Oracle Java 7 has a list of certified platform http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/config-417990.html#os popular server Operating systems such as debian and ubuntu are not certified.
I have downloaded the jdk-7u3-linux-x64.tar.gz and it seems to run on Ubuntu should I be concerned about running Oracle Java 7 on a non certified Oracle platform for production? Is this certified platforms list just a marketing thing or is some technical reason why Oracle Java 7 would run differently on Redhat vs. Ubuntu?
While you may not see a difference between, say, Ubuntu and RHEL when running a JVM, you would probably receive far different reactions if you encounter an issue and request support from Oracle:
Using a certified OS increases the possibility of a quick fix. Not only is it easier for the support staff since they have to be familiar with and test on far fewer platforms, but they are also bound to produce a quicker fix due to marketing reasons and possibly due to various contractual obligations.
On the other hand, you are far more likely to receive a “sorry, can’t reproduce it on our system” reply if you are using an unsupported distribution.
I would not expect the JRE to run differently on an unsupported system – at least not for long. Any fixes usually find their way to the more generic packages pretty quickly.
That said, I have encountered other applications (e.g. IBM PurifyPlus) that were so tied to specific versions of the supported platforms that they were not usable even on updated versions of a supported platform (e.g. SLES 10 vs 10SP1). And by tied I mean major functionality issues, not a silly version check. Apparently in some cases there are technical reasons, arguably due to a badly designed application, for using a supported platform.