Why not the "official" Java?

[aadrian]

If you call this the "official" repo, why not use the "official" version of Java? i.e. the "oracle jdk" ?

Most users will still need that version, not "open jdk".

Thank you.

[tianon]

This is a duplicate of #31.

docker-library/official-images#625 (comment) is another useful comment about why we can't package the Oracle JDK, as is https://github.com/docker-library/docs/pull/203/files (which is part of the official documentation for this image now).

[aadrian]

It can be, but it's still not useful and just confusing.

I know that the major distros did that, but I still have to install the Oracle JDK and most people coding Java need that, not the "open" version, so the problem still exists - We just have now more work to do.

I was hoping that Docker can solve this problem, since it's not a "distribution" in the same sense the Linux distributions are.

[md5]

@aadrian I disagree with your contention that "most users" need to install the Oracle JDK.

[tianon]

Oracle's JDK isn't licensed such that we're allowed to redistribute it without a specific exemption from Oracle, same as any other distribution. In my own Java usage, I've found that the OpenJDK suits my needs really well, especially being that it's literally defined as "The Reference Implementation for the Java language".

[aadrian]

@md5 @tianon so far I saw no commercial installation to use the OpenJDK. A few with the IBM one, but none with OpenJDK. The requirement is quite clear in most commercial projects I've worked on or I'm aware of.

[md5]

@aadrian I believe you'll also find in those same environments that they have support contracts with the JVM vendor.

Creating a set of Dockerfiles based on the Oracle JDK that align closely with the official Docker java images would be pretty easy to do as demonstrated by existing Docker images using the WebUpd8 PPA (cf. http://www.webupd8.org/2015/02/install-oracle-java-9-in-ubuntu-linux.html). Using those Dockerfiles to build private images within the walls of organizations that are able to legally use them would also be possible. But distributing Docker images based on the Oracle JDK publicly is pretty clearly not allowed by their licensing.

[aadrian]

But distributing Docker images based on the Oracle JDK publicly is pretty clearly not allowed by their licensing.

But you don't have binary images here, do you? All I see in this Git repo are config (docker) files :)

[yosifkit]

Yes, but we don't distribute these docker files, we distribute docker images with everything installed.

[aadrian]

Yes, but we don't distribute these docker files, we distribute docker images with everything installed.

Why not? Would it be too slow to build the image out of it?

[blop]

+1

[aadrian]

It looks like those images are there now https://github.com/oracle/docker-images and https://github.com/oracle/docker-images/tree/master/OracleJDK so no need to use the "reduced" ones.

[rsutormin]

@aadrian, Nope, they still require to manually download tar-gz file through web page (accepting license) and put to to repo folder. It means you still can not register this or inherited image in public docker-hub.

[tianon]

See also docker-library/docs#203 and docker-library/docs#660.