PS4 will use Windows!? Shocked :-X
Some Oracle employees willingly keep unclear about the legal limitation in the use of OpenJDK on embedded devices. You can do whatever you want in desktop environments. This dictinction is probably inheritated from “bad” commercial practices consisting in asking for money for each installed VM on mobile phones… I’m sorry, I would prefer being more precise. It is not a bad joke, that’s why some of us (JogAmp) are still discussing about the opportunity of providing our own JRE. We need a Java-like royalty-free runtime environment that we can ship both in desktop and embedded (tablets, smartphones, consoles, PC sticks, GPS, TVs, …) environments (it was mainly Sven’s idea and I’m fed up with Android DVM). If Oracle clearly allowed such uses, we would simply use OpenJDK even under Android.
Unless there’s been some official clarification…I find all of the HotSpot legal issues unclear (including desktop).
I believe that the situation is mostly that the source is now free as a bird and there’s nothing Oracle or anyone else can do to stop you compiling it and changing it and using it anywhere you damn well please. However the Java trademark and all its various associations have much more specific terms attached to them.
What this means for us is: we are free to use OpenJDK in a private context. However, we are probably not allowed to use the trademarked term “Java” anywhere at all (suits me just fine and indeed is unlikely to have any positive effect in any case). And it pretty much prevents Google from using OpenJDK too in Android, as they’ll somewhere have to mention Java in their product datasheets and they’re just simply not licensed to do so.
Cas 
According to this, Mojang is working on a PS4 title. I guess they’re big enough to switch to a non-JVM dev environment, but it’s a little glimpse of hope.
Mojang don’t use Java any more - last I heard they’ve switched to Unity for 0x10c and the Android and iOS port is native code too I think.
Cas
If they used OpenJDK, they could simply use the OpenJDK name. Not very catchy, but certainly allowed under the OpenJDK trademark agreement. From there they could certainly mention Java as long as it wasn’t creating brand confusion. The other infringing angle would be trademark dilution, and I think Oracle’s lawyers would have a hard time pushing an argument for trademark dilution, considering OpenJDK is their own Java codebase.
None of that applies of course since Android is going to be Dalvik+Harmony for pretty much forever. It doesn’t really matter either – the Android name alone is strong enough to stand on its own.
I wouldn’t be surprised.
Yeah, you wouldn’t want to anyway
Most people will think that way, not a big deal.
I think Cas should try it, and we all watch if he gets sued 
I doubt it. Java on the PS4 will be good for Oracle, and probably even good for Sony.
Good for Oracle, sure, but not so for Sony.
Sony would already have their own custom libraries, frameworks and whatever to support game development. They don’t want to double the work and create 1 for Java as well. Then there will be other folks asking for other languages and it goes on.
I don’t see Oracle heavily invested in gaming either. Their sole purpose of Java is more aimed at business applications that they use.
Its definitely in Oracles interest to let Sony have access/licence to Java as Sony’s cloud stuff (Gaikai, etc) will require a lot of servers, something I’m sure Oracle will be more than happy to provide. However Sony are already heavily invested in C# (see Playstation Mobile) so not sure what extra benefit they’d get from Java.
Busy few days - just catching up on this thread.
The GPL clearly allows such uses, which covers the code copyright and (pretty much) any patent issues. You might not be able to use the TCK, or call it Java (and perhaps not OpenJDK either looking at the trademark notice). Other than that, what other limitations are you worried about?
There, corrected that for you! 
Actually I’d say that’s uncorrected. In a private context both GPL and other Oracle legal docs support anything goes. GPL taint applies to any distribution…other Oracle docs are…unclear and explicitly state to contact them (I haven’t reviewed any of this in the past couple of years and would love to hear…and be pointed to supported documentation that states otherwise).
So if it would be technically possible and legally possible…
What would it cost to publish a game on PSN ?
From what I understand these license fees to be able to publish a game are (current gen) really high, unlike android & ios. But if PS4 wants to be more open - what would be a realistic figure ?
If you could actually publish games on PS4 as a poor indie dev, just by using lwjgl / libgdx and stuff, would be literally the best thing since sliced bread.
I’m not talking about Oracle docs, I’m talking about the GPL itself. The GPL license allows you to use it in any context, as long as you comply with its terms - ie. releasing source modifications to OpenJDK itself, etc. The linking exception ensures you can use it in an open-source or commercial context without releasing other code. I’d like to see anything that refutes that. Oracle can’t assert field-of-use requirements on the code, even if they wanted to, unless they went for the nuclear option of destroying the GPL!
And don’t use weasel words like “taint”, particularly in this context, and with the linking exception. Without it we might not be able to do all this! 
Riddle me this then - why did Google not use OpenJDK as the basis for the Android JVM?
Cas
OpenJDK didn’t exist at the time.
I’ve said the same thing on here multiple times! Android development did predate OpenJDK mind you, and I guess they also have more control (eg. Honeycomb source code not being released).
Ah, riddle solved then.
Cas
Would openjdk be better?
Also, if so, how to deploy apps using it through the app store?
Not many people are going to use openjdk apps if they have to root first.