumble | Hacker News Reader

The problem with Java is that there's more to it than just the source code, and Oracle has demonstrated no qualms whatsoever about using essential but non-open-source parts of the Java ecosystem to push people around.

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Which parts are "non-open-source" and "essential"?

The TCK is the really big one. It is not Free Software, and it more-or-less necessary to get a license for it in order to successfully maintain your own JVM. Look at what happened with Apache Harmony, for example.

There are also some potential patent encumbrances? I know less about that.

I also don't know for sure if IcedTea is still necessary to get a 100% open build of newer versions of Java (I'm still one of those incorrigible elements who's still on Java 8), but, at least historically, there was an appreciable chunk of the official OpenJDK distribution that was not, in actual fact, open.

> Look at what happened with Apache Harmony, for example.

It died the moment the OpenJDK was released 14 years ago? The issue wasn't the TCK itself, as far as I understand Sun just didn't want to license any Java implementation that could cut into its embedded market and dragged its feet when the community requested an out for the Apache licensed Harmony project. The TCK now seems to be available for any OpenJDK derived implementation[1] in case you want to use official Java trademarks for your implementation.

> I also don't know for sure if IcedTea is still necessary to get a 100% open build of newer versions of Java

I can't actually find anything about IcedTea for any recent OpenJDK, but its wiki page[2] seems to hint at the IcedTea patches were merged back into OpenJDK. Debian and other free software distros also seem fine with distributing current OpenJDK versions instead of reviving gcj to torment their users.

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_Compatibility_Kit#T...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IcedTea

https://openjdk.java.net/groups/conformance/JckAccess/

The testing suite for the JDK, which allows you to tell if something is compatible to Oracle Java.

Which is frankly a good thing. You wouldn’t want to share the exact questions for a driving license before the test either, would you?

This is a terrible analogy. We're talking about an automated test suite for verifying that a piece of software conforms to an established specification, not a skills assessment for humans.

Compare it more, perhaps, to housing codes. . . and imagine if the specification of the housing codes were covered by an (at least ostensibly) democratic process, but the actual housing inspectors all worked for one company, and that company also happened to be the biggest player in the construction business. So the inspector therefore had a clear incentive treat outside construction firms with less than complete fairness.

Oracle sells the test kit.

Sure, you wouldn't want to share the answers to the drivers license exam...are you saying that they should sell the answers instead? What the actual fuck?

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