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Update: Opera Browser for Linux

Posted by Roblimo on from the can't-come-soon-enough-for-me dept.

S7 writes "Opera Software has indicated that it is currently diversifying its browser to accomodate a wider flavour of Linux distributions, not just RedHat and its derivatives. Hope they finish soon!" Yeah, I know Mozilla is going to have wonderful features like instant messenger and changeable themes and I don't know what-all else if and when it ever gets end user-usable, but Opera is a plenty good enough browser for the likes of me; it's fast, compact, simple, and reliable, all of which are software qualities I admire immensely. In fact, the only two things I really miss from Windows are Opera and NoteTab, which is IMO the worlds's finest text processing tool for online journalists. Now that Opera's on its way to Linux, all I need is a Linux version of NoteTab or something like it and I'll be in PC heaven!

2 of 170 comments (clear)

  1. Why I can't support Opera by Trick · · Score: 4

    While I'm sure Opera is a great browser, it seems to me their marketing philosophy is about as incompatible with free software's as you can get.

    From their own literature: "Nothing is really 'free'. It is merely subsidized by other products. It is done in the interest of market share and domination, but not necessarily in the interest of the user. "

    They further claim that the only reason software is given away free is to "tie in" users to buying software later. To those of us backing free software, this is obviously a gross overgeneralization at best, and complete ignorance of what we stand for at worst.

    The following bothers me even more: "And besides, you may get something 'free', but then it's mostly 'cheap' and of inferior quality. 'Free' and Opera don't go together - and never will."

    If this is really what they believe, they need to do a little research before they even think about pushing their way into the Linux market.

    ---
    Consult, v. t. To seek another's approval of a course already decided on.

    1. Re:Why I can't support Opera by Trick · · Score: 4

      No, I don't believe absolutely everything that runs on Linux needs to be free -- actually, in either sense of the word. It'd be nice, yes, but I'm willing to admit that a lot of good software that isn't one or both types of "free" might still be good to see on Linux.

      My problem with the Opera people is that they seem to think anything free is shoddy, and the fact that their software isn't free is some kind of incentive to use it. It just sort of flies in the face of everything that created the OS they've decided to port their browser to.

      ---
      Consult, v. t. To seek another's approval of a course already decided on.