#1 2018-10-18 00:07:35

jkoertzen
Member
Registered: 2018-02-14

Java Licensing Updates?

How does the change in licensing for Java affect ReportServer? As of January 2019, corporate users will be required to pay $2.50/user/month to maintain access to java applications.

https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java … 91443.html

They mention that SE applications should be switched to OpenJDK binaries which is offered under OpenGPL if there is a desire for apps not to need the SE license.

I haven't fully rolled out ReportServer, but this could dramatically impact my roadmap if I have to start planning for java licensing as well.

Thanks.

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#2 2018-10-18 07:36:23

karolina
Member
Registered: 2014-08-09

Re: Java Licensing Updates?

Hi,

OpenJDK is licenced under OpenGPL with a linking exception (which is an important detail, as using OpenJDK does not require to license your software under GPL).

I've read once here that there were / are some issues with ReportServer and OpenJDK- but I don't know the details.
On the other hand all my ReportServer instances have been running on Debian Linux servers and OpenJDK since 2014. Note however, that I don't process significant amounts of data and I have only a few users that connect to RS at the same time.

Eduardo - could you share some information about it?

All the best - Karolina

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#3 2018-10-20 10:35:17

eduardo
Administrator
Registered: 2016-11-01
Website

Re: Java Licensing Updates?

Hi,

This is an interesting and at the same time big change in the java world. We have been analyzing the situation and have come to the following conclusions:

1. ReportServer, at the moment, supports Java 8. We will clearly go to Java 11, the next Long time Support (LTS) Java Version. But this will not happen immediately. Users have two options:
a. Stay on the latest Oracle Java 8 version. In this case, they will not get more security/bug fixes updates from Java starting from January 2019. This is a perfectly valid option for users using ReportServer on a properly secured Intranet.
b. Buy LTS support. In this case, users will get security/bug fixes updates from Java until at least 2022/2025 (https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java … 35779.html). Since ReportServer is a server application, you should have to pay *per processor*, not per user.
2. As we mentioned, ReportServer will go for Java 11. But this of course means all libraries must be compatible with Java 11, especially GWT / GXT. This seems not to be the case for the moment. So this cannot happen before all libraries are compatible with java 11.
3. ReportServer has always focused on stability. If we have to upgrade ReportServer every 6 months for each new Java version, ReportServer will loose this valuable stability. All libraries must be eventually upgraded, which means large changes on each release, most probably endangering the high grade of stability. As a consequence of this approach, all the users would have to upgrade Java every 6 months in their enterprise environments or loose Java support. This is definitely not feasible. So, here again, we want to leave the decision to stay on the latest Java 8 version or buy LTS to our clients. ReportServer will of course support both.
4. With Java 11, OpenJDK will be binary equivalent to Oracle JDK. So, when we upgrade to Java 11, we will also officially support OpenJDK 11. Nevertheless, this does not change the fact that Oracle will only release (OpenJDK) updates only for the newest Java version, so, again, even using OpenJDK we would have to upgrade Java every 6 months, the same for the users, which seems not a valid option at the time.

With other words, for the moment, we will stay on Java 8. It is the decision of the customers if they buy LTS support or not. If they decide not to buy LTS support, they may still stay on the latest Java 8 version, eventually on a properly secured Intranet. With widening support for JAVA 11 (GWT / GXT) Reportserver will move to JAVA 11.

Keep in mind that Oracle JAVA 11 is only free for development and testing, not for production https://dzone.com/articles/eliminating- … -confusion. So if you don't want to pay LTS Fees for your Production Systems, you have to use OpenJDK after ReportServer moved to JAVA 11. Again, this OpenJDK version will only have updates for 6 months. When Java 12 is released, both OpenJDK and Oracle Java will stop getting updates. Only JDK LTS clients will continue getting updates.

We are aware that this is a serious change in the JAVA World and do not think that we fully grasp its consequences by now. We will stay around, see what happens and keep you updated. As you are hopefully aware of, we will try to continue to provide the best possible open source reporting server to you.

Regards,
Eduardo

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#4 2019-02-27 14:27:33

nr
Member
Registered: 2018-06-29

Re: Java Licensing Updates?

Hi Eduardo,

based on Karolinas post, I would like to ask: Is it possible or will it be possible to use Reportserver safely with OpenJDK 8?
Of course I don't ask for Oracle-OpenJDK, but what's about the Red Hat version?

"At Red Hat, we intend to provide support for OpenJDK 8 to our customers until 2023, and our policy of always “upstream first” implies that OpenJDK 8 will continue to be updated for critical bugs and security fixes until then."
'-> https://developers.redhat.com/blog/2018 … e-support/

best regards
,rené

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#5 2019-02-27 20:08:08

phillipjohnson
Member
From: Columbus, OH, USA
Registered: 2016-11-03
Website

Re: Java Licensing Updates?

Good question, Rene. There is also AdoptOpenJDK, which pledges Java 8 support until 2023 and future LTS release support for four years. https://adoptopenjdk.net/support.html

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#6 2019-02-28 12:10:09

eduardo
Administrator
Registered: 2016-11-01
Website

Re: Java Licensing Updates?

Hi,

OpenJDK 8 is not officially supported. Officially, we support Oracle JDK 8. Nevertheless, as you can read above, OpenJDK 8 works for many users without problems.

Further, we have successfully tested reportserver with OpenJDK 11 (in ReportServer's newest version: 3.0.5), and this works in our tests. Our bitnami packages have been updated to OpenJDK 11: https://reportserver.net/blog/2019/02/2 … -packages/
Java 11 needs Tomcat 9, so we also upgraded Tomcat as you can read in our blog.

You can use OpenJDK 11 from ReportServer 3.0.5 onwards. This should work for manual installations analogously to the bitnami packages.
Feedback would be helpful if this works for you or if you have any problems.

Regards,
Eduardo

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