JavaFX runtime redistribution

[Nicolas Lorain]

Hi Josh

I'm afraid the only answer we can provide with regards to any legal questions is to use your best judgement  or consult a lawyer. The license for JavaFX is exactly the same as for Java SE, and just like for the JRE, we provide zip file downloads as an alternative to native installers so you don't have to worry about that part.

Again, this is exactly what has been available for Java SE for a long time. 

I wouldn't expect a change in the short term, but as OS vendors implement stricter rules on how to package and distribute apps through their app stores (e.g. Apple with Mac OS X or Microsoft with the forthcoming Windows app store), we will be focusing on making it easier to deploy Java applications through these channels.

There will be developers who want to concurrently deploy their Java apps in Windows, Mac, and Linux, and we will accommodate this, but maybe not in the specific way you are describing. 

Nicolas

On Apr 25, 2012, at 4:22 AM, Josh Marinacci <joshua at marinacci.org> wrote:

> As of recent versions of JavaFX we are allowed to redistribute the runtime.  Does this include repackaging the runtime to be inside our apps (skipping the JavaFX runtime installer)?  Does this include redistributing the runtime to other people who want to redistribute it?  Allow me to explain. 
> 
> I'm working on an update to my AppBundler Ant task.  Right now you give it a descriptor file and some directories of jars, then it will produce a Mac .app, a Windows .exe, a JNLP, and a single clickable jar.   
> 
> I can manually make it include the magic jars for JavaFX as well. However, the Oracle website only lets you download one JavaFX SDK at a time. You must choose if you want Mac, Windows, or Linux.  So I had to manually download the zips for each platform (rather than the installer versions), uncompress them,  then move the RT jars and native libs for each platform to a place inside my project.
> 
> What I would like to do is redistribute a zip where all of that work has been done to create a universal JavaFX runtime suitable for use with AppBundler.  
> 
> Alternatively, if the above won't suit Oracle's lawyers, I'd like a place to download a unified RT  from Oracle containing the native libs for all platforms, and then I'll create a script that the dev can use to do the processing.  (Even better would be putting the JavaFX runtime into an Oracle hosted Maven repo!)
> 
> thanks,
> Josh
> 
> -- 
> Josh Marinacci
> joshondesign.com
>