This story was copied from: http://www.opera.com/interviews/linux.html Q&A with Darren Starr Lead programmer of the Opera for Linux port QT edition Darren, I know the first question on everyone's mind has got to be: when will a public beta be available? DS I'm thinking before Christmas because I get a bonus! The test group is quite pleased with what we've sent out and I've gotten a lot of positive feedback. Are you adding anyone to the test group? Can I e-mail somewhere to get on the list? DS No, I'm afraid not as the test group has already been settled. I hear that you've been literally swamped with e-mail requests. DS The response has been gratifying, but we simply can't deal with the influx of e-mail. I really didn't expect this much -- it has been amazing. So, basically if people are mailing don't expect a response? DS Right, I'd love to be able to give everyone a response but with so many we just can't. We're getting so much e-mail that no-one is getting answers. We will try to have something out soon though. How will the Linux version compare to the Windows version when it comes to features? DS We don't have mail and news but we should have everything else. In a lot of cases we will have more features to make Linux users happy. Like what? DS Control from outside programs so that it may be used with other programs such as KDE and Gnome. Will the memory footprint be as low under Linux as it is under Windows? DS Currently it's using 7 megs when running in debug mode and the entire executable right now is 2 megs. Which GUI toolkit will Opera for Linux be based on? DS It's based on QT right now and the window manager that we use will work under Gnome and KDE which is my first priority. We'll add support for other window managers in version 4.1. It should run under all the window managers but will lack integration. What kind of dependency problems, if any, might a user run into installing it? DS Right now it's running on a computer with nothing but a kernel, the standard C++ libraries and X Windows. There are no other requirements as we include the libraries. Will Opera for Linux offer an automated install script for generic Linux or come packaged for the different flavors (rpm, deb etc...), or both? DS There will be a lot of different installation options including simple tar files for advanced users as well as advanced shell scripts for end users. Will Opera for Linux offer browsing from the console? DS The QT edition does not, however another version we are currently working on will be console, right now we have two different versions: console and X-Windows. Which flavors of Linux will be supported initially? DS Linux in general - anything with a 2.x kernal and X free 86 version 3.3.3.1 or better on an intel platform. Within a week after the first release we expect a public beta on Linux for Sparc. Will Opera for Linux support integration into different desktop environments, for instance "NeXTish docking", Gnome Panel integration and KDE? DS To a certain degree yes, however, the first version will be focused on browsing. This is something we'll be implementing, but in later versions; perhaps after 4.1 or 4.2. Well thank you, Darren, for taking some time out of your busy schedule to chat with us today. DS It's no problem, I don't mind at all. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
