[ Thanks to Joe
Barr for this link. ]
“I recently downloaded the first beta of Opera 7.0 for Linux and
gave it a whirl. I’m going to briefly recount my installation and
usage experience with the beta, but this is in no way a review of
the Opera browser, beta or otherwise. I’m simply using the beta as
an icebreaker, an excuse to voice my opinions on recent happenings
in the latest episodes of the Browser Wars. In blunt language, I’ll
launch into a rant against the latest machinations of the malignant
monopoly.“The Linux version of Opera 7.0 lags behind the release of the
Windows version of the popular multi-platform browser, but not by
much. The final version of Opera 7.0 for Windows was released at
the end of January. The first beta for Linux followed approximately
two weeks later, on Valentine’s Day. The Linux beta comes before a
7.0 beta for any of the other platforms supported by Opera. That
includes the Macintosh, OS/2, Solaris, FreeBSD, and others.“I selected the static RPM version of the beta for download. A
document is provided on the FTP site to help you select the correct
version for your environment. I immediately ran into problems in
the installation. The beta insisted on me having lib.Xm.so.2
installed. I tried to fool it with a symbolic link to lib.Xm.so.3,
but it wasn’t buying my lie. I got around the problem by installing
openmotif21-2.1.30-7, which thoughtfully provides the needed
library…”