(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Opera browser is dumping Presto, the current Opera rendering engine, in favour of WebKit.

"WebKit has matured enough that it is actually possible to make the switch, and we can help it mature even further. In return, we get to spend more resources on a better user experience, and less on chasing an ever-changing web.

This move allows us to create a platform for future growth because it allows us to focus our resources on things that can actually differentiate Opera from the competition, and could help the web move in the right direction."

http://my.opera.com/haavard/blog/2013/02/13/webkit

From all I have read in that link, it seems Opera will no longer be Puppy-friendly.
It may lose its reputation of lightweight, fast browser. It may become something large like Chrome or Firefox.

I hope Opera can retain its customability, familiar UI and features with the transition to WebKit. I am also concerned that WebKit may require more dependencies. It would be sad to see Opera fail because for years it led the way for others to follow in browser development.

The timescale for transition is unclear for the desktop version because mobile versions will transition first.

I think is a major change that may change the Opera we know, but it has good sides: Webkit base means way less messed up pages and less javascript issues.
Webkit isn't really slow, but it is heavier and always seems to be more CPU greedy in my experience.
Hope they keep M2 and the general UI as fast and usable, and hope they can speed Webkit up keeping the great memory management of nowadays.

Basically Opera will dump his core technology... and 90 developers.
Guess now we know why...

We just have to hope that the Opera developers keep their good philosophy going. In reading their announcement it seems that they want to take what is good about Opera and put it into WebKit rather than let WebKit bloat and retard Opera.

I have used Opera since the days when I had to pay for it. Its ability to be customized while being fast and not resource hoggish made it a joy to use. Then along came DragonFly and I was really hooked. Their sharing of educational material on HTML and CSS deepens my appreciation for what these folks have done.

It might be helpful if we let Opera know what we like most about this browser and why it is our choice to use it. All of their contact points are listed at http://www.opera.com/company/contact/. That page includes addresses and phone numbers.

It looks as if opera development (for the time being) has ceased. I took a look at the opera-next repo and it lists opera-12.14-1737 .. http://snapshot.opera.com/unix/BlackOops_12.14-1737/

Slacko already ships with stable opera-12.14-1738

So, by that rationale maybe the next opera will be the webkit version? Speculation of course. I guess with 90 less developers they certainly won't be wasting time on presto.