Sounds like another Rockmelt disaster is in the coming ..
Facebook needs Opera - to rescue it from dependence on Apple
Facebook is reported to be interested in buying Scandinavian browser company Opera Software. The facts are few, the sourcing criminally light, but the story arrives as Opera is also reported to have instituted a hiring freeze that some claim is a harbinger to putting itself up for sale. Both firms refused to comment on the …
NOoooooooooooooooo..............
Just say no.
Or should I have bought shares, along with a license, years ago?
Fuck the "Grab it and run" ideology.
Just keep producing the BEST browser, and "Keep calm and carry on" please, fine Norwegian ladies and gentlemen.
Declaration of interest: Long time Opera user, and godfather to a Norwegian. :-)
The second Farcebook takes over Opera...
...Opera will be REMOVED from all of my electronic devices.
Re: The second Farcebook takes over Opera...
Wow if you do that it might be noticeable due to their minuscule user base. If FB does go through with this deal they certainly aren't doing it to buy desktop browser market share. Still it is a decent browser that I often use exactly because of the tiny market share. No malware writer will specifically target a brower with such a tiny user base.
Opera - top dog.
Their shares have been on the way up for years, whilst everyone else's have been sliding... Anyone that thinks Opera is a bad investment, because it's not the browser they use, is frankly a fool that can't see further than the go button in his browser.
http://tinyurl.com/OperaSharePrice
Added to that, anyone that's a "Web Pro" uses Opera, because it's got features that other browsers simply dream about having...
anyone that's a "Web Pro" uses Opera
Good one.
More seriously, surely this can't be for real. FB, who exist specifically to make money from users' data, teaming up with Opera, who flat-out reject opportunities to do the very same thing?
Re: anyone that's a "Web Pro" uses Opera
well why no buy it, and *monetize* it???
and maybe give better support, unlike the current "we will only change what *we* want, despite major user wishes.." :(
and
" we removed those features, it does not fit the 'look &feel' we want.."
Re: Opera - top dog. AC@17:17
5 downvotes? I can't understand the mentality of some people here, what on earth did he say that merits a single downvote, let alone 5?
Re: Opera - top dog. AC@17:17
It's backlash against mindless Opera fanboyism.
Re: Opera - top dog. AC@17:17
Because they use Firefox, and everyone knows Firefox rocks, as you can have an adblock and stuff.
Re: Opera - top dog. AC@17:17
"5 downvotes? I can't understand the mentality of some people here, what on earth did he say that merits a single downvote, let alone 5?"
Not because they said that Opera was a good browser - it's excellent and although IE9 has caught up, it has at various times been the best browser available. (It has always been better than Firefox, imo, even if you don't have all the plug-ins). But they finished their post by saying anyone who is a web-professional uses Opera. Simply not true nor should it be.
Why Opera is a great buy,.
Take a look at Opera ASA share price over the last 5 years. Pretty impressive.
Oh and this:
http://gs.statcounter.com/#mobile_browser-ww-monthly-201202-201205-bar
Re: Fastmail
Oddly, that was my first thought too. I've used FastMail for years and was quite happy when Opera bought it. When I heard this news, I too was concerned. As it has been correctly stated already though, it is still in the rumour jungle so no need to do anything just yet.
Having said that, they might just buy the browser and not necessarily the whole company.
Opera...
Is among very few web companies that I trust with my data, will be be a sad day if it gets swallowed and inevitably made to comply with the data suck style of this prospective new owner.
Id rather pay for Opera again thanks.
Re: Opera...
I agree, I'm one of the tiny percent of Opera users, and I personally like some of the features like the built in email and IRC clients.
But if Facebook buy it, I can see it becoming either more bloated, or too much social integration...
and to pick up more use they may change it's styling to be more like Chrome or whatever and lose what makes it unique...
Re: Opera...
I can't see it becoming more bloated - surely being adopted by facebook will simplify the browser.
Removing the need for the address bar for example, or the ability to browse to other sites.
Why should I care?
I don't use Facebook, have tried every major Opera revision and gone back to Firefox every time, I don't use Windows or Linux or Mac OSX.
I am already limited more by network latency and webserver response than I am by local rendering speed and I'm not expecting that to change any time soon.
This is on an old P4M at 1.7 GHz with a chipset that caps out memory at 1GB for crying out loud.
Re: Why should I care?
Why should you care. Well, you probably shouldn't. Im just guessing here, but from what I read in your post you're probably not their target market. In fact you're probably not anyones target market.
Yet you do care enough to post.......
Re: Why should I care?
Nice to see all the Opera fanbois downvoting my post. Keep at it guys.
Re: Why should I care?
Sorry to disillusion you, your getting downloads because you're a tosser.
(No, I don't use Opera).
NOOOO!!!!!!!!
zuckerberg: GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY FUCKING BROWSER, bitch.
Don't forget Only 35% of those polled trust Facebook !!!
I am slightly repeating what I have said in another comment....
A YouGov poll reported in the Sunday Times yesterday revealed that only 35% of those polled trust Facebook.
Opera own FastMail, one of the best email providers, but if Opera was owned by FB, I and many other FM users would migrate away from FM, as we would not want our data to be in the control of FB.
Mark Zuckerberg's often reported comments on January 9, 2010 that the age of privacy is over are hardly those of someone who is fit to run an email service.
It is also reported that Mark Zuckerberg has views on hacking not shared by the majority.
In my view FB purchasing Opera would be a disaster for Opera users, and more particularly users of FastMail & OperaMail.
NJSS
Goodbye Opera from my OS in that case
I've been using Opera for about 10 years, If Facebook take over Opera I will immediately be removing the Opera/ Facebook spyware from my operating system. The reason for me using Opera is that it is not affiliated with companies that think they have the right to suck up all the personal information about web browsing habits. F-off Zuckerburg you 'aint getting your hands on my data.
Re: Goodbye Opera from my OS in that case
Same here. Been using Opera for so long I can't imagine life without it. But if Fuckerberg gets his greedy claws on it, I will not be using Opera ever again.
Re: Goodbye Opera from my OS in that case
Amen to that. I think it would be a huge mistake on the part of Opera at least; and I don't think that FaceBook would be getting what they think they would be getting.
The people who use Opera are the demographic -I imagine- that would be least tolerant of Facebook-style info-sucking dickery. I know that I will be abandoning ship the second the purchase goes through, if it does.
Re: Goodbye Opera from my OS in that case
It would be an enormous wrench to stop using Opera, as it's been 13 years for me, but I will should FB buy them.
Re: Goodbye Opera from my OS in that case
Tools > Preferences > Advanced > Security > Auto-update > Do not check for updates.
Re: Goodbye Opera from my OS in that case
"The reason for me using Opera is that it is not affiliated with companies that think they have the right to suck up all the personal information about web browsing habits."
Seriously, you ought to try running a fresh install of a post 11.5 version of Opera with default settings with Wireshark. It calls home /all/ the time. Practically every single keypress generates packets. And not only to opera.com either, also Google since the URL box became more Chrome interactive like. And this is without Turbo or Unite enabled.
I've also used it since v6, but recent versions have been a real eye opener. There's no place for complacency when you're using freeware.
page impressions
clearly the reason to buy Opera would be for all that page impression data. Opera turbo is a giant proxy server. Imagine the ads you could target with that amount of data.
Re: page impressions
...in the current version. If FB buy Opera, are you really imagining they'll leave the option in to turn off Turbo?
As an Opera user
I would find that sad news. I rarely use Opera turbo/mini these days, so the privacy issues aren't much of a worry for me although they would certainly exist. And for Opera, greater exposure would be nice, web developers might actually begin to acknowledge its existence.
I do worry that the browser would become a social Facebook interface covered in branding and unremovable methods of 'liking' things. While gradually losing anything that might, one day, possibly cause a typical Facebook user confusion. e.g. Dragonfly, mail, feeds, right click, windows, user scripts, ad blocking capabilities
Does not make sense
The beauty about facebook and the reason why so many people use it is because no matter what device you are on you can access a version of it and keep in touch with people.
If they create their own browser and phone then that suggests they are trying to go down a walled garden route, but that market is already sown up by Apple and Google. Anything that takes facebook down a BBM / iMessage / Skype kind of route limited to certain phones / OS / Browsers then they'll end up losing users hand over fist.
It sounds like they are spending money with a scattergun approach. I figured it would take another 3 years before they went down the toilet, but with these acquisitions Zuck will have them fast tracked to the poor house
Re: Does not make sense
You can make the same argument about Google, and yet they made their own browser and mobile OS. So why can't Facebook?
Oh no!
Ive been using Opera for a long time... the tabbed browsing it had before Firefox was ever released was the first attraction, and I've stayed since, it does what I want, I have it across Windows and Suse boxes here.
If it gets facebooked it will be dropped really quickly. I've never seen the attraction of the data hoovering social networking scam, I do as much as I can to remain in control of my stuff. I avoid facebook and its kin like I avoid Google as much as I can.
I hope that the deal doesnt happen.
Nooooooo
Nononononoooo. I paid for Opera back in the day and I've avoided Facebook like the plague. I'm a dedicated FastMail user too. This seriously sucks. I really hope it's not true.
Then - goodbye Opera
It has been my browser of choice since v3 days. Fast, clean, light, unhindered, safe. Big in features, small in footprint.
My distrust of Facebook will preclude me from staying on.
Opera, as a company, may need/want the cash. Opera as the idea will be tainted.
Re: Then - goodbye Opera
...."The idea"?
Opera is not a concept. Opera is not a religion. Opera is not a state of mental nirvana.
Opera is a company. They exist to make money. From you. Don't ever get the impression that it's otherwise.
"managers now answerable to shareholders"
Errr... That would be the single shareholder who controls over 50% of the voting shares, right? I'm pretty sure managers were already answerable to him...
Other iOS browsers
I hav Opera on my iPad but I never use it, because I don't like the way it works. I do have these other alternative browsers: Terra, PerfectBrowser, and Mercury.
So if there are numerous web browsers on iOS, and there are not rendering the way Opera is, then why no Firefox of Chrome yet?
Re: Other iOS browsers
Because those other 'browsers' are just re-branded iOS Safari... the 'rendering' i.e. engine remains the native iOS Safari client...
Re: Other iOS browsers
Because you are still using Safari.... They just add horseshit ontop... Like Dophin does.
Opera is the only non-Safari based browser on iOS, simply because it's not a browser....
What a load of shorsehit..
...this news pains me greatly. The company which makes my browser of choice is about to be assimilated into the slimy evil Farcebook borg, WONDERFUL.
I will be killing my Opera accounts in short order as a precautionary measure.. If the sale goes through, v11.64 may well be the last version of Opera I ever install.
You gotta love how the dirty data-mining surveillance money turns everything that it touches to crap.
NOT HAPPENING
This is a Friday afternoon rumour originating at a mobile device web site called Pocket-Lint. Their last story from a "trusted source" was about the delivery dates of different colours of Nokia Lumia Windows phones.
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