Oracle might not even have to lift a hand, nature will kill Java EE for them. By nature, I mean the numerous thriving communities that keep at improving the developer experience. Developer experience is all that matters now, and Java EE has nothing to offer there.
Java EE was born out of a playbook for big vendors, in a day and age when vendor push was the norm. Java EE was never about developers, it was always about vendors. Once alternative playbooks focusing on developer experience started to thrive, that’s when Java EE started its slow and steady descent into irrelevance. And there is no stopping that trend. Everybody knows this. Oracle is simply acknowledging this fact then trying to figure out how it can remain relevant in the longer run.
Companies large and small have all come to realise that what used to be called enterprise software needs to be rethought and retooled. The most promising programming models favour an approach that gets rid of large initiatives and management units, in favour of ever smaller and more nimble concepts. These are totally antagonistic to what Java EE stands for. Furthermore, the enterprise push model has had its time and the world has moved on from that. Every large vendor is having to rewrite its business model and rethink its technology.
Java EE has perhaps joined the ranks of mainframe technology, it will survive for a long time in one form or another, but will no longer be exciting. Effectively, Java EE is out of date, its future lies in the past (if that makes sense). It has run its course and has fared well. It’s time to leave it alone and move on.
A selected quote from the article:
Oracle’s silence about Java EE has brought developer community distrust to a fever pitch.
Source: How Oracle’s business as usual is threatening to kill Java | Ars Technica