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We have an open source tool that we want to deliver to users with a specific JRE version. As Oracle is so unclear and closed with licensing (even with newest jlink possibilities), and unofficial openjdk builds are so hard to "follow", we think that Zulu can be the right alternative here. Thus the only worry I have:

Can I freely redistribute this JVM in my distributions? It's nothing more than having a /jre directory in my distribution and making start-up scrips going for provided JVM instead of the system default.

The Zulu Terms of Use are not 100% clear here:

You also represent and warrant that you do not intend to distribute the software in a manner that is not compliant with relevant export control laws or regulations administered by the U.S. Commerce Department, OFAC, or any other government agency.

the8472
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Ivan Senic
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3 Answers3

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This question comes up regularly with software developers wanting to redistribute Zulu with their applications. The specific item in the Terms of Use you highlighted calls out specific export controls to remind you of the implications that every Java SE distribution from any vendor including Azul has some cryptography features inside in. Because of that fact, you should be aware of US export laws, and that many countries have import restrictions, too. Zulu does not have any field of use restrictions, though we needed to assert the statement about export in the ToU.

We typically share the details of what it means to redistribute Zulu through our Zulu Embedded offering. I make several points why it is at least worth a call to Azul to discuss alternatives in my forum post here: http://zulu.org/forum/thread/bundle-zulu-community-jre-with-our-product/ If you are doing anything other than open source software, there are potential pitfalls redistributing community binaries. Azul can help clarify your risks.

Matt

Disclaimer: I am the Zulu product manager at Azul, though this response reflects my personal opinions.

Matt Schuetze
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  • Hi Matt, thanks for the answer.. So did I get you correct if we are shipping it with the open-source product we should be on the safe side here? Our product is licensed under Apache v2, this should not be a conflicting problem with Zulu license? – Ivan Senic May 27 '17 at 08:56
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    Ivan, Azul cannot prevent you from doing anything with Zulu. Azul only recommends you thoroughly understand the copyleft risks associated with GPL licensing and the extra protections Azul product subscriptions can provide. I'm sure you would prefer that I said something simple like "Sure, go ahead!" but I cannot provide legal advice about the free, open source community downloads apart from they are free and open source, with all associated license details provided on Azul.com and in the product package. – Matt Schuetze May 30 '17 at 18:54
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The answer is probably. This is one of those areas where nothing and no one can substitute for actual legal advice. At a guess, you may need no more than an hour or two from a lawyer specializing in software copyright issues. The lawyer's office itself can (will) provide an estimate.

Nathan Verrilli
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Please take note that I'm not a lawyer.

Hotspot and most of the JVM code (mostly C/C++ native code) in the OpenJDK is released under the GPL 2.0 with Assembly Exception and not a "bare" GPL. This is in addition to the Classpath exception to the GPL that applies mostly to the runtime library code.

I would assume any OpenJDK is safe to redistribute with your application. Please do correct me if I'm wrong.

Yudhistira Arya
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