Slashdot Mirror
Opera Embedding BitTorrent Client
Opera Watch writes "The next version of Opera, 8.02, will have an embedded BitTorrent client. Opera has released today a Technical Preview of this new version on its FTP directory, though they have made no official announcement as of yet."
I predict a swarm of FireFox BT plug-ins within the next two weeks.
The real problem with this move is that even though they have a sort of "first mover" advantage, Opera is at the mercy of the Firefox/Mozilla developers with regards to this feature. Some enterprising Open Source developer will be able to incorporate BitTorrent into the Firefox browser without much trouble, and then Opera, the only significant for-pay browser left, will turn back into an also-ran.
The key for Opera is to get into niches where they stand a chance, handheld computers and cellphones are one area they are very active in. Per-unit licensing for their browser on cellphones makes them a lot of money. I hope they do well into the future.
Jesus saved me from my past. He can save you as well.
Actually, that's not a bad idea. One of the few Firefox 'features' that really annoys me is that each update requires a full download of the installer package. Opera could quietly download its updates through bittorrents (at severely choked rates!) and the present the update to the end user when complete.
What's that smell? Ah, that's my karma burning...
...that bittorrent the technology is not going away. In fact, it is a vastly superior method that should replace HTTP/FTP for most file downloads. There should be no more need to find mirrors, simply run it and let the program decide which sources are the faster. An integrated client will introduce a lot more people to it. Now, if they get consistantly better download performance perhaps you'll even see popular demand :)
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
Is "Opera vs FireFox" the new "vi vs emacs" ?
Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
I dont' see why anyone would use a download service that's not bittorrent anymore. Users benefit from faster downloads and content providers have to pay for less bandwidth. It's a win win situation (unless you break it like Blizzard).
"A truly wise man realizes he knows nothing."
Are you serious? User's benefit from faster downloads in a P2P environment, but it's still nowhere near as fast as a direct download from a fat pipe (at least in my experience).
Especially considering that bittorrent downloads normally take a while to get up to steam.
If I had created the world I wouldn't have messed about with butterflies and daffodils. I would have started with lasers
"...why didn't some bright OSS developer have the idea for such a feature sooner?"
Because it's a fix in search of a problem. When I click on a torrent in IE, Netscape, or Firefox my client opens up and starts downloading. How would this be better? Now if I were an Opera user I would be loading up a BT client whenever I use my browser even though I rarely use it.
Hey, have the Opera guys been hanging around with the MS Office guys?
You never really know how close to the edge you can go until you fall off.
BitTorrent is no different than HTTP or FTP. It's Just a Protocol.
;)
You can't "steal" movies or music (or anything, for that matter) with BitTorrent, either, since that implies that downloading is theft. Theft leaves the original owner lacking in the item you 'stole'.
Either way, this is an interesting move from Opera. Now it's only a matter of time before Microsoft will announce that they are embedding BitTorrent into Longhorn. Like all those other goodies they are planning
This slashdot-related signature is a stub. You can help kihjin by expanding it.
I don't know about you, but when I click a link to a .torrent file, it pops up btdownloadgui... how is this any better?
Those who fail to understand communication protocols, are doomed to repeat them over port 80.
Another precedent being set for the LEGAL use of BitTorrent.
I don't know the meaning of the word 'don't' - J
Out of curiosity, why? Whenever I click on a torrent link, Firefox opens a BT client window in much the same way that clicking on an FTP link opens an FTP client window. What's the inherent advantage of an integrated client?
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
No, thank God - at least not on Unix. The last thing you want is $random_app being able to request that your firewall open ports. While it'd be convenient, the security implications far outweigh the possible benefits.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
Most standalone consumer-grade routers have UPnP support built-in, although you may have to turn it on through the router's setup page first. I'm assuming you're using a Linux/BSD computer as your router, so you may want to look at the links on the open-source UPnP SDK project site for pointers about plugging it into your existing setup.
Note that UPnP's port forwarding features are a potential security risk if you're using NAT as a "firewall" (yes, I've heard it referred to as such) to block out all incoming traffic, since malicious apps can now forward arbitrary ports without your intervention. Granted, IMO it's not a big security risk, since you've probably got bigger problems than forwarded ports if you're running malicious code on your computer.