With Oracle starting to collect license fees from different customers for using Java SE I've asked myself if the usage with a server runtime is still free. I'm no lawyer and all these licenses are more confusing than ever. There are BCL, GPL and others.
As far as I read this the use of Java for software development and desktop / server systems is free. License fees seem to relate to the use of Java in embedded devices and some (which?) parts of Java SE – not the runtime itself.
Is there anything we have to check for license related issues with Oracle when running a JavaEE application in a server environment?
We mainly use JBoss EAP which we licensed to Red Hat (we are Red Hat partner). We also use 3rd party frameworks like iText with separate licenses. But do we need some commercial license for using the Java runtime with our application servers?
Some references:
- Andreas Floemer: Java-Lizenzen: Oracle verschickt plötzlich saftige Rechnungen an Kunden und Partner, t3n, 19.12.2016.
- Oliver Diedrich: Java SE: Oracle will angeblich kassieren , heise online, 18.12.2016.
- Gavin Clarke: Oracle finally targets Java non-payers – six years after plucking Sun, The Register, 16.12.2016.