Opera Sold
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nerv2 last edited by
Opera was 'sold' in 2010 right after Google's Mechs takeover in AD 2009. Boo!
"God's in his Heaven/All's right with the world!" :rip:
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A Former User last edited by
Been with Opera for many years (late 90's) and was sorry to see the switch from Presto to Blink and of course the departure of its founder AND the loss of the "My Opera" blogs and forum. I noticed in the news that following the acquisition of key parts of the company, several tier-one engineers submitted their resignations. One has to wonder if they know something we users do not but only time will tell. Under Chinese ownership the question of surveillance and possible financial hacking is one that would make me hesitant to use the browser for any shopping or banking. Maybe my tinfoil hat is a little tight but I simply do not trust the Chinese to that extent. I'm so saddened to see Opera following this course and suppose that the only real alternative now is Vivaldi. Any thoughts?
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A Former User last edited by
Thoughts on an alternative?
Yes, I have a thought.
It's an incentive to start caring about human rights in China. :sherlock: -
leocg Moderator Volunteer last edited by
the loss of the "My Opera" blogs and forum
'My Opera' was nice but turned into something that didn't worth the efforts and costs to keep it running.
I noticed in the news that following the acquisition of key parts of the company, several tier-one engineers submitted their resignations
It's not something that uncommon to happen when a company is acquired. Usually there are some restructuring and some people may use it as a stepping stone to try something new.
Under Chinese ownership the question of surveillance and possible financial hacking is one that would make me hesitant to use the browser for any shopping or banking.
Well, your computer probably has many of its parts made in China. Who knows if they aren't already getting some data from you?
Although the owners are now Chinese, Opera is still a Norwegian company and therefore needs to follow Norwegian laws.
Any thoughts?
On what?
suppose that the only real alternative now is Vivaldi.
I see Vivaldi somehow as a college project for some nostalgic people. I'm not really sure if it is something for the newer and future generations.
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A Former User last edited by
Thanks for responding, Leo. When I asked for feedback (i.e. any thoughts) I was just asking for general comments on what I had said (i.e. security of Opera under Chinese ownership, viability of the new Vivaldi browser and so forth). I'm not trying to persuade people of anything since I'm confused myself. For instance, while it's true that Opera is still bound by Norwegian laws, that doesn't necessarily mean that the software will therefore remain unscathed. It's a matter of trust that I'm wrestling with - that is, can I trust the new Chinese ownership? When we see the Chinese incursions into international waters it's a reminder that China does as China wants, period. They're not bound by laws that they see interfering with their own best interests. I would have more "faith" in an Icelandic company like Vivaldi than a Chinese company based upon its past actions. Honestly, I don't know what to make of it all and therefore until I can get a handle on it, Opera remains "off" of my computer.
As for Vivaldi, I agree with you that it appears to be going in a reverse, nostalgic direction that immediately earmarks it for a very small segment of users (i.e. so-called power users and/or geeks who love to tinker incessantly with their browsers). What it does have for me is Icelandic "purity" of sorts and that is an attraction. Will I make it my default browser? Probably not since I don't want a 90's style browser suite.
Lastly, whereas the My Opera blogs/forums were costly they were also desirable in keeping a community within the Opera sphere. This forum is nothing at all like it and a simple look at the few dozen posts per day would confirm that. Over at Vivaldi they are making attempts at re-creating the My Opera feature and it's attracting users. Opera really should take a longer look at re-introducing such a feature here. Currently their numbers are not very encouraging and as Edge becomes more popular I can foresee a time when Opera will simply cease to exist in the browser market unless they do something more radical to attract and not just retain users.
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leocg Moderator Volunteer last edited by
Lastly, whereas the My Opera blogs/forums were costly they were also desirable in keeping a community within the Opera sphere
Well, social networks are there for it.
My Opera was basically Opera's blogs and forums and we still have them nowadays.
Over at Vivaldi they are making attempts at re-creating the My Opera feature and it's attracting users
Most probably the same nostalgic people that the browser attracts.
Opera really should take a longer look at re-introducing such a feature here
My Opera was a very good idea/concept when it started. Back on that time, social networks didn't have the same coverage as of today and the idea of having an community made sense.
Now I don't think it makes sense to have something like this.
Currently their numbers are not very encouraging
What and whose numbers?
as Edge becomes more popular I can foresee a time when Opera will simply cease to exist in the browser market unless they do something more radical to attract and not just retain users.
And why do you think like this?
that is, can I trust the new Chinese ownership?
What made you trust the previous ownership?
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A Former User last edited by
I'm not sure how to answer any of your questions without misrepresenting myself or casting myself in a bad light so I think I'll just leave them unanswered.
However, I'd like to ask you a question: do you use the Opera browser to make online purchases and other financial transactions?
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leocg Moderator Volunteer last edited by
However, I'd like to ask you a question: do you use the Opera browser to make online purchases and other financial transactions?
For sure. Opera has been my default browser for a long time and I use it for everything on the web.
I'm not sure how to answer any of your questions without misrepresenting myself or casting myself in a bad light so I think I'll just leave them unanswered.
I thought they were simple questions.
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A Former User last edited by
The questions were simple but the answers more difficult to frame. You're a clever one, Leo. <wry grin>
Thanks for answering my question. Perhaps it's time for me to remove my tinfoil hat. Who can say?
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leocg Moderator Volunteer last edited by
The questions were simple but the answers more difficult to frame.
Interesting.
I thought answers should be easy to be given.You're a clever one, Leo.
I am? Why?
Perhaps it's time for me to remove my tinfoil hat. Who can say?
I guess maybe only you can say that.
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A Former User last edited by
Leo, have you read this report: http://www.ghacks.net/2016/11/19/key-opera-software-employees-quit/
Here is an excerpt from it:
by Martin Brinkmann on November 19, 2016 in Opera - Last Update:November 19, 2016 53
If you are following members of Opera Software's Developer Relations team on Twitter or elsewhere, you may have noticed that most announced that they left the company recently or are about to leave it.Bruce Lawson, Andreas Bovens, Shwetank Dixit and Vadim Makeev all announced in the past couple of days that they have parted ways with Opera Software or are about to.
In fact, the only DevReal member left standing is Mathias Bynens who joined Opera Software in January 2014.
Bruce Lawson was Opera Software's Deputy Chief Technology Officer and worked at the company since 2008.
Andreas Bovens was Opera Software's Android Product Manager and Dev Relations Lead. He worked at the company since 2007.
Shwetank Dixit was Opera Software's Extensions Program Manager and Web Evangelist. He worked at Opera since 2007.
Vadim Makeev worked as a Web Evangelist at Opera Software since 2009.Are there any indicators why the team left? Three of the four posted the information on Twitter. They did not reveal why they are leaving or left Opera Software, only that they did and that they are looking for new job opportunities.
This, and the fact that they have all quit at around the same time, suggests that the decisions have been recent and not planned for a long time.
There was one major change recently, the acquisition of Opera Software's browser and Opera Max by a Chinese consortium.
Bruce Lawson more of less confirms that the acquisition has something to do with him leaving the company in a blog post on his personal blog.
After Opera’s consumer products (browsers and Opera Max) were taken over by a Chinese consortium on 4 November, Opera and I are parting ways by mutual agreement. I’m no longer a representative or spokesman for Opera products, or the Opera brand.
It seems likely that the other team members of Opera's DevRel team based their decision on that as well but this has not been confirmed by the team members leaving or by Opera Software.
All quitting team members are looking for new jobs. All four are highly experienced with lots of expertise and knowledge. While there should be plenty of opportunities for each of them, it would not be much of a surprise if they ended up working for another "web browser" producing company.
(You can read the entire report at the link above)
For all of these engineers to quit at the same time suggests there is something wrong. Until we know exactly why all of them would quit, it seems prudent (at least to me) to hold back on adopting Opera as my default browser. I need to know more.
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leocg Moderator Volunteer last edited by
have you read this report
I remember have taken a look on the article a while ago.
Although it may be kinda sad that they had to leave at the same time, it's something that may happen when there is an acquisition either because of changes or because of disagreements.
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A Former User last edited by
If you take a look at Bruce Lawson's blog you'll see that he suggested that disagreements rather than changes were at the heart of it. And it's the "disagreements" that I continue to wonder about. This was an entire team that walked so it has to give you pause to wonder - why? And all of them are looking for work so it's not as though they simply decided to go into retirement or try something else. Of course they're under a non-disclosure policy so for the time being we won't know the real reasons for their departure. Lawson was a great Opera advocate and one who frequently entered the forums to explain Opera's directions. If you use a search engine you'll see him quite recently giving a talk about Opera and how he became involved with the company (via his MS disease). I miss good men like this.
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A Former User last edited by
Thanks for reminding me... yes, I do. A nice tribute to him here:
http://www.opera.com/blogs/news/2016/07/in-memory-opera-pioneer-per-hedbor/
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A Former User last edited by
I think I'm asking the impossible of you, Leo. It's not up to you to have to convince me of anything and yet it seems to me that this is precisely what I'm doing (i.e. convince me that the new ownership will not allow spyware to be inserted into the coding). There is no way you can give me this assurance nor is it even fair of me to ask it of you. I've probably spent too much time on this issue and wasted yours when you could be helping others. I've made a decision to remain on the sidelines and watch from a distance. We'll see how things iron out before I decide to give up completely or jump in with both feet. Thanks for the discussion.
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mbaluta last edited by
I don't get it how Opera could become a spyware? Anyone can see, what is being sent over network from his/her computer, so someone would certainly notice if Opera collected any bank details or whatever you are afraid of.
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blackbird71 last edited byI don't get it how Opera could become a spyware? Anyone can see, what is being sent over network from his/her computer, so someone would certainly notice if Opera collected any bank details or whatever you are afraid of.
I would think the greater privacy risk is what might be exploited from the data sent over Opera's Sync or VPN servers, especially the latter since VPNs are often used specifically to avoid surveillance or censorship. Moreover, in a world where computers are under potential attack from nation-state hackers, the integrity of those making 'ordinary' software that's being downloaded and auto-updated on user systems can be critically important because the user trusts each iteration of the software to be free of deliberately-planted spying exploits.
I note this not to reinforce doubts about Opera under its new owners, but to highlight where user concerns may be 'coming from'. At this point, I'm still counting on the integrity of Opera developers and others 'in the know' to raise red flags in whatever venue should the day ever come when/if user trust in the Opera browser should be reconsidered.
