Java Licensing Changes: Mountain or Molehill?

Read more on Java Licensing: https://www.anglepoint.com/java-changes/
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After January 2019, Oracle will not be posting further updates of Java SE 8 to its public sites for commercial use. Do you know how to license your Java components? Here are a few of the main reasons users will need to license Java beginning next month:
• Need for Support. Oracle Java Support Subscriptions are required to continue to receive updates and patches after January 2019.
• Modified or Embedded Java SE.
• All Commercial Java Programs have been and always will be licensable.

What Is Java SE and Java Standard Edition- Java’s License Software?
Java SE, or Java Standard Edition, is all over the place. It contains vital software used to develop web content, games, mobile applications, and business software. This means that the cost implications of these changes could be huge. The basic components of Java SE are: Java Development Kit (JDK), including JavaFX Software Development Kit, Java Runtime Environment (JRE), (Server and Regular packages), JavaFX Runtime, and JRockit JDK. In addition to these, Java SE has commercial editions that include more features. These commercial Java programs have always required licensing.

Why Does This Matter?
Okay, so there are a few things that you should do to prepare for the Java Licensing changes, but losing sleep over them is not one. Here’s our list:

- Discover how you’re using Java.
This means knowing where Java is used and what it is being used for. If you have this information, then you can determine whether or not you need to license Java.

- Discover what features are in use.
Just because you’ve deployed an advanced commercial component, doesn’t mean it’s been necessarily licensable. This will depend on the type of environment it’s deployed in. So you need to know what gets used and what doesn’t.

Knowing the answers to these questions will help you navigate the changes very smoothly. I mean knowledge is power, right? So if someday Oracle comes knocking at your door, asking about Java, you’ll have all the answers and will be able to declare full compliance.