Why Opera is stopping for Linux ?
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mic-opera last edited by
Bonjour,
Pourriez vous m'expliquer pourquoi la développement d'Opera est arrêté pour Linux ? -
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A Former User last edited by
Steve, how is it possible to release something stable for Linux when most *nix OSs, as far as I'm in, need upgrading too often themselves?
How did they cope with it with Presto? -
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ruario last edited by
This Opera 25 beta build is equivalent to the 25 final build released for Mac and Windows. It has full feature parity.
It is still marked as beta primarily as we would like to improve testing processes for Linux (both automated and manual) so that we know it is as stable as the Windows and Mac counterparts. Only then will Opera mark builds as stable.
My own personal opinion is that the build probably is just as good as Mac and Windows stable.
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nlatin last edited by
On that note, what does it mean if i install opera beta? Since i see the repository is added in ubuntu, will it 'update' to stable, or do i have to separately install stable? Thanks.
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wolfetone last edited by
Sorry, I have to call shinanegans on this.
How long has it been since Opera switched to using Presto? It's been over 12 months, and Linux users haven't had an updated browser since then either. 15 months it's been since the release of 12.16.
In those 15 months, your comments regarding stability sgunhouse is the FIRST thing I've seen any news about the delay Opera are having with a release for Linux. While I was on Facebook I would often ask the page owner/employee about the status of a new browser for Linux and I was always met with "Oh we're working on it". I keep coming back to the page nearly every month to see if a new version of Opera is available and I see 12.16 still there.
What, exactly, is going on? I think the Linux community deserves a better answer than the ones we're being given. I understand software can have bugs etc, but is this more of a resource issue with Opera than blaming the operating system for needing continual updates (which, quite frankly, isn't true). After 15 months of nothing I think the community deserves an explanation.
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ruario last edited by
This is just how I see the situation. It is not an official response, even though I am an Opera employee. I suspect my colleagues would probably agree but as I am not particularly senior here at Opera, nor I am not party to all internal discussions and decisions. Nonetheless I believe I have a fairly good idea about what happened and why.
Before I begin, let me remind you that Opera 12.16 might not have had an update but it is considered secure. It is still a decent browser loved and used by many, so Linux users were not left without any browser.
Priority for Opera 15+ (a.k.a. Blink-based Opera) was given to the two bigger platforms (Mac and Windows), as we were effectively doing a reboot of Opera development. The UI was written from scratch. New code was also written for our unique features, e.g. Speed Dial, Turbo, etc. This takes time and effort.
I'm sure you can understand that we needed to focus our efforts on getting the browser to level we were satisfied with and that we were happy to put our name on. We also had to do right by our user base, the vast majority of whom are on Windows. As such we had to focus on them first. There is little point in focusing equally on all platforms and thus making the majority wait for the benefit of a minority. Additionally it does not make financial sense, as it would take longer to get products out there and new features finished.
Once everything was on track we added more development resources to Linux, as we could afford to do so. Keep in mind that we produce a Linux version pretty much for the love of it. It doesn't pay the bills.
Also, your time line is not entirely correct. The first public development version of a Blink-based Opera was released back in June and there have been continuous updates on the developer stream initially and now on the beta stream since that time. These are stepping stones to a final release, which I hope we can achieve shortly. Though before you ask I cannot comment on or commit to specific date or release.
P.S. By the way I did comment on Opera Linux and why users should expect it to reappear on my personal blog back in March. Whilst not an official Opera blog, many people linked to it on social media and in some new stories about Opera.
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ruario last edited by
@nlatin The beta will not update to stable. We have three separate streams. You as a user choose which to track, developer, beta or stable. Alternatively, you can install them side by side. On Linux the stable stream is not yet available.
As a side note we have to be a little cautious when we introduce a stable version of the new Opera on Linux. On the other platforms (Windows and Mac), some people choose to remain on Opera 12. I suspect we will therefore try to allow the same on Linux. Hence the user will probably need to agree to upgrade.
Discussions about how that could be achieved are still ongoing and could be subject to change but I hope we can find some way to make that work.
Of course if you do choose to upgrade we will pull over the relevant parts of your profile.
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t0ken last edited by
Excellent answers @ruario. I must say, I waited what seemed like an eternity for the linux release of the Blink version of Opera. In the mean time, I'd begun using Chromium, as I was put off by the desertion of Presto Opera, and Firefox just did not do it for me. Chromium was pretty good in it's own right, but I longed for Opera to release their Linux version. The developer version(s) that was initially released was pretty buggy -- something I knew would be the case since it was indeed the dev version. However, this new beta version has been nearly flawless, and I'm in love with Opera again. There are still some things to iron out, but for the most part, I feel ok to use Opera as my main browser again. Even better that I can install [almost] all of the extensions I'd been using in Chromium. The only downsides for me are minor gripes about something I can't change -- features that were in the Presto version like vertical tab bar -- and thus I refrain from complaining about them. Just happy to be back with Opera again
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avl Opera last edited by
How long has it been since Opera switched to using Presto? It's been over 12 months, and Linux users haven't had an updated browser since then either. 15 months it's been since the release of 12.16.
@wolfetone, newer versions for Linux have been available on http://blogs.opera.com/desktop/ since June this year.
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mplia last edited by
ok after seeing an opera employee (ruario) replying on this thread (read: actually giving a damn about linux users) i just had to sign up for some feedback (I dont expect it will make any difference but whatever). I've been using opera from the early 00's in both work & home and suggested it to a lot of people while working in IT. I didn't like the chrome-ization so i managed to stick with the 12.16 version all this time. Following some recent breaks (youtube comments section for example) the moment to move away from opera has, unfortunately, come. Not having a stable update for the linux platform for so long (64bit-only betas are useless for me) is really insulting and i guess that post from last year in ycombinator, about how the linux platform & devs were dealt internally in the company, was true. So, thanks for all the fish and good luck (for the desktop environment, you'll certainly need it)
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Deleted User last edited by
64bit-only betas are useless for me
Quite. It's WAY more effort and annoyance to update a 32-bit system to 64-bit, even if your hardware supports it, than it is just to switch browsers. Which is a shame, because there are so many annoyances with all the other browsers I can install right now on my Ubuntu system.
