What have we learnt in 3 years of Oracle's Java Subscription Changes?
Three years of Oracle Java audits, 300,000+ systems analysed, here's what we've actually learnt.
Three years in and organisations are still getting caught out. Here's what we've seen with our customers.
Oracle’s Java Secret
Oracle Java on Windows has telemetry built in — it tells Oracle what you have installed, device details, IP address and more. This isn't hidden, it's in their own terms, we seen data shared that proves this. Every support download of every version gets logged too, all of that goes directly to their Java sales teams. If you've downloaded it, they know about it, and now you’re on their call list.
What's interesting is that Oracle don't have any publicly available audit tools for Java, so you have a set of ill-defined licensing rules, that you have to self-manage and make sure you’re compliant without having the right way to check.
What most people get wrong
The first assumption is that you owe them money. You might not — the Oracle products you're already paying for could cover your Java usage. Check Schedule A and B, and Oracle support clauses before you pay anything.
The second is around versions. Not everything below 8u211 is free, some releases shipped with commercial terms already baked in. And Oracle JDK has no place on a production server or end user desktop — developers is fine but read the terms carefully.
One more thing worth knowing — Oracle's Java Subscription has added somewhere between $1.5 and $2 Billion in new revenues. This wasn't accidental, and the compliance programme is a big part of how that happened.
What actually helps
Check where your *.jar files live across your estate. It tells you more about what's actually using Java than almost anything else.
You’ll need a strategy for when Oracle come knocking. Their opening offer is usually 5 years subscription, time to get your rip and replace strategy into operation.
We've now run our tools across 500,000+ systems. At the point of audit less than 0.5% had an active Java process running. That gap between installed and running is where are ready to help.