Oracle begins reviewing Java licensing issues: Fortune 500 companies uninstall Oracle JDK "overnight"

Recently, foreign media reported that Oracle (Oracle) has begun to include Java in its software license review, aiming to "catch out" those enterprise customers who are on the verge of non-compliance, in order to push enterprises to pay. It is understood that this is a commonly used strategy in the industry to increase the payment rate.

In April 2019, Oracle reportedly first introduced two new licensing models for its commercial Java platform, Standard Edition (Java SE), and began charging license fees for the previously free Java. This requires users to purchase an annual subscription to their commercial Java SE product in order to receive patches and updates.

In September 2021, after Oracle released Java 17, it started offering a three-year quarterly free update license for that iteration only, instead of earlier versions like Java 7, 8, and 11.

So far, Oracle has taken a "soft approach" to auditing its Java licensing issues through its sales team. But since the beginning of this year, more and more software development kits have been included in Oracle's official review, which has also caused concern among many enterprise users.

Earlier this year, software asset management firm Anglepoint said it had uncovered an official Java audit from Oracle.

Palisade Compliance founder and CEO Craig Guarente also said his team has also started seeing letters from Oracle License management services (LMS) specifically asking for Java information, but some customers aren't ready to know their license compliance.

Craig Guarente revealed: "There is a lot of confusion in the industry, and there is a misunderstanding that you don't need a license to use an old version of Java. In fact, even if you use an old version, if you download patches and updates from the Oracle website, you still Requires a license to back it up. And some enterprise customers are worried they're 'writing a big check'."

In addition to the progress above, it is reported that Oracle is now using auditing in other areas such as databases to access information about Java usage. Companies that claim to have 5,000 database licenses, for example, might get knocked on the door by Oracle's Java rep -- "We heard you're using 5,000 CPUs on your side: but we don't see a Java license. Provides Oracle information in different areas".

There are two key differences in licensing management for Java compared to Oracle's other products: While databases and other on-prem software may come with perpetual licenses, Java requires a subscription. So while defending a database, middleware or application audit requires the client to start with the contract, but Java is widely used and may require a technical analysis of it assets.

Earlier, Scott Jensen, head of Oracle's business, said in an interview with the media: "There is a group of organizations that 'completely ignore the topic of Java licensing' and bring risks to their employers." "You are very vulnerable to all kinds of risks. , whether it’s financial risk due to a shortage of licenses, or security risk.”

Jensen revealed that among organizations better prepared for Oracle's review process, some are looking for open source alternatives. "I've seen Fortune 500 companies basically uninstall Java overnight, see what breaks, and if it breaks, install Java back. Get rid of Oracle Java and replace it with an open JDK or something."

According to a Gartner research report, users need a commercial subscription to get critical updates to Oracle Java SE 7, Java SE 8, and Java SE 11. The report recommends that organizations evaluate their options by evaluating their willingness to migrate to Java 17 or switch to a third-party Java product.

In this regard, Gartner vice president and distinguished analyst Anne Thomas said that Oracle's view of virtualization is also driving up Java subscriptions. As with databases, organizations must license each processor without partitioning the virtual environment (for example, licenses can only be issued in one cluster).

"That's why these big companies face licensing fees in excess of $10 million a year," says Anne Thomas.

"But the runtime environment requires a Java subscription, not a software development kit. Some people don't really understand it, partly because of the differences between the Java development kits in the Java runtime environment: Oracle's product is called the Oracle JDK , even though it's a runtime. So many people don't realize that the license actually applies to the runtime," added Anne Thomas.