Information on the changes to Java 11 licensing and how it impacts InstallAnywhere
Synopsis
This article provides some background on Java's relationship with InstallAnywhere, what has changed with Java 11, and how this will impact InstallAnywhere users going forward.
Discussion
Background With InstallAnywhere 2018 and earlier, we redistribute a JRE in the below format
Installed with the InstallAnywhere application to support InstallAnywhere itself
Runtime VM packs to help customers create installers based on a JRE
Starting with Java 11, the licensing of the Oracle JDK has changed. This does not impact the InstallAnywhere application itself as the Oracle JDK is not shipped with InstallAnywhere.
What Changed? Oracle stopped shipping a JRE with Java 11. There is only the Server JRE available starting with Java 11. With JDK 11 Oracle has updated the license terms to the new Oracle Technology Network License Agreement for Oracle Java SE, which is substantially different from the licenses under which previous versions of the JDK were offered.
How It Impacts InstallAnywhere Customers? If you are planning to use an installer bundling JRE 8, JRE 9 or JRE 10, nothing changes for you. If you are interested in shipping Java 11, here is how you are impacted
Oracle?s direction is to use the OpenJDK distributions
Official support for Java 11 was added in InstallAnywhere 2018 SP1
OpenJDK 11 is licensed under GPL2.0 + CE. How does that affect me? OpenJDK is open source software. While as an InstallAnywhere user you can build an installer with an OpenJDK 11 VM pack, you would be directly redistributing the software (in this case, your software plus OpenJDK). OpenJDK uses the GNU General Public License, version 2, with the Classpath Exception. We would recommend you to vet the redistribution rights with your legal team before shipping them to your customers.
