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- Hacker News
- Wasn't Java once a "write once, run everywhere"? Not that this affects me personally (I use Linux primarily; and have a Win10 machine for testing on my left hand side here), but it seems strange that Oracle supports fewer operating systems rather than more. Perhaps Oracle aims for a windows11-only Java version ... where everyone must verify his or her age.by shevy-java
- "a Win10 machine for testing on my left hand side here..."
Well, the Latin word for "left" is "sinister", so that tracks.
by bananamogul - Write once, run everywhere refers to the target bytecode running on a compliant JVM. Since apple itself has mentioned to officially drop intel support, OpenJDK maintainers have no reason to continue support on a deprecated hardware. That said, if there is any enterprise/ community that requires a port for intel macs then, they can maintain it. link to become a maintainer: https://openjdk.org/projects/by k_dev
- It is open source, anyone is free to send patches, given that OpenJDK is like Linux distros.by pjmlp
- It's only Java on macOS for x64 that gets dropped. Java on Apple's M-type CPUs will still be alive and kicking.by iSnow
- Apple no longer supports this platform. There is no reason to target it for new releases. Java is not abandoning MacOS.by avalys
- [stub for offtopicness]
[Submitted title was "As of JDK 27, Oracle engineers will thus stop maintaining the macOS/x64 port", which is a quote from the article, but was a bit confusing in the title]
by dang - Ten minutes later, I'm still trying to figure out the role of "thus" in this headline.by bananamogul
- People said AI was going to replace all programmers, yet AI can't even maintain a x64 macOS port of Java.by qphe95
- LLM code isn't allowed in OpenJdk.by vips7L
- Guess it's time to upgrade from my 2014 MBPby Quitschquat
- You did well to skip the 2015-2020 era (butterfly keyboards, touchbar).
With that said anything M1 or newer is going to be a delightful upgrade for you. An enormous jump in performance, battery life, and thermal performance.
by syncsynchalt - I was very confused at first when I read the headline because my brain skipped the x64 and I thought "Wait! No more Java for macOS?".
- seems very reasonable to meby spullara
- > WARNING: The macOS/x64 port is deprecated and may be removed in a future release.
OK, seems reasonable. Next sentence:
> There will be no guarantee that the port will build, much less function.
This... Is something quite different? This isn't what I think "deprecation" means. The message should say "no longer maintained" if that's what they mean. And it should include the "not guaranteed to build, much less function" part.
by derdi - If you have Apple Intel hardware, I strongly strongly strongly recommend you migrate to Linux. It works amazingly on MacOS, except I guess the sound drivers aren't perfect. Too many security holes in old, unpatched software.by mikhael28
- At this point it would be better to migrate to a new MacBook. There has been a lot performance and efficiency improvements with M1+.by charcircuit
- I second that. I wouldn’t buy an Intel Mac specifically to run Linux, but my T2 Mac Minis work well for me on Linux. I did have to copy some Broadcom firmware from macOS, and I keep a small macOS installation in order to access recovery mode settings.
- Totally makes sense, macOS Golden Gate will no longer run x64 apps.by lekevicius
- This keeps getting posted and is not true. Rosetta is still present and working. It throws a deprecation warning notice but otherwise runs fine.
It's macOS 28 that will no longer run x86_64 apps, although games are exempt. Rosetta is basically going game only at that point. They haven't announced how long it will keep working in this capacity.
by jherskovic - I guess I'm the only one who is still on x64. I don't like I'm pushed to migrate only because the software wants that, otherwise the hardware works with no problem.by splix
- My mid 2012 air had trouble with os x about 10 years ago. I moved to nixos and haven't had any issues since.by exe34
- Can you run Linux?
- Java 25 is an LTS, I guess you can use that for a couple of years still. But at some point of time, macOS will be too old and all kinds of software will no longer install.by iSnow
- > I don't like I'm pushed to migrate only because the software wants that, otherwise the hardware works with no problem.
This is one of the problems with the switch from shrink-wrap software to always-upgrading software. Customers feel like they bought a thing so it should work forever but what they are really asking is that new software be continually written for the hardware they bought years ago.
If you want to run your old hardware with your old software forever, you can. But of course in a connected world where a million malicious parties are trying to take over your system, this is probably a bad decision, and that’s where the tension arises.
by dpark - > the hardware works with no problem
In the same way that PowerPC and m68k hardware still works, sure. Apple silicon is so performant that (much like those previous two hardware jumps) it's not worth maintaining support for the old arch at this point.
by syncsynchalt - That's just how things go. But, existing Oracle JDK versions will continue to work, and openjdk might continue to support osx/amd64 as a target.. so I wouldn't worry too much about this.by ktm5j
- The writing has been on the wall for the last 7 years and the LTS of JDK 25 goes until 2030, 11 years from the point Apple announced their intentions. Java for Mac apps or native Java backend development has always been niche as well. For Java development for Linux hosting, you still have a path forwards beyond 2030 with virtualization. How's your SPARC dev machine holding up?by evilduck
- "Does the hardware physically work" isn't ever really the question under consideration, though, for better or worse. For Macs specifically, it is going to get increasingly difficult to even test things in the coming years. Mac x86 builds are by far the flakiest on GitHub in my experience, there's no expanding capacity, only refurbished machines 6 years out, and the number of users is dwindling, not to mention the enormous performance gap. So what do you do? When we last asked about it in a project I work on a few users expressed interest, so we kept it, but that isn't forever. The JDK as a project probably has a different risk profile than most other projects too so the cost of keeping around that code can be relatively high.
Not saying it is always good, in fact I would say there is rarely a "good" happy outcome in these cases, just trying to give the alternative perspective when you have to make these calls.
by aseipp - That sounds reasonable, Intel Macs aren't much used anymore.