Java is still available at zero-cost • Hacker News Board

Re: Java is still available at zero-cost

#21

Post by bognition » Fri, Aug 31, 2018, 1:33 AM UTC

roenxi wrote: post #11

Up until around 2008, clock speed was increasing rapidly and the bottleneck to systems performance kept changing. Software was being obsoleted in a mater of years. Then things started changing; evidenced perhaps by Windows upgrades suddenly becoming a lot less relevant and Apple starting to steamroll more modular computer builders like Dell. Mark my words, there will come a day where continuously upgrading software w…

The drive to move quickly with software wasn't to keep up with ever changing hardware, it was to respond quickly to the market. Treat every release like an experiment. The more experiments you can run the more likely you are to understand and solve the needs of your users.

Why would someone pick software that get feature releases and bug fixes on a yearly cycle when similar software is available that has weekly or daily releases.

Re: Java is still available at zero-cost

#22

Post by drivingmenuts » Fri, Aug 31, 2018, 1:38 AM UTC

Maybe it's time to start moving away from Java?

Re: Java is still available at zero-cost

#23

Post by exabrial » Fri, Aug 31, 2018, 1:42 AM UTC

Adoptopenjdk! Azul! OpenJRE! J9! choice is a great thing!

Re: Java is still available at zero-cost

#24

Post by sleepychu » Fri, Aug 31, 2018, 1:46 AM UTC

What does this mean for me as an engineer who writes Java every day?

Re: Java is still available at zero-cost

#25

Post by ams6110 » Fri, Aug 31, 2018, 1:48 AM UTC

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #20

spydum wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

exactly my point. Oracle going to come knocking and shaking down enterprises for millions because they still pull jdk from Oracle instead of openjdk

But as cwyers said, there's a person in charge of volume licensing. That person should have a way of auditing everyone's system to determine if they are using properly licensed products.

They can just check for whether Ask! toolbars are installed in the browser.

Re: Java is still available at zero-cost

#26

Post by littlesheephtpt » Fri, Aug 31, 2018, 2:02 AM UTC

Boy, that Ask.com toolbar must be super lucrative.

Re: Java is still available at zero-cost

#27

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Aug 31, 2018, 2:04 AM UTC

spydum wrote: post #13

sdinsn wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is not how it works. You can download the Oracle JDK and use it forever, commercially, for free. You just won't get updates backported to your version unless you pay for long term support.

Find that in writing. Everything I read says jdk 8 is the last free Oracle jdk.

[deleted]

Re: Java is still available at zero-cost

#28

Post by TJSomething » Fri, Aug 31, 2018, 2:06 AM UTC

Where is this is going to leave GraalVM and JIT for ARM? I believe both of those are exclusive to Oracle. And I was kind of excited to use GraalVM.

Re: Java is still available at zero-cost

#29

Post by pejrich » Fri, Aug 31, 2018, 2:07 AM UTC

If Java is open and free, then why did Android decide to rewrite Java? I notice a lot of companies seem to avoid Java so there must be some sort of a catch.

Re: Java is still available at zero-cost

#30

Post by Barrin92 » Fri, Aug 31, 2018, 2:11 AM UTC

bognition wrote: post #21

roenxi wrote: post #11

Up until around 2008, clock speed was increasing rapidly and the bottleneck to systems performance kept changing. Software was being obsoleted in a mater of years. Then things started changing; evidenced perhaps by Windows upgrades suddenly becoming a lot less relevant and Apple starting to steamroll more modular computer builders like Dell. Mark my words, there will come a day where continuously upgrading software w…

The drive to move quickly with software wasn't to keep up with ever changing hardware, it was to respond quickly to the market. Treat every release like an experiment. The more experiments you can run the more likely you are to understand and solve the needs of your users. Why would someone pick software that get feature releases and bug fixes on a yearly cycle when similar software is available that has weekly or da…

>The more experiments you can run the more likely you are to understand and solve the needs of your users.

There is an interesting chapter for this in Donella Meadows thinking in Systems

Oscillations! A single step up in sales causes inventory to drop. The car dealer watches long enough to be sure the higher sales rate is going to last. Then she begins to order more cars to both cover the new rate of sales and bring the inventory up. But it takes time for the orders to come in. During that time inventory drops further, so orders have to go up a little more, to bring inventory back up to ten days’ coverage. Eventually, the larger volume of orders starts arriving, and inventory recovers—and more than recovers, because during the time of uncertainty about the actual trend, the owner has ordered too much. She now sees her mistake, and cuts back, but there are still high past orders coming in, so she orders even less. In fact, almost inevitably, since she still can’t be sure of what is going to happen next, she orders too little. Inventory gets too low again. And so forth, through a series of oscillations around the new desired inventory level. As Figure 33 illustrates, what a difference a few delays make!

Faster is not always better, especially in systems with delays. By reacting to initial cues prematurely you can easily end up in permanent disarray that simply turns into a chaotic feedback loop. It is often worthwile to upgrade patiently, so one can actually gauge long-term effects instead of reacting to noise. Changing the consumer experience is a conversation.