Opera Software Co-Founder Passes Away

worb writes "One of the two founders of Opera Software, Geir Ivarsoy, recently passed away after a long battle with cancer. His funeral yesterday was attended by Opera employees who paid their last respects to their former lead programmer. While Opera hasn't had the same success as Firefox on the desktop, it has had considerable success in the mobile phone market due to its speed and small footprint, combined with excellent standards compliance and innovative features."

So long, and thanks

Though I am no opera user - thanks for the effort supporting an alternative solution. The possibility to choose is well appreciated.

Re:So long, and thanks

An excellent browser that runs well on old Sun Solaris sun4m hardware all the way up to the latest builds. I have been using Opera for years and bought and paid for the licenses. It is a real loss to see a brilliant creator pass. I surely hope that his legacy lives on in world domination of the mobile browser market.

Dennis Clarke from Blastwave.org
http://www.blastwave.org/ [blastwave.org]

Re:So long, and thanks

sun4m, right.
but not only that - If you want to download it, ofcourse it exists for linux, but it is not merely usual that there is a prepackaged version for Debian, and highly unusual that you can choose packages for:

Debian Unstable (Sid)
Debian Testing (Etch)
Debian 3.1 (Sarge)
Debian 3.0 (Woody)
Debian 2.2 (Potato)


it exists for Mac, QNX, FreeBSD, it runs on a pile of mobiles. That I call userfriendly, supportive.

Re:So long, and thanks

Not only does Opera 9 look great, but it passes the Acid2 test as well, something that Firefox has not yet achieved.

RIP ... Silent Post

Silent Post

damn

The alternative he provided created much-needed freedom to leave MSIE back when Netscape couldn't get its act together. Rest in peace.

My condolences to his family and friends

Thanks for all your work, Mr. Ivarsoy. The innovative features in Opera have had a great amount of influence in the browser market and beyond.

sigh...

Opera is a great browser, with many unique features. I use IE, Firefox, and Opera everyday. It is sad to see anyone go, let alone someone who you know had a huge part in something you come to take for granted.

Creativity is a legacy :)

I hope, when I die I've left behind something that inspires. The desire to create I believe comes from somewhere deep within and is a capacity that clings within you despite what life tosses your way .. it never seems to fade. For him, it never will, people will take the best part of him, what he was able to dream together and make it their own.

I think that's truly immortality, when you stop and think about what shapes your creativity.

Didn't find his age on the blog? Wow he looked young. Opera hasn't seen the real fruits of his efforts and creativity (just yet, but starting to .. ) , I'm sad that he won't.

FSM

May His grace be with you alfredo.

Oh, and thanks for the great browser.

Oh, I guess you're dead and can't read this.

And now...

He will be known as the Phantom of the Opera!

Sorry, that was in poor taste. My regards to someone who helped contribute to the diversity in web browsers.

rest in peace

From too much love of living,
From hope and fear set free,
We thank with brief thanksgiving
Whatever gods may be
That no life lives forever;
That dead men rise up never;
That even the weariest river
Winds somewhere safe to sea.
- swinburne

Rest in peace, thanks for making a difference.

Why I'm not a funeral director

Beyond any doubt, I would have concluded the ceremony with a Fat Lady, singing.

That aside, this is pretty sad news. Better times on the other side, man.. and my personal condolences to his family, friends and colleauges at Opera Software.

Thanks for the Hope

I don't use Opera now, but I used it very briefly. Opera rose at a very dark time. IE had just won the browser war with Netscape 4 being a bloated, happy, piece of crap. Opera gave us hope when us anti-IEers were most down. Although I use Firefox now, the conditions for Firefox's success should be creditted to Opera.

My #2 Browser

The loss of a loved leader in a group can have either of two outcomes:

1. Everyone falls apart, and the group with it.
2. The group rallies, and is spurred on to greatness.

I use three browsers through out the work day, and personal night.

1. Camino-Super fast, great for our intranet php based apps.
2. Opera-Pretty fast, but has the option to open to last page viewed at launch.(The option that sets Opera apart really!)
3. Safari-Solid performer, secure.
4. Firefox-odd man out really, but do use it to test sites once in a while. useful. I do recommend Firefox to the common users I assist with their computers after virus, worm, malware etc climbed aboard via IE.

I love that all of these browsers offer tabbed browsing ;-)
There are tons of features I will never use on all of these browsers, but they are there for those who need the tools. I can't say enough about the browser choices available other that IE. They are the market of the future. IE will only be able to mimic the new features.

Remembering Geir

Here is a remembrance of Geir Ivarsøy from someone at Opera Software who knew him: Death in the Family [opera.com]

Get his name right, please

It's probably not the right time to rant about this, but... could people *please* take care to actually spell names correctly? It's Ivarsøy, not Ivarsoy; you'd think that at *least* his Slashdot obituary would get this right.

It's not difficult, either. If you can't type the ø character directly, use a HTML entity, ø (ø), or ø (ø) - it's really simple.

But don't just substitute another letter that looks vaguely similar. Would you like it if somebody whose native language doesn't have a "d" substituted a "b" in your name for it because the two letters look quite similar? Of course not. So please, do the same thing and try to spell other people's names correctly. With HTML entities, it's not hard, and it's a sign of respect - doubly so on an obituary.

RIP

I love Opera!

Rest in Peace, Geir Ivarsoy.

How would you know?

While Opera hasn't had the same success as Firefox on the desktop

I'd like to see some trustworthy figures backing up this claim.

Writ in marble

All your better deeds Shall be in water writ, but this in Marble... Thank you for Opera - Philaster, Beaumont and Fletcher, 1611

Truly an American icon

Even if he was from Norway.

Is this appropriate?

I know this is Slashdot (News for ners etc.) but someone passed away. Is it really appropriate to talk about the marketshare of his programming work?

I've had this discussion with people many times, but I personally think that people, even programmers, are worth more then the code they write. And I would personally perfer that people don't talk about my code when I pass-away.

considerable success in the mobile phone market

> While Opera hasn't had the same success as Firefox on the desktop, it has had
> considerable success in the mobile phone market due to its speed and small
> footprint, combined with excellent standards compliance and innovative
> features."

Plus the fact that there's a commercial organisation behind it, pushing it, as opposed to some other software being out there but with no motivation on the part of the programmers to actually get it put onto any devices...

Rest In Peace

Thanks for the excellent browser. RIP

Bad News/Good News.

Sad news and my thouhts to the family.

But the good news is there's still time to buy banner space on his casket!

RIP

RIP

this is eerie

oddly enough, I decided to install and run opera for the very first time the same day the news story was released.
Article:(Friday, 17. March 2006, 09:01:15)
Install stamp: (Friday, March 17, 2006, 8:42:51 PM)
I was very impressed with the software, as many are, and am now sad to hear of this loss.
I also recommended opera to my sister, who uses MSIE over Firefox because the favorites button has a shiny star. I kid you not.

Re:In his memory, we need to launch a new movement

your sick, using someones death, or the battle to cure cancer to push open source... shame...

Re:that sux

I've never used opera, but since it seems that this man's death is /. worthy, I'm thinking about trying it. Before I do though, I would like to know what some of the features that set it apart are. Could someone oblige me?

Why Opera?

Opera has lots of features [opera.com] in a small (and fast) package. By default, Opera looks any plain browser, but if you feel like it, you can dive below the surface and discover a lot of features that speed up browsing, such as mouse gestures and extensive keyboard support (both shortcuts and spatial navigation for using the keyboard to navigate pages).

If you search Google for "why Opera" you'll find pages like this one, with a nice list of reasons for why you should consider Opera [nontroppo.org].

The best thing you can do is to simply download it and give it a fair go. If you surf around and read about Opera you'll discover lots of nice little touches that make browsing more convenient. Maybe you'll find that you love Opera. Maybe you won't. It's a slightly different approach than what Firefox is doing, but at least you won't have to rely on extensions for functionality. That can be both good and bad, I guess. (Opera seems to be a bit more efficient on the memory usage than Firefox, mind you.)

But Opera is actually also extensible in various ways, such as User JavaScript ("Greasemonkey"), and similar. There are lots of nifty things to discover, such as custom made toolbars [nontroppo.org].

Anyway, the Search Engine Journal editor asked Opera users to convince him to use Opera [searchenginejournal.com]. He got quite a few useful replies. Maybe they will be of interest to you, too...

You must be right

Cancer didn't exist prior to the invention of the computer.

Re:Ha Ha Asshole

How is it not?

Ohh... He jokes about deaths! WARNING: UNFUNNY!

Re:OT - I'd use Opera, but...

Pick up one of the weekly builds at http://my.opera.com/desktopteam [opera.com] ..

The Content Blocker is still definitely work in progress, but every build has had some very nice improvements to it all.

Re:Paid their respects

ROFL, good one.

Re:Paid their respects

IMO, that's in poor taste, and it's not even relevant anyways. The current public version, 8.5 (as well as the 9.0 beta) are completely ad-free. Go check it out for yourself.

Re:Passes Away? How About...

If we must be stupid and unfeeling, there is also "caught the bus" . To say nothing of such pearls as:-

• took the last car for the Elysian Fields
• paid the boatman (for being ferried across the river Styx)
• returned his unused lunch tickets

If we are going for the stupid and unfeeling, we must at least not stint.

This said, I'm with you, I'm pretty sure that the fellow is dead and, given what he accomplished, a drum-roll is the very minimum. A burial with full honours seems not to be excessive.