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BSD Operating Systems

Native Version Of Opera browser for FreeBSD 52

Posted by Hemos from the get-it-working dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Norway based Opera Software finally released a native FreeBSD version of its fast, standard based browser yesterday. The browser has been available in the ports tree as an app running in Linux binary environment. Opera 6.1 is the first version released for FreeBSD, it has the same set of features as the Linux version."
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Native Version Of Opera browser for FreeBSD More

Native Version Of Opera browser for FreeBSD

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  • This along with Pheonix... (Score:5, Informative)

    by questionlp ( 58365 ) on Tuesday September 24, 2002 @02:58PM (#4321246) Homepage
    I think a native release of Opera 6.x for FreeBSD and the recent announcement of Pheonix would add two nice lighter weight [graphical] web browsers to FreeBSD. I've been using Mozilla 1.0 and 1.1 under FreeBSD (along with the Java 1.3.1 JDK, using both the regular and the Linux ports of JDK 1.3.1) and it runs fine... with the exception that it can get quite sluggish.

    Running the Linux version of Opera 6 on FreeBSD is faster than the native build of Mozilla, but getting the plug-ins to work has been a bit of a hit and miss.

    Now what would be great would be a native version of the Macromedia Flash plug-in for FreeBSD :)

    • If you're finding Mozilla sluggish, and haven't compiled it from source, then perhaps you want to look into rolling your own distribution. I've just built the latest nightly release on my NetBSD box, using "-O2 -march=i686" as the optimisation flags. It runs *very* snappily on my 1.2Ghz Celeron laptop, and is still usable on my 233Mhz desktop machine.

      Chris

      • I actually modify the port's Makefile to disable parts that I don't need, switch --disable-optimize to --enable-optimize (or something to that effect).

        I already have -O2 and -p3 set as make options in /etc/make.conf on my FreeBSD laptop. It does make it a tad faster... the problem is that it slows down over time (the machine I run it on is a P3-800 laptop with 384MB of RAM) and it occurs while running it under WindowMaker or KDE3.

        It's definitely not as bad as OpenOffice.org and StarOffice 5.2 (the former as a native package and the latter running under the Linux ABI).
      • You may also want to build it without chatzilla, and mail/news. This not only improves the build time, but seems to make it faster. There's also galeon which is marginally faster than the mozilla built from ports.
    • Pheonix isn't nearly ready yet... but if you want lightweight, go for Dillo!

      Personally, I could care less about Opera plugins, what I hate is how often it's crashing. If it wasn't for the fact that it saves all URLs, I'd be too concerned about crases to use it at all.

      As for Flash, I won't take it even if was available. And by the way, the GPLed Flash player works natively with Mozilla (check the ports), although there's a lot of instability there. I suppose a decent browser like Opera might fare better than Mozilla.

      My qualms with Opera:
      * Lowsy printing (often garbled and overlaping text)
      and
      * It's based on QT, so interoperability with my GTK programs has been a strugle (Copy and paste into Abiword doesn't work)
      * Terribly lowsy interface. Even with it's billions of options, Mozilla's preferences are easier to work with than Opera's.
      * Unfortunate method for handling tabs. When closing a tab, instead of going to the tab left or right, it jumps through them in the most recently used order. Bah!

      That said, if it proves to be stable, I'll be quickly handing over the cash to register it. I really hope they distribute a version for OpenBSD as well (it should only need a recompile).
      • I've played around with Dillo a bit, but right now, it doesn't have all of the features that I like. Maybe in time, that will improve.

        For me, I find Opera 6 crashing usually after 15-20 minutes of use... and it doesn't always save all of the preference changes that I would make during a session. The preference dialog is just as cluttered as IE5 on the Mac.

        I haven't really used the Tabs part of Opera a whole lot...
        • Dillo is getting very close. In fact, with the 3rd party pathces, you can add a history list, SSL via stunnel, basic js support, etc. In fact, this comment was submitted using Dillo.

          I'll be the first to admit that it can't replace a full-featured browser, but it is incredibly fast, and only missing a handful of important features at this point.

          I must say, I've had much better luck with Opera than you have. Someimes it will crash ouickly for apparenly no reason, but for the most part, I can heavily surf for hours. And when it does crash, typically only about 1 out of 10 sites is not remembered.

          Preferences dialog sucks, but it's not something you need to work with often, so I've put up with it.
      • For anyone wondering... I tried the FreeBSD version of Opera, and it's just as unstable as the Linux version.

        Due to Opera's instability, clipboard problems, lowsy interface (prefs, tabs, bookmarks), lack of an HTML editor (for quick edits before printing) and it's grossly insuffecient printing capabilities, I'm back to using the slow-as-molasses Mozilla.

  • This is great news (Score:2, Interesting)

    by dcstimm ( 556797 )
    I have always been a big fan of freebsd. I am currently using it on my server. I think this is long over due. Most apps are being released for windows a linux and they forget about freebsd users. Like Nvidia drivers, UT2003, quake3, DOOM III (when it comes out). And alot lot more. They still havent released the src yet for phoenix 0.1 (I could always check it out of the cvs) so we wont see it on freebsd for quite awhile.

    The reason linux gets so much more attention than freebsd is because of Tux the penguin. I know this might sound stupid but Tux makes people want to switch over. And once they see nvidia drivers and native games in linux they are hooked. Then once they get used to linux and want a real chalange they check out freebsd.

    Most people that are curious about Unix will try linux first because people say its more user friendly. Mandrake and Redhat are super easy to install. I think for bsd to get as much market share as linux they need to do the same thing. Of course we will have freebsd (they way it is) for servers but wouldnt it be nice to see a gui installer for it?

    Oh well Until then freebsd users will always have to wait for software.

    • Re:This is great news (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      bsd is for people that love unix. Linux is for people that hate windows.
      • I don't know if the above statement is true, but it did make me laugh.
      • Everytime I see that statement, the more true it has become.
    • Still gets better: NVidia drivers are on the way, too...

  • A thought: (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I think a native release of Opera 6.x for FreeBSD and the recent announcement of Pheonix would add two nice lighter weight [graphical] web browsers to FreeBSD. I've been using Mozilla 1.0 and 1.1 under FreeBSD (along with the Java 1.3.1 JDK, using both the regular and the Linux ports of JDK 1.3.1) and it runs fine... with the exception that it can get quite sluggish.

    Running the Linux version of Opera 6 on FreeBSD is faster than the native build of Mozilla, but getting the plug-ins to work has been a bit of a hit and miss.

    Now what would be great would be a native version of the Macromedia Flash plug-in for FreeBSD :)
  • can someone please explain why people keep trolling that _instert_OS_here_ is dying?
    I thought when clicked here I'd see it again -- and sure enough, another 'BSD is Dead'
    troll.

    WHY?
  • but I wonder what benefits it offers over the Linux version in binary compatibility mode right now (not that I don't want a native version). I'm running 6.02 on FreeBSD 4.3, and nothing seems to be broken (well, I don't have the JRE, don't need anything besides flash, and the file browser does the compat mode path redirection - typing the path works ok).

    On a similar note, how well does Opera run on NetBSD's Linux (and I guess FreeBSD too now) binary compatibility system? I've recently decided to switch to NetBSD instead of upgrading.

    • On a similar note, how well does Opera run on NetBSD's Linux (and I guess FreeBSD too now) binary compatibility system?

      I haven't tried it recently, but I ran Opera under the Linux compatibility in NetBSD 1.4.x - worked without a hitch.

      --saint
  • Thanks to Opera Software for recognizing this need. I've requested a FreeBSD port via their web form and am thrilled to see that they listen to their customers.

    Now, everybody go buy a license to support this excellent work.

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