
Zulu: Multi-platform Commercialized OpenJDK - balakk
http://www.azulsystems.com/products/zulu
======
blinkingled
Wow, they seem to be going out of their way to avoid mentioning any benefits I
might get from using Zulu over OpenJDK or Oracle JDK for that matter.

Knowing Azul through Cliff Click's excellent blog posts I was expecting to see
better GC, scalability work etc. but nope - this just seems to be rebranded
JDK that is open source and has Enterprise support. Given Oracle they might
have some success but that's about it.

~~~
sqrt17
Azul are just making sure that there's some enterprise-viable alternative to
getting screwed by Oracle.

As in, Oracle installing adware with their Windows installer is currently
damaging to Java as a brand, and making Oracle Java be less of a "sane
default" than Sun Java was.

------
giltene
Zulu is simple: It is a free and freely re-distributable binary distribution
of OpenJDK for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS. Each binary is tested and certified
(literally), which in the Java world is no small thing.

For MacOS and Windows, Zulu is the only binary distro of OpenJDK that I am
aware of. For Linux (as of this writing), Zulu is the only publicly available
binary distro of OpenJDK 8 that actually undergoes TCK testing and Java SE
compatibility testing. [RedHat provides 7 and 6 binaries through the IcedTea
project, but IcedTea has not yet shipped a Java 8 version].

So unless you want to build OpenJDK from source (and test top verify what you
built is good), you'll need to get a binary from somewhere. Zulu is that
somewhere.

To demonstrate the simple value of a tested and certified binary build: The
current default Java binary thing you get on docker's official Java runtime
image for Java 8 is 8u40
([https://registry.hub.docker.com/_/java/](https://registry.hub.docker.com/_/java/)).
But 8u40 doesn't actually exist. It is still in development in OpneJDK and
won't be released until March 2015. So this thing you pull off a repo is
certainly not a tested or released version (likely a top of tree snapshot
built from source and just pushed to an experimental repo).

For a current list of companies and organizations that are actually able to
fully test OpenJDK 8 (or 7, or 6), see the TCK signatories list at:
[http://openjdk.java.net/groups/conformance/JckAccess/jck-
acc...](http://openjdk.java.net/groups/conformance/JckAccess/jck-access.html)

<< And yes, I work for Azul. >>

~~~
needusername
How come IBM is missing from this list? I thought the ditched Harmony and are
now contributing to OpenJDK. I remember some keynotes some years ago.

------
wingmans
I really can't get over the level of marketing here. "Report" after "report"
from a company that specializes in generating favorable copywriting out of
thin air ([https://451research.com/about](https://451research.com/about)).

This is clearly not a product being targeted at developers, so I have no idea
why "Open Source" or Docker is being pushed, other than being profitable
buzzwords. In fact, on first impressions this looks like exactly what I would
produce if I wanted to cheat clueless IT executives into buying a rebranded
copy of OpenJDK.

If that's the goal, maybe it will work. If not, they badly need to rethink the
site.

------
gnufied
The obvious question is - does it provide anything additional on top of
`OpenJDK` that I can already install via `apt-get install openjdk` ? I suppose
those builds are 100% open source too.

I skimmed through 451's analyst report if Azul is bringing any of their own
improvements to Zulu but answer seems negative.

~~~
owyn
They apparently have a pretty cool garbage collector for the JDK, but it's not
part of Zulu, it's part of Zing (their commercial JVM).

Also, this has been around for like a year, so it's not even really that
new...

------
snambi
A lot of companies would love use OpenJDK instead of OracleJDK or any other
proprietary JDKs. This is wise move from azul to provide support for openJDK.

------
exabrial
The only reason I use the Oracle jdk in my enterprise vs. OpenJDK is
performance. Oracle goes out of their way to make it a pain in the ass to
install their jdk. If Oracle's jdk were available via apt, this would be a no
contest.

I'm curious if there's a performance improvement with Zulu and if there are
apt repos available.

~~~
krisgenre
From Java7, I thought both Oracle jdk and OpenJDK were almost the same. Does
Oracle still offer an edge over performance?

~~~
tluyben2
In my experience yes. It is especially clear on more limited (ARM) devices
(Chromebook ARM, Atom/Celeron laptops) though; if you get stuff running at
all, it is very slow; swap Oracle JDK in and it's suddenly very usable. I
myself don't do a lot with server side Java anymore, but my colleagues tell me
the same things, but it's fast enough for most applications there. On the
client it's far more obvious.

------
gojomo
Isn't OpenJDK already "free, 100% Open Source"?

What are the benefits of this "commercialization"?

~~~
zamalek
Last time I checked OpenJDK had no Windows distribution. Given that Oracle
bundles adware with their JDK, Zulu means that people like me may no longer
have to look at Java as a massive joke.

<gasp> I might even have a JDK on my machine by the end of today.

This is great news for Windows users.

~~~
pjmlp
> Given that Oracle bundles adware with their JDK

A HN user should know better.

The JDK never had any bundles.

The JREs which are available at
[http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/inde...](http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html)
also never had any bundle, even on Sun days.

The only one with bundles is the download from
[http://java.com/](http://java.com/) and even then, it isn't Oracle or Sun's
fault if people lack reading skills.

EDIT: Truth hurts

~~~
zamalek
> The JREs which are available at ... also never had any bundle, even on Sun
> days.

Oh. I stand corrected.

> [http://java.com/](http://java.com/) and even then, it isn't Oracle or Sun's
> fault if people lack reading skills.

[https://who.is/whois/java.com](https://who.is/whois/java.com)

Registrant Organization: Oracle Corporation

The adware-bundled installer is provided by Oracle. Whether or not I know
better to install adware is irrelevant (because I do, and that's why I don't
currently have a JRE installed). Nowhere does Oracle indicate _where_ you can
get the JRE without the adware bundle. Your comment is the first time I have
_read_ that such an installer exists.

What is relevant is Aunt Tilly's experience - as any HN user should know. She
is told by something that she needs Java, goes here[1], clicks on the first
link and gets adware. That is victimizing the ignorant and is why I do not
take Oracle, and by association Java, seriously. That is why Zulu is exciting
- because maybe now I can correct that perception and start doing some Java.

Reality hurts.

[1]:
[https://www.google.com/?q=java#q=java](https://www.google.com/?q=java#q=java)

------
Alupis
> Linux (including Docker)

feed the "buzz".

~~~
nickstinemates
There's no relationship between companies as far as I am aware. I'd prefer it
if we weren't mentioned, but that's their prerogative

