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The closing of this question as off-topic doesn't make sense to me:

https://serverfault.com/questions/342467/how-does-the-change-in-java-licensing-affect-freebsd

The reason is:

Questions on Server Fault are expected to generally relate to servers, networking, or desktop infrastructure, within the scope defined in the faq. See the FAQ.

I've already seen the FAQ. Is there some way that Java or licensing is not relevant to servers? I'm admin to a couple dozen servers that run Java application servers, and have already seen Red Hat try to remove Sun Java 1.5 because of support issues. Now Ubuntu will remove Sun Java 6 from servers because of licensing issues.

So, this question is still relevant to servers - even if the answer makes my question moot.

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    Why don't you ask the Diablo Java people ? At best you'll get informed opinion here. At worst you'll get wrong information. The Diablo Java people will know for sure.
    – user9517
    Dec 20, 2011 at 15:52
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    Actually I got an answer - a definitive answer that won't be obsolete for a long time, if ever: Diablo Java is unmaintained and obsolete...
    – Mei
    Dec 20, 2011 at 15:57

3 Answers 3

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It lends itself to discussion, so that's one no-no. The other is that it probably should have been closed as a dupe of Can you help me with my software licensing issue?

We don't answer licensing questions in any capacity here.

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  • This wasn't about licensing - none of the topics mentioned in that other question was what this was about. More specifically, my question was: Will Diablo Java disappear from FreeBSD like Sun Java did from Ubuntu and Red Hat?
    – Mei
    Dec 20, 2011 at 15:13
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    Still sounds like a discussion question to me. And that question is meant to be Canonical. It's what all licensing questions are to be closed as a duplicate of, since we don't deal with licensing questions here. I take that to mean licensing in any way, whether it's the purchase of license, or answering questions about GPL compliance, BSD compliance, or anything else.
    – MDMarra
    Dec 20, 2011 at 15:19
  • This makes it sound like all I have to do is utter the word license and the question is closed. This cannot be as not all questions about licensing will be of that type: for example, how about: How do I research my licensing options?
    – Mei
    Dec 20, 2011 at 15:38
  • The post mentioned above had a comment (second most up-voted comment!) that said this, in part: Essentially this is making the subject of licensing a taboo subject on SF. If the same logic is applied to other subjects, SF would cease to be a useful resource.
    – Mei
    Dec 20, 2011 at 15:42
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    Luckily for us, that same logic isn't applied to random subjects without any thought or consideration. Like @voretaq7 said - Licenses are legal docs. We aren't lawyers. As for the comment, it is +12. The question itself is +36/-8 and the topvoted answer is +23/-1. People are still clearly in favor of the question. I also wonder how many of those +12 are from people in a similar situation to you. I.E. not knowing that licensing questions are off-topic for SF and then being upset that your question was closed.
    – MDMarra
    Dec 20, 2011 at 15:47
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    All that said, you might want to commit to area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/3527/software-law if you feel like there should be a place in the network for software licensing questions (since that place isn't Server Fault).
    – MDMarra
    Dec 20, 2011 at 15:49
  • This is not about a license. It's about a software installation. I could understand if I asked Which license should I get? or Is this the right number of licenses? This question is not about a license at all - but about whether a piece of software will be available or not.
    – Mei
    Dec 20, 2011 at 15:59
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    "Now that the Operating System Distributor License for Java is being retired and Ubuntu Linux is pulling Java from all repositories, what does it mean for Diablo from FreeBSD?" - If you're asking what will FreeBSD do, that's too localized for this site. Contact them. If you're asking how the retirement of the license potentially effect distribution, then that's both open-ended and about licensing. Either way, it should be closed. Please don't take closings personally. It's how we keep the site relevant, useful. and on-topic. Everyone's had something closed/deleted at some point.
    – MDMarra
    Dec 20, 2011 at 16:02
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    Thanks for the discussion - and the notes. Keeping a site like these "on-topic" has got to be a real challenge - and is needed. I never posted to Meta but was worried about rep. Thanks for the nice ending note.
    – Mei
    Dec 20, 2011 at 16:06
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    @David Votes on meta don't add/subtract from rep on purpose. Voting here is agree/disagree as opposed to useful+correct/wrong on main. If you ever want more clarification than a meta post brings (or if you even want to discuss something like this that is off-topic on main) come to Server Fault Chat. There are dozens of regulars and we discuss this kind of thing (and plenty of other off-topic stuff) throughout the day.
    – MDMarra
    Dec 20, 2011 at 16:09
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This is a question for the FreeBSD project and/or the FreeBSD Foundation, or alternatively your company's attorney.

A software license is a legal document, a contract to which you agree by using the software. The contract has changed, and if you want to know what that means for you you need legal advice. I am not a lawyer, and to my knowledge none of the regulars on ServerFault have been admitted to the bar in their various localities, so this isn't really something we're qualified to help you with.

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    I ain't pass the bar, but I know a little bit...
    – MDMarra
    Dec 20, 2011 at 15:24
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    I'm sorry I thought you was corn
    – voretaq7
    Dec 20, 2011 at 15:27
  • This question is not about a license, but about a software installation.
    – Mei
    Dec 20, 2011 at 16:02
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    @david Quoting the only QUESTION part of your question in its entirety: "Now that the Operating System Distributor License for Java is being retired and Ubuntu Linux is pulling Java from all repositories, what does it mean for Diablo from FreeBSD?" -- This is entirely a license/legal question, which IMHO is not appropriate for ServerFault.
    – voretaq7
    Dec 20, 2011 at 16:13
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The question was very clearly about the impact of a licensing change, so it most definitely is a licensing question. It's also highly subjective and inappropriate for a Q&A forum such as SF. It's also an open-ended topic which can have no real answer. How many more reasons do you need?

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