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Java Programming Oracle Upgrades

Java 6 EOL'd By Oracle 115

Posted by timothy from the this-too-shall-pass dept.
Tmack writes "Not completely unexpected, Java6 has reached EOL. This tidbit shows up in Oracle's Java6 FAQ page, recommending everyone update to Java7: 'Oracle no longer posts updates of Java SE 6 to its public download sites. All Java 6 releases up to and including 6u45 have been moved to the Java Archive on the Oracle Technology Network, where they will remain available but not receive further updates. Oracle recommends that users migrate to Java 7 in order to continue receiving public updates and security enhancements.' Apple just pushed its update 16 which is Java6u51, likely to be one of their last Java6 updates."
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Java 6 EOL'd By Oracle More

Java 6 EOL'd By Oracle

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  • Hating Oracle (Score:5, Funny)

    by i kan reed ( 749298 ) on Thursday June 20, 2013 @03:26PM (#44064481) Homepage Journal

    Hating Oracle just feels right. All the pointless rage we deliver to Microsoft for terrible, greedy business decisions, plus they kill popular open source projects. It's like being young and in love, except the opposite of that.

    • Re:Hating Oracle (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 20, 2013 @03:42PM (#44064651)

      Oracle still support Java 6 - if you pay through the nose. They just no longer provide free of charge updates to the non-paying public.

      Java is available free of charge. Java 6 is from 2006. Why should any for profit company provide endless free of charge updates for free of charge software?

      Does the Mozilla Foundation still ship free of charge updates for Firefox 2.0?
      Does Apple still provide free of charge updates for Mac OS X 10.5 (and that actually wasn't free of charge)
      Does Adobe still provide free of charge updates for Flashplayer 9 (say, fix the 40,000 security bugs they claim to have found in it)

    • Being old and in hate == big chance of death (stroke, cardiac arrest).
      Learn to love Oracle and live long! /OK, that last bit was a tasteless joke/

  • Why can't they keep at least two major versions simultaneously released? This isn't rocket surgery.
    Cutting costs and eventually killing the product.

    • Re:Typical Oracle - Enterprise sheds tear (Score:5, Insightful)

      by medv4380 ( 1604309 ) on Thursday June 20, 2013 @03:48PM (#44064689)
      Do you have any Idea how old Java 6 is? It's not a question of keeping two version active at once. It's about it's age more than anything. Java 6 was released in 2006. It's not like their EOLing it after 2 year. Support has to end some time, and 7 years is longer than I would have kept it.

      • Re:Typical Oracle - Enterprise sheds tear (Score:4, Informative)

        by Sique ( 173459 ) on Thursday June 20, 2013 @03:58PM (#44064765) Homepage
        I still have sometimes to use tools that were developed for Java 1.3.1 and barely run with Java 1.4.2.

        • And you expect them to support that?

        • Yes, and you cannot run AT&T SYSIII unix on any modern hardware. I fail to see your problem.

        • Yup. That's the problem with using old outdated software that isn't receiving active support. Or at least not proper active support. If your tool is being actively supported and still requires Java 1.3.1, then they're doing something very wrong.

          You know, some people are still running DOS apps from the 90s. That doesn't mean Microsoft is doing something wrong by refusing to support DOS.

          But the bigger issue here: Developers should stop using Java. I don't really object to the language, but the Sun/Orac

      • Re:Typical Oracle - Enterprise sheds tear (Score:5, Insightful)

        by _xeno_ ( 155264 ) on Thursday June 20, 2013 @04:04PM (#44064805) Homepage Journal

        Do you have any Idea how old Java 6 is?

        Do you have any idea how new Java 7 is? It's just about two years old, but that makes it sound older than in reality, because for the first year it was out Sunacle were very clear that it was still "beta quality" and that developers should stick with Java 6. It wasn't until about a year ago that Java 7 really "rolled out" as the replacement for Java 6.

        I can't remember when IT first allowed Java 7 onto our desktops, but I think it was less than a year ago. Even then, it's still not the "official" version of Java because there's some IT-related software that can't run on Java 7. Not to mention that some of the software I work with also can't run on Java 7 due to JNI incompatibilities. (Man I wish we could ditch that, but I didn't write the component that uses that component, so...)

        In any case, no matter how old it is, Java 7 still isn't quite ready to replace Java 6. Especially under Mac OS X, thanks to the transition between Apple and Oracle supporting Java. Although I don't know who's really to blame for that one, Apple or Oracle, but they can both take the blame as far as I care.

        The point is that I still use Java 6 on a day-to-day basis, and it's not from lack of trying to move to Java 7.

        • In my company, we have evaluated Java 7, but unfortunately there are still large issues in Java for us. We are also integrated with the local Java community and a lot of open source projects, and the general consensus seems to be that 7 is not ready for prime time yet. So it is unfortunate that Oracle is ending support for 6 without a suitable replacement.
        • I bet you your JNI incompatibilities are more likely due to running 64 bit java, and have nothing to do with Java 7. I could be wrong, but that's normally where the issue is.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by JDG1980 ( 2438906 )

        Do you have any Idea how old Java 6 is?

        Doesn't matter. There are a *lot* of applications that not only require Java 6, but a specific point release of Java 6.

        "Write once, run anywhere" my ass.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Anonymous Coward

          By "a *lot* of applications" you mean things like SAP or other Enterprise traps ?

          It takes a bit of work to write Java applications that are version-dependent, it's hardly ever an 'accident'.

          • I maintain around a million lines of Java code and have never had this problem either. A lot of it is refection heavy, gets run on OSX, Windows, and Linux and has thousands of daily users. GUI, Web and Back End. Point release specific? The only time I ever have trouble is when I try to use a newer feature on an older JDK, or I try to compile down with a new feature. Perhaps there's some JNI code out there, but that sort of defeats the purpose most of the time. I couldn't agree more that you have to try t

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Rich0 ( 548339 )

        Do you have any Idea how old Java 6 is? It's not a question of keeping two version active at once. It's about it's age more than anything. Java 6 was released in 2006. It's not like their EOLing it after 2 year. Support has to end some time, and 7 years is longer than I would have kept it.

        And how old is the win32 API? Now ask yourself why there are still companies that target that rather than Java ?

        7 years isn't that long. Last time I checked XP was still on extended support (ie anybody can get security updates for free). Its replacement has been around for almost a decade (it won't be until it has been around for a full decade before XP is EOL).

  • Grrr (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Farmer Pete ( 1350093 ) on Thursday June 20, 2013 @03:29PM (#44064519)
    I know why they don't, but I wish they would auto update everyone on 6 to 7. Bugger.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Many many Mission critical applications REQUIRE 6 and have yet to be updated by their vendors...

      Xsan admin (needs java6)

      FinalCut Server (client will not work with java 7)

      • Re: Grrr (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        For instance Oracle 11g ./irony

      • Many many Mission critical applications REQUIRE 6 and have yet to be updated by their vendors...

        Xsan admin (needs java6)

        FinalCut Server (client will not work with java 7)

        I'm hearing a lot of noise about this, and I find it very hard to believe. Java was designed from the very beginning to avoid breakage between releases. It's one of its primary differences from the Microsoft toolchain, where they not only don't support deprecation, they don't even try.

        There were only 2 cases that I know of where Java changed radically enough to even worry about breakage: somewhere around 1.02 and the infamous 1.3 (which Oracle was complicit in keeping from its grave, even though their buyou

  • But I don't like SPAM (Score:3)

    by SpaceManFlip ( 2720507 ) on Thursday June 20, 2013 @03:33PM (#44064555)
    I don't like Java 7, it feels dirty. I will keep on with 6 for now

  • Re: (Score:1, Funny)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • ... all the intelligent and insightful commentary from the Slashdot peanut gallery about how rubbish Java is.

      The other day, i was looking through my browser history and noticed a link to the download of Java 7 u11 from January of this year. The current version is u21. That 10 updates in 6 months. No software is perfect, but when you have to issue 10 updates in 6 months, that's pretty bad.

      • Re:Can't wait to hear... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Tailhook ( 98486 ) on Thursday June 20, 2013 @04:03PM (#44064799)

        but when you have to issue 10 updates in 6 months, that's pretty bad.

        Poppycock.

        I can't remember ever having my Ubuntu LTS servers go a week without security patches appearing, usually the same few bits of software; the kernel, glibc, apache, mysql, etc. Java SE models an entire machine, provides a vast application API and a powerful optimizing compiler on multiple platforms. It's a mighty piece of software and flaws abound. The real problem with Oracle and Java has been the lack of updates. By rights Java 7 SE should be on about update 110 by now. One a week.

  • It was already EOLed in Feb (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Java 6 was already EOLed in feb 2013. u43 was supposed to be the last update. They keep updating it because nobody moved off of it, and apparently somone still has enough pull to get them to keep writing patches for it. This is the second (possibly third) time they've tried to EOL Java 6.

  • Great (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Java SE 6 was released six and a half years ago. Prior to then Sun had a major release about every two years. The platform stalled with version 6 and it needs a kick in the ass.

    There is some craptastic Java 6 software in the world that won't run correctly in Java SE 7. The writing is on the wall for that stuff. People don't tolerate neglect; they just go find alternatives.

    • How about Kronos, the big timekeeping software? I know several companies that are using a current version of it and can't move pass 6.24. Did I mention they have it installed on a large number of their desktops?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Tailhook ( 98486 )

        Kronos

        Never heard of it. There are probably a dozen alternatives to Kronos and their time and attendance software. If a company with 3,200 employees is so incompetent that they can't get their software ported to Java SE 7 then they deserve to be abandoned by their customers. If a licensee can't be bothered to move to the new runtime for supposedly critical software then they have bigger problems and they should go on neglecting stuff until they get pwned and grownups take over.

        No sympathy. Grow up and deal.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by Anonymous Coward

          You should probably get around some then. At least two companies I've consulted or worked for have used the software. That doesn't excuse the vendor from being able (or not being able) to support JVM7, but it also doesn't warrant any of your Internet tough guy attitude. Just because you're ignorant doesn't mean you get to insult others.

          My current company is in the process of moving from Kronos to ADP. Did you know you can buy your Kronos clock once and keep it? Did you know you have to rent an ADP cloc

        • If a company with 3,200 employees is so incompetent that they can't get their software ported to Java SE 7 then they deserve to be abandoned by their customers.

          Should companies running 10 year old software that has reached end of support several years ago, expect the software to be updated to support the latest Java version? Upgrading time and attendance software (like most enterprise software) is non-trivial, since it affects when people are scheduled to work and how people are paid and people tend to become irate when they aren't paid correctly.

          If a licensee can't be bothered to move to the new runtime for supposedly critical software then they have bigger problems and they should go on neglecting stuff until they get pwned and grownups take over

          It is not simply a matter of moving to a new runtime, as software releases are often tested against specific Java versi

        • Set your sights a little higher, just one of the companies has 45K employees. They would love to update the software, but they have to wait till the Vendor updates the program. There are not a lot of cheap options for something like this at the Enterprise level.

      • They should let Kronos know that it's unacceptable that they don't update their software to be compatible with the latest JVMs. If enough people bitch, they'll fix it.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by znrt ( 2424692 )

      People don't tolerate neglect; they just go find alternatives.

      some even might go find alternatives to java altogether ... oh wait. not really, because most people tends not to look for alternatives at all, and actually tolerates shitloads of bullshit. that's why companies like oracle exist.

  • EOL Oracle (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 20, 2013 @04:00PM (#44064777)

    I wish Oracle were end of lifed.

  • Not a big deal... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by BenSchuarmer ( 922752 ) on Thursday June 20, 2013 @04:21PM (#44064951)
    what bugs me is that they keep trying to get me to install the Ask toolbar every time I update Java 7.
  • I remember I couldn't make an APK package properly without JDK jarsigner from Java 6 (Java 7 one would not work).

  • I have an idea (Score:4, Interesting)

    by slashmydots ( 2189826 ) on Thursday June 20, 2013 @04:44PM (#44065169)
    After at least 3 years of perpetually the worst thing to happen to browser security ever, maybe they should just eliminate their entire web plugin. I mean for God's sake, I just saw someone's credit union use a java app for logging into online banking. I've never heard of a bank demanding that its users purposely ruin the security on their computer in order to access online banking. I heard v7r25 that was released days ago already has critical flaws. I think technically if you had Java for the last 3 years, there wasn't one moment in time that you were actually without a gigantic java-based exploit security flaw.

  • Does this mean Ubuntu will make the use of JDK 7 automatic? It's easy enough to make it your default instead of 6, but the default for 12.04 is still JDK 6. It's not nice to make the default an EOL product.

  • Java 7 and prime time (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Arkham ( 10779 ) on Thursday June 20, 2013 @05:52PM (#44065689)
    People who don't think java7 is ready are smoking crack. It's been production ready for a long time.. Works on Linux, works on OSX, works on Windows. I have used it on 20M transaction/day apps and had it run for months with no issues.. Java gets a bad name because of the browser plugin. Let's EOL that for all versions of java. I like java on the server. I like it for writing Android apps. I do NOT like it in the browser, and neither does anyone else with any interest in security.

    • Re:Java 7 and prime time (Score:5, Informative)

      by Chris Mattern ( 191822 ) on Thursday June 20, 2013 @07:26PM (#44066245)

      The problem isn't that Java 7 isn't production ready. The problem is the large amount of production that isn't Java 7 ready.

      • So it's time to fix it to be Java 7 ready. Pretty good distrinction between well written apps and crapware is number of difficulties when porting to Java 7. Most of my apps just worked, yet I always avoided (most of) crapola "enterprise" technologies like EJB etc. Switch to Java 7 is pretty good point to decide which of your apps should be depreciated (or undergo severe overhaul) and which are fit enough to still be maintained. It's called evolution.

        It's also a good occasion to get rid of super-heavy "ente

    • I updated parts of our production to make it Java 7 ready earlier this year. Then came Java 7u21 in April that started to break things with its changes to security. We could to use slightly older versions, but Java -really- wants us to update to the most recent version.

      All in all, Java isn't very enterprise friendly for us. We have some systems that rely on applets and browser plugins working correctly, there is no way around that. As far as I see it, for security reasons we would like to block applets by

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Teckla ( 630646 )

      People who don't think java7 is ready are smoking crack. It's been production ready for a long time.. Works on Linux, works on OSX, works on Windows.

      Java 7 doesn't work on OS X 10.6.x (Snow Leopard).

  • We've just gotten to 6 and nothing works reliably on 7 at all. You wind up running unsupported at your own peril. Current course and speed we'll be off 6 around 2015

  • Work (Score:1)

    by eWarz ( 610883 )

    We've removed java on 99% of our machines. It's generally not needed anymore except for specialized apps, and most of our users don't use java apps. Java on Windows = PITA. Admin access, attempts to install the ask toolbar, etc made it too expensive to maintain.

    • Any desktop applications still using java should probably stop assuming an installed JVM and bundle one. Has a few drawbacks, obviously.

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