Sun Clarifies on the G1 Garbage Collector Licensing Controversy

Posted by Dionysios G. Synodinos on Jun 03, 2009

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A couple of days ago InfoQ posted an article about the fact that the release notes for G1 in the latest Java update, mandated that it was to be used in production only by organizations with a Sun support contract. Following the debate and the reactions that where raised in the community, Sun has explicitly updated the release notes and has removed the controversial clause.

Danny Coward from Sun quotes the InfoQ article and suggests that it was just a misunderstanding:

The Janitor is told that an earlier version of the release notes implied that you had to have a support contract to use G1. Some certainly ran with that ball and even made a topical story out of it !

Our bad. So we made the notes clearer, because you don't need to do anything special to try it out. Unless you want your kinks fixed before everyone else gets the fixes either in the next update or in JDK 7. In which case, there is nice little program waiting just for you :)

Comparing the two versions of the release notes, it seems that Sun has changed the sentences:

Although G1 is available for use in this release, note that production use of G1 is only permitted where a Java support contract has been purchased. G1 is supported thru Sun's Java Platform Standard Edition for Business program.

With:

G1 is available as early access in this release, please try it and give us feedback. Usage in production settings without a Java SE for Business support contract is not recommended.

What do you think, could this just have been a huge misunderstanding? Why did so many try to connect it to the recent news about the aquitision by Oracle?

Dionysios G. Synodinos is a Web Engineer and a freelance consultant, focusing on Web technologies

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   RE: Why did so many try to connect it to the recent news about Oracloe

   by Pedro Jimenez

   Quite possibly. But remember, Oracle's bread and butter is that support contract. The operating margins they get out of support is foundational for keeping the stock price up.

   Reply

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   Re: RE: Why did so many try to connect it to the recent news about Oracloe

   by Pedro Jimenez

   "that support contract" should read "all their support contracts".

   Reply

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