Java SE Subscriptions – Not just for ‘legacy’ Oracle customers

You will have probably already heard about the changes to Java licensing, but may be confused about how it might affect you …

In 2018, Oracle announced some Java licensing changes. These changes are coming into effect NOW.

• In January 2019, Oracle released the last free public available patch and update of Oracle Java (SE 8u202)
• Any further releases (April 2019 onwards) are now subject to a fee under the new subscription-based licensing model

Do I need to buy a subscription?

Yes, you will if:

• You require new releases of Oracle Java for commercial use from April 2019
• You need to use Oracle Java SE runtime (JRE) for running products not already licensed by Oracle
• Support is required (Support includes updates and patches for security vulnerabilities)

Java is a very secure environment if patched properly. If you do not need further versions, you can continue to use version 202, but your Java environment will become insecure quickly and may contravene security and government compliancy regulations. If anyone downloads anything released after January 2019 you are at risk of non-compliance with Oracle on licensing.

There are two types of Java licence – one for use on Servers and one for use on Desktops. These are Java SE Subscription and Java SE Desktop Subscription.

For Java SE Desktop Subscription

This is sold on a Named User Plus basis. So, all we need to know is how many users will use Java applications installed on desktop devices such as laptops and PCs.

For Java SE Subscription

This is slightly trickier as it’s sold on a per core basis where the cores are factored. You don’t need to worry too much however, we can work it out for you, we just need to know how many of what type of cores there are. The complication is more around virtualisation. If the Java is on VMware, we need to know how many cores there are in the entire physical infrastructure.