The Specify Collections Consortium is delighted to announce Specify 6.7.02, an update to the Specify 6 collection data management platform.
The release significantly updates the Specify database schema, addresses numerous bugs, and adds several capabilities requested by Consortium Member Institutions.
With this release we strongly recommend that Specify Collections Consortium Members operating Specify 6 workstations change their installed Java (JRE) software package from Oracle Java SE 8, to Amazon Corretto 8. Oracle has changed its licensing policy for Java SE 8 as of January 31, 2019; it is no longer available for free for non-personal use. Specify 6 is compatible with the new Amazon Corretto implementation of the Java runtime environment. Amazon has committed to provide long-term support of Corretto including security patches at no cost. A guidance document is available on the Consortium web site about this change, and see the adjacent blog post. Specify users are encouraged to contact their institutional systems support office to determine if there is an organizational plan to respond to the change in Oracle’s Java licensing terms.
We recommend that Specify 6 Windows users install a 64-bit Specify version for better performance, if workstations are running a 64-bit version of Windows. Oracle Java 8 SE, or its replacement Corretto 8, must also be a 64-bit version to operate with 64-bit Specify. We have noticed that 32-bit versions of Specify 6 for Windows occasionally stutter on startup, but no other 32-bit specific bugs of Specify 6 are known.
See the Specify 6.7.02 Release Notes with details on all of the changes and improvements.
