FYI
Welcome to licensing hell. @markus, thank you for the heads up.
Thanks Markus, thatās a really helpful link.
Looking at this, it really does make me wonder whether FileMaker is still suitable for the ānon-techieā customer where traditionally theyāve targeted their marketing.
Iām still not sure they really know who their customers actually are. I personally believe FileMaker is gaining in credibility due to the last 2 versions, with most of the enhancements aimed at higher level programming rather than the traditional āformā, ālistā use. Personally Iām all for this, but if it is to become a proper āplatformā they do need to get their licensing sorted out, which has changed with every release since v15.
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You can relax. Just use the free Java JDK implementation Corretto by Amazon. It's a free, supported, and updated version of the openjdk.
I am using Corrretto version 11 for production work now and Corretto version 8 for anything related to FMP/S.
Oracle has tried these pricing shenanigans before but they never work due to open source forks (Oracle's failed attempts to monetize what was free (and still is...): OpenOffice and MySQL).
Yesā¦
either all this stuff (Java, SSL) is a factor - or not. If it is a factor, then it must be āKodakā for the user (āYou push the button, we do the restā - an old adā from Kodak)
IMHO
btw. Also licensing kind of annoying - at least for existing customers
There is no licensing for the openjdk. Just install it and use it. (Same for Corretto).
FMIās decision to not bundle Java and expect you, yet again, to jump through 2 ^ N hoops isnāt Javaās faultā¦ 
oops - sorry, I meant the filemaker licensing, not openjdk
Got to agree with you there. 
Tinfoil hats notwithstanding, I would tend to lean toward the openJDK vs. Corretto since I am never sure what Amazon might do (or be told to do) with some software I install on my system.
Itās also not FileMakerās fault that Oracle decided to change the licensing for Java.
Long term, I imagine they will work their way back to having the installer handle it. Right now, consumers have a decision to make. And FileMaker, Inc. has a bunch of legal and technical things to work out. Once they have that worked outā¦then they have a lot of testing to do. Itās really not that simple of a process.
Yes - but thatās what Andy meantā¦
So you concluded that we agree. Excellent work!! lol
no, at least not in global
- I know that it is not easy
- I believe/hope that FMI comes with an interface that helps more
It is the part of āworkspace innovationā that does not match - it is way too complicated for Joe Doe - users
If customers are small, it is too complicated. If customers are ābiggerā and have an IT department, that IT will mostly be not-so filemaker friendlyā¦
(-:
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Josh, canāt you walk down the hall at FMI and ask them to do things? lol
Good points!
Well, itās a big change. Asking them to do things faster than their QA process reminds me of this:
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For what FMS costs, I would have expected them to cut a deal with Oracle and make Java seamless, and thus not expect users to do complex installs. I just donāt see that expectation, over and over as with FMI, in other products. I can give lots of other examples of this expectation Iāve noticed with FMP.
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I can also give you lots of examples where FMI is already doing a lot for you. But I donāt think you want that discussion hereā¦do you? At least for now, itās the decision. We have already worked through it. Itās not that bad.
Of the tools I use. FileMaker is not the cheapest, it is also not the most expensive. Yes there are many free tools available, but they typically donāt do everything a developer needs. I donāt really have any interest in having a stack of tools and technology that is a dozen disparate pieces that you try and kludge together. We both know, your experience and perception of it is not the same for everyone. And having worked on this myself, we need to be careful not to place ourselves in an echo chamberā¦where everyone around us agrees with us. That puts us in a difficult position to objectively and logically work out scenarios like this.
FileMaker has a process. If we learn to work inside the bounds of that, we can be very successful. And at the same time, not be ignorant to the fact that, yes, there are so many tools out there. Itās important to weigh all of the pros and cons, and determine which characteristics have the most value to āyouā and "your " clients. I would expect to see over the next couple years, a shifting of gears. But we will just have to see what happens. The QA process simply isnāt going to change. That requires time. In the meantime, they have pointed us in a direction until there is a more permanent solution. For that, kudos to them.
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LOL.
No one here said that is is FMIās fault. Oracle and FMI are different entities as we know. FMI has to grapple with the change and itās efforts to mitigate the impact on their own customers is highly appreciated.
It was implied more than once.