The Eclipse Foundation is making a bold move to challenge Oracle Java with the introduction of an online marketplace designed to give developers access to Java binaries from a variety of sources. The new platform, called the Adoptium Marketplace, is being developed in collaboration with the Eclipse Foundation’s Adoptium Working Group. This marketplace will offer Java SE Technology Compatibility Kit (TCK) certified binaries, as well as Eclipse AQAvit (Adoptium Quality Assurance) Java binaries, all based on OpenJDK. While the TCK ensures compatibility with the Java platform, the AQAvit certification adds a layer of testing for performance and scalability, ensuring higher quality and reliability.
The marketplace will be home to builds from several prominent organizations in the Java ecosystem, each offering their own distribution of OpenJDK. These include Eclipse with its Temurin runtime, Microsoft with the Microsoft Build of OpenJDK, IBM offering the Semeru Runtime Certified Edition, Huawei with Bi Sheng, and Alibaba Cloud with Dragonwell. Red Hat’s build of OpenJDK and Azul’s Zulu Builds of OpenJDK will also be available. However, it’s worth noting that Microsoft and Alibaba Cloud’s builds won’t be available until July. This diverse range of options promises to give developers a broad selection of trusted, tested Java binaries to choose from, potentially making Java development more flexible and accessible.
While the Eclipse Foundation’s initiative is a significant step in the Java ecosystem, not everyone is on board. Notably, Oracle, which has historically been the steward of Java development and provides the leading Java distribution, has opted not to participate in the Adoptium Marketplace. Despite being a member of the Eclipse Foundation, Oracle has declined the invitation to join the new platform. Eclipse Executive Director Mike Milinkovich emphasized that Oracle is still welcome to participate, but for now, it has chosen not to. This decision comes at a time when Oracle’s dominance in the Java market is being challenged—according to a recent study by application monitoring company New Relic, Oracle’s share of the Java market has significantly dropped from 75% in 2020 to just 34.48% this year.
The rise of the Adoptium Marketplace signals a shift in the Java landscape, offering more choices for developers while putting pressure on Oracle to adapt. With several major companies joining the platform, the marketplace could serve as a powerful alternative to Oracle’s offerings, providing Java users with more competitive options. For Java developers, this could be the start of a new era in which they can take advantage of a wider variety of Java builds, all tested for compatibility, performance, and scalability, but without being tied to one dominant vendor.