Comment by inkyoto
1 day ago
Universities do not need Java per se, leave alone Oracle Java.
Other than uninformed, spurious Oracle JDK downloads, what usually happens is an academic or a faculty have purchased an app or a software product in the past that performs features A, B and C important to them[0], and that app or product, unbeknownst to them, bundles the Oracle JDK/JRE in. The Lord of Java has now trapped their butts and demands that universities fork out quiet a bit as Oracle wants a per student licence fee for each such app, even if it is just one faculty who uses the app.
[0] Or at least they think so – software duplication is a rampant problem in universities due to oftentimes poor architectural governance and oversight.
Wouldn't an app that bundels Oracle's Java runtime need a redistribution license?
I think the licence is only valid for the most recent version of Java (I can't remember whether it applies to the JDK only or to the JRE as well), which forces users either to keep on upgrading the Java version (not easily possible for 3rd party software) or to pay up.
We went through a mad rush of replacing Sun/Oracle Java with Amazon Corretto a few years back at a very large organisation when it became clear that Oracle won't let us off the hook easily. Most old applications that could not be upgraded to Corretto were promptly culled.