{"id":569,"date":"2011-09-11T12:56:00","date_gmt":"2011-09-11T12:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.javacodegeeks.com\/2012\/10\/the-openjdk-as-the-default-java-on-linux.html"},"modified":"2012-10-21T20:17:44","modified_gmt":"2012-10-21T20:17:44","slug":"openjdk-as-default-java-on-linux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.javacodegeeks.com\/2011\/09\/openjdk-as-default-java-on-linux.html","title":{"rendered":"The OpenJDK as the default Java on Linux"},"content":{"rendered":"
Hi All,<\/p>\n

Recently I\u2019ve received a bunch of private correspondence from people confused\/worried over the change in the default Java packaging for Linux. For many Linux distributions, the official Sun\/Oracle version of Java has been packaged up as the default Java for the platform. However, due to a recent licensing change, this will no longer be the case! So, is this a positive or a negative thing for the Java and open source ecosystem? Read on for my take on it <\/p>\n

Background<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dalibor Topic announced<\/a> that With Java SE 7 and JDK 7 being released, and with OpenJDK<\/a> as the official Java SE 7 reference implementation<\/a>, that it was finally time to retire the non open source \u201cOperating System Distributor License for Java\u201d (DLJ<\/a>).<\/p>\n

What does it mean for me?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The knock on effect of this is that Linux distributions will on longer package Oracle\u2019s Java (== OpenJDK wrapped up in some proprietary bits and pieces) as the default Java. This can\/will cause problems for some Java users initially as there are a smattering of bugs (especially in the Swing UI libs) still left in the OpenJDK that affect programs like PCGen<\/a>. However, some Linux distributions had already taken this path some years ago, most notably Ubuntu<\/a> and the last remaining bugs are being cleaned up pretty quickly.

<\/div> <\/div><\/p>\n

Positive or Negative?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Overall, I think this is a positive step in the right direction for free and open Java on Linux platforms. This sentiment was welcomed by well known open source advocate Simon Phipps in a twitter post<\/a>. The fact the the OpenJDK is now the reference implementation (combined with efforts to open up the issue tracker for the OpenJDK) means that means that a vast host of Java\/Linux end users can now directly improve \u2018official Java\u2019 for all of us.<\/p>\n

I want the Oracle version!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Linux users who need to use the proprietary parts of the Oracle JDK 6 or Oracle JDK 7 binaries can of course as usual simply get the gratis download at http:\/\/oracle.com\/java<\/a> under the same terms as users on other platforms. However, if it is due to a \u2018bug\u2019 that is discovered I strongly encourage those users to submit a bug<\/a> report to the OpenJDK project, so that any issues can be fixed for all of us.<\/p>\n

Opinions and further comment is welcome!<\/p>\n

References : <\/i><\/strong>The OpenJDK as the default Java on Linux<\/a> from our JCG partners at Java 7 Developer Blog<\/a><\/p>\n

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