Is there any OpenJDK that is fully free and will be available for commercial use

Question

I just recently heard about the licensing for Oracle JDK, after trying to create a springboot app for a year. I wanted to find out if there are other alternative JDK which are free for production/commercial use, and if they are what is the certainty that it wouldnt be paid for after or that it would be in the market for long. My only alternative now is to rewrite my code in another language.

Answer 1

Yes, Java is still free

It is vital that you study: Java Is Still Free. Written by key members of the Java community, providing both a summary and all the gory details.

Guidance

The OpenJDK source code is available free-of-cost per its GNU GPL+linking exception license.

Several vendors provide releases based on that OpenJDK source code. They can do so free-of-cost or they can charge a fee or set other licensing terms, as long as they abide by the GNU GPL+linking exception licensing.

The Oracle JDK in latest versions has changed its licensing. It can no longer be used in production without a paid support plan. Contact Oracle for details. The Oracle JDK has converged to be at feature-parity with OpenJDK, with Oracle having contributed to OpenJDK even more of their formerly commercial parts such as Flight Recorder and Mission Control.

Other vendors also provide releases with commercial terms, for a product which may contain some OpenJDK code.

And some vendors such as Adoptium with their Eclipse Temurin product (formerly AdoptOpenJDK), Azul Systems with their Zulu product, and Amazon Web Services with their Corretto product, all provide builds of OpenJDK without payment required.

A release may or may not be labeled “Java”. If a vendor want their release to carry the branding “Java”, they must pass rigorous testing for compliance with the Java specifications and abide by Oracle’s terms for using their trademark.

Here is a flowchart that may help guide you in determining how and where to obtain Java 11. Important: This info may be incorrect. You are responsible for studying the details of the license under which you use any software.

(Note that the diagrams say "Adoptium", which is not a distribution, but instead the organization that produces the distribution called "Eclipse Temurin". See here for more info.)

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