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Java 11 has just been released (on Sep, 25th) and it comes with the consolidation of a series of changes, not only to the language and the platform, but to the release and support model that has lead to some noise on the future of Java.

Probably the two most notable concerns are the end of public updates for Java 8 and the uncertainty of the rights to use Oracle JDK without paying for commercial support.

Although it is true that with the new changes, Oracle is going to put focus on only the latest java version, and will offer commercial support for its JDK, it is also true that we -as Java and Liferay developers- will still be able to use Java and the JDK freely.

The changes in the release cadence and model

In 2017, it was already announced that Java was going to move faster, scheduling a new feature release every six months, on March and September. That meant that after Java 9, released on September 2017, Java 10 was going to be released on March 2018 and java 11 on September 2018, which just has happened.

The second big change has been the introduction of the concept of LTS (Long Time Support) versions, which are versions that are 'marked' to be maintained for more than six months. And this mark is not a compromise from Oracle, but a recommendation for the industry and community.

On the other side, the differences between Oracle JDK and OpenJDK have been eliminated. In fact, Oracle is leading the work on OpenJDK LTS code base during the six first months after the release. This makes OpenJDK the new default. 

After that, Oracle will provide updates for their Oracle JDK only to those customers that have a commercial license. But at the same time, Oracle will allow and encourage other vendors (like IBM, RedHat, Azul or the community based AdoptOpenJDK) to work on the OpenJDK LTS codebase to keep providing updates.

That means that Oracle will provide free updates for every Java version during the first six months after release, and other vendors and community initiatives will provide free updates for LTS versions for a longer period.

Will Java 8 still be freely available?

Java 8 was a LTS, so it is replaced by Java 11, which is also a LTS. And that means that oracle has announced that OpenJDK 8 will end its official support for commercial use in January 2019.

But the good news is that Red Hat has already applied to lead the development and updates of OpenJDK 8 after that date, and other companies like Amazon, Azul Systems or IBM have also announced that they will support Red Hat.

So we will actually have free Java 8 updates at least until September 2023, based on OpenJDK.

In conclusion

Although Oracle is focusing their effort on the six month release, there is still support for free updates for the LTS versions of Java, first provided by Oracle and, after that, maintained and updated by other vendors which will offer free updates and, in some cases, also will offer commercial support.

If you want to dig a little bit more on the details of all these changes, there is a comprehensive document with the title "Java is Still Free" written and updated by the community of Java Champions that has a lot of details this topic, and includes and updated table with the plans for support and updates, which so far, is as follows:

And for Liferay, we will also pay attention to this changes and the plans to support the different versions of Java in order to update our Liferay JDK Compatibility Support accordingly.