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Opera Free as in Beer

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the well-isn't-that-special dept.

nekura writes "Just last month, Opera was celebrating their 10 year anniversary by giving away free registration codes; now they've trumped that by offering Opera for free. Quoth their site, 'Opera has removed the banners, found within our browser, and the licensing fee. Opera's growth, due to tremendous worldwide customer support, has made todays milestone an achievable goal. Premium support is available.' Anyone who was on the verge of switching before now has virtually no reason not to."

6 of 937 comments (clear)

  1. No reason? I think not. by rockclimber · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Anyone who was on the verge of switching before now have virtually no reason not to.

    Except those who want free as in speech.

    1. Re:No reason? I think not. by poptones · · Score: 5, Insightful

      What are you talking about? The fact you HAD the source code to the firefox browser allowed you to solve the problem within your company with no dependance upon anyone else. Whether or not the Firefox developers moved your patch into the distribution, you still had the problem solved within your infrastructure because you were able to patch Firefox yourself.

      Open source does not mean the project leaders will solve every problem for the asking. Open source means you have the freedom and the information required to solve the problem yourself.

    2. Re:No reason? I think not. by TheRealMindChild · · Score: 5, Insightful

      What if this on a website that clients use? It is a lot easier to say "Use the latest browers" than "If you want to use firefox, you have to use this custom built version I made so it would be compatible"?

      --

      "When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
    3. Re:No reason? I think not. by Bogtha · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Whether or not the Firefox developers moved your patch into the distribution, you still had the problem solved within your infrastructure because you were able to patch Firefox yourself.

      That's a distinctly sub-optimal solution. What happens when the next version of Firefox is released? Is he supposed to make the changes to the new version too? And after that? Is he supposed to maintain a separate fork for as long as he needs this feature?

      Open source does not mean the project leaders will solve every problem for the asking.

      No, but there's at least a reasonable expectation that they'll apply a patch that adds a missing feature.

      --
      Bogtha Bogtha Bogtha
    4. Re:No reason? I think not. by Jugalator · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Open source means you have the freedom and the information required to solve the problem yourself.

      If you're a developer with deep insight in the Mozilla codebase.

      --
      Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
  2. Re:Next Step by MosesJones · · Score: 5, Insightful


    How about "Never"... Opera actually make a PROFIT out of their browser business.. which is certainly better than "survival". Their main profit comes from their device platform but some people are indeed willing to pay for a better quality browser.

    Opera is much better, and quicker, to use than either of the other popular browsers out there, and some organisations will continue to pay for Opera based on that responsiveness and security. More often people will pay for the mobile browser however. If there is common code between the two then Opera would be releasing the crown jewels for free and would cease to be a VIABLE company.

    Open Source is NOT always the only answer, some people have to make a living.

    --
    An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi