Eclipse to host only TCK compliant Java SE implementations

[i_gumby]

This is a story that's concerning from FOSS point of view; it outlines how an open source foundation can become the means by which for-profit companies can exert influence and pressure to squash competition.

It begins with IBM open sourcing their J9 VM as Eclipse OpenJ9 [1]. Eclipse OpenJ9 is a source only project; AdoptOpenJDK was the means by which users could download both nightly and release builds [2]. At some point, Oracle revoked AdoptOpenJDK's TCK license for OpenJ9 [3][4]; this resulted in AdoptOpenJDK not running the TCK for any builds (even though they could technically run it for the Hotspot builds).

A few months ago, AdoptOpenJDK decided to join the Eclipse foundation [3]; however, the agreement that Eclipse made with Oracle was that Eclipse would only host binaries that are TCK compliant [5]. What this means is that Eclipse OpenJ9 binaries cannot be published on Eclipse unless either the project pays for the TCK license, or some other entity uses their TCK license to certify the Eclipse OpenJ9 binary; in either case though, Eclipse OpenJ9 was forced to figure out how to generate builds. As can be seen in the mailing list archive [7], Eclipse OpenJ9, which amusingly enough is an existing Eclipse project, is now stranded in some sense.

[1] https://projects.eclipse.org/projects/technology.openj9/reviews/creation-review [2] https://adoptopenjdk.net/ [3] https://twitter.com/volker_simonis/status/1052610654669074432?lang=en [4] https://adoptopenjdk.net/quality.html#jck [5] https://blog.adoptopenjdk.net/2020/06/adoptopenjdk-to-join-the-eclipse-foundation/ [6] https://projects.eclipse.org/projects/adoptium/charter [7] https://www.eclipse.org/lists/openj9-dev/msg00086.html

[i_gumby]

Now, obviously, there is nothing illegal going on here; Eclipse very much has the right to specify any and all restrictions regarding their projects. However, this decision does go against the spirit of Open Source, and it sets a precedent for other maneuvers that could be described as strong-arming. While Eclipse OpenJ9 can build their own binaries, they can't call it Java; while AdoptOpenJDK could get away this because of their reputation and history, Eclipse OpenJ9 does not have that luxury specifically because it relied on AdoptOpenJDK. It forces people who want to try out an alternative to Hotspot to go through the pain of building binaries themselves, and any existing users of Eclipse OpenJ9 are now placed in a bind.

[wmf]

This TCK bullshit has been going on for 20 years or more and there's no reason to think it will ever get better under Oracle. It's just the price of using Java.