Can I distribute Azul Zulu JVM with my open-source tool?

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We have an open source tool that we want to deliver to users with a specific JRE version. As Oracle is so unclear and closed with licensing (even with newest jlink possibilities), and unofficial openjdk builds are so hard to "follow", we think that Zulu can be the right alternative here. Thus the only worry I have:

Can I freely redistribute this JVM in my distributions? It's nothing more than having a /jre directory in my distribution and making start-up scrips going for provided JVM instead of the system default.

The Zulu Terms of Use are not 100% clear here:

You also represent and warrant that you do not intend to distribute the software in a manner that is not compliant with relevant export control laws or regulations administered by the U.S. Commerce Department, OFAC, or any other government agency.

3 Answers

The answer is probably. This is one of those areas where nothing and no one can substitute for actual legal advice. At a guess, you may need no more than an hour or two from a lawyer specializing in software copyright issues. The lawyer's office itself can (will) provide an estimate.

Please take note that I'm not a lawyer.

Hotspot and most of the JVM code (mostly C/C++ native code) in the OpenJDK is released under the GPL 2.0 with Assembly Exception and not a "bare" GPL. This is in addition to the Classpath exception to the GPL that applies mostly to the runtime library code.

I would assume any OpenJDK is safe to redistribute with your application. Please do correct me if I'm wrong.

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