Opera

Opera is a web browser and Internet suite developed by Opera Software. The browser handles common Internet-related tasks such as displaying websites, sending and receiving e-mail messages, managing contacts, IRC online chatting, downloading files via BitTorrent, and reading web feeds.^[1] Opera consumes approximately 36 MB installed on disk and is built for speed, incorporating numerous options and shortcuts to simply web tasks. :^[1] "Opera_(web_browser)". Wikipedia. 19 Sep. 2010. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 22 Sep. 2010 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_(web_browser)>.

Installation

The Template:Package Official package can be found in the official repositories.

Plugins

Opera can use Mozilla-based plugins; see Browser Plugins for details. The plugin path can be specified under Template:Codeline

64-bit Flash

Install the Template:Package Official package from the official repositories.

Performance tweaks

Disabling features and services

One of the keys to maximizing application performance is to disable undesired features and services through the native opera:config Preferences Editor.

• Start Opera without the default system tray icon by unchecking the following option:

opera:config#UserPrefs | ShowTrayIcon

Other commonly disabled feature sets include but are not limited to:

• BitTorrent Example Screenshot
• Geolocation
• Multimedia
• Web Server

Additional command-line options are available for further control over browser features and services:

• Start Opera without the default internal e-mail client

$ opera -nomail

• Alternatively, if you want to permanently disable the internal e-mail client without using "-nomail", you can uncheck the setting "Show E-mail Client" in opera:config

opera:config#UserPrefs|ShowE-mailClient

• Start Opera without an ARGB (32-bit) visual, without LIRC infrared control support and Template:Codeline links disabled:

$ opera -noargb -nolirc -nomaillinks

Improving Flash performance

• Set the following environment variables before starting Opera, or export the entries in xinitrc, or .bash_profile, or for system-wide changes, to Template:Filename:

 OPERAPLUGINWRAPPER_PRIORITY=0
 OPERA_KEEP_BLOCKED_PLUGIN=1

xinitrc example

#!/bin/bash
#
/usr/bin/urxvtd -q -f -o &
export OPERAPLUGINWRAPPER_PRIORITY=0
export OPERA_KEEP_BLOCKED_PLUGIN=0
exec ck-launch-session /usr/bin/jwm

Command-line example

$ OPERAPLUGINWRAPPER_PRIORITY=0 OPERA_KEEP_BLOCKED_PLUGIN=1 opera &

• Another environment variable which may help resolve Flash issues:

GDK_NATIVE_WINDOWS=1

See the blog article Flash problems on Linux? for additional details.

Profile in tmpfs

The default Opera profile is typically located in Template:Filename. This profile can be relocated to an available tmpfs filesystem, including Template:Filename, or Template:Filename for improvements in application response as the the entire profile is now stored in RAM. Another benefit is a reduction in disk read and write operations, of which SSD drives benefit the most.

• At system startup, recursively copy the folder Template:Filename to Template:Filename while preserving mode, ownership and file timestamps:

#!/bin/bash
#
# /etc/rc.local
#
cp -pR /home/USER/.opera /dev/shm

• rsync can be used in place of the cp command:

#!/bin/bash
#
# /etc/rc.local
#
rsync -a /home/USER/.opera /dev/shm

#!/bin/bash
#
# /etc/rc.local.shutdown
#
rsync -a --delete /dev/shm/.opera /home/USER

• To copy only bookmarks and session files back to the disk profile:

#!/bin/bash
#
# /etc/rc.local.shutdown
#
rsync -a --delete /tmp/.opera/sessions/ /home/bbs/.opera/sessions &
rsync -a /tmp/.opera/bookmarks.adr /home/bbs/.opera

• In the case of opera-next, launch Opera with the Template:Codeline option to set the location of the alternative Opera preferences folder:

$ opera -pd /dev/shm/.opera

• Any number of command-line options may be included in the string:

$ opera -newprivatetab -noargb -nolirc -nomail -nomaillinks -pd /tmp/.opera

Disabling Xft fonts

Xft font rendering can consume unnecessary resources on certain systems. Avoid the use of Xft fonts by unchecking the following option:

opera:config#UserPrefs|EnableXftFonts

Note: In newer versions of Opera, this setting does not exist.

Microsoft fonts and Opera

Configure fonts under Template:Codeline. If ttf-ms-fonts has been installed before running Opera for the first time, Opera will use those fonts by default, regardless of what's specified by local GTK options, GNOME, or KDE font management. To force existing installations of Opera use the options set by your font manager:

• Close all running instances of Opera.
• Uninstall the Template:Codeline package.
• Move the existing profile folder: Template:Codeline
• Run an instance of Opera and verify that your font manager settings have been applied.
• Restore bookmarks and desired filter files from Template:Filename to Template:Filename except for the Template:Filename file.
• Reinstall the Template:Codeline package, if desired.

UI appearance

• To make the menus look integrated with Qt, install your preferred Qt4 theme and apply it by using Template:Codeline.
• To make Opera use KDE icons, download a native skin such as fixed_window_skin

Private tabs

To browse without leaving any trace of the Web sites you visit, you can use a private tab. When you close a private tab, the following data related to the tab is deleted:

• Cache
• Cookies
• History
• Logins

This is similar to the --incognito option in Chrome/Chromium and PrivateBrowsing in Firefox.

• Open the URL (if a URL is defined) in Opera with a private tab.

$ opera -newprivatetab

To ensure only private tabs are used throughout the duration of the browsing session:

• Set Template:Codeline
• Clear any entries in Template:Codeline
• Enable Template:Codeline

Java Support

Note: Oracle's proprietary version of the JRE has been pulled from [community]. Read here for more information.

• Install the proprietary, closed source Java Runtime Environment from Oracle:

# pacman -S jre

• Alternatively, install the open source OpenJDK environment along with the IcedTea-Web browser plugin:

# pacman -S openjdk icedtea-web

See Java#OpenJDK_JVM for additional details and references.

Troubleshooting

Java on Arch64

1. Add to Template:Filename, or Template:Filename to make this setting affect all logins:

# openjdk
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk/jre/lib/amd64/server/
# jre
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/java/jre/lib/amd64/server/

Alternatively, create a symlink to Template:Filename:

# openjdk
cd /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk/jre/lib/amd64
ln -s server/libjvm.so .
# jre
cd /opt/java/jre/lib/amd64
ln -s server/libjvm.so .

2. Edit the path to Java in Opera: Menu -> Tools -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Content -> Plugin-Options.

#openjdk
/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk/jre/lib/amd64/
#jre
/opt/java/jre/lib/amd64/

Slow scrolling on NVIDIA cards

Try running the following command:

$ nvidia-settings -a InitialPixmapPlacement=2

On some computers, http://helion.pl works extremely slow without this hack, making it a perfect site for testing.

Horizontal mouse wheel scrolling

Check Template:Codeline

or

• Highlight Template:Codeline
• Duplicate Template:Codeline
• Edit... Template:Codeline
• Search the Template:Codeline and Template:Codeline input contexts and edit the appropriate button shortcuts to Template:Codeline and Template:Codeline
• Rename Template:Codeline as desired

Launching an external browser

Opera does not display sites well at times. A workaround is to launch the currently displayed page in an external browser.

Note: The following method appears to be deprecated in favor of the built-in Template:Filename menu accessed via the right mouse button.

• Set the following line under Template:Codeline in Template:Filename:

Button0, "Chromium"="Execute program, "chromium, "%u", , "Chromium""

• If Firefox is desired, or preferred:

Button0, "Firefox"="Execute program, "firefox", "%u", , "Firefox""

• Any number of command-line options may be included in the string:

Button0, "Chromium"="Execute program, "chromium --block-nonsandboxed-plugins --disable-java --incognito --safe-plugins --start-maximized --user-data-dir=/tmp/.chromium", "%u", , "Chromium""

Additional Resources

• Opera Browser Wiki
• Opera Knowledge Base
• Opera For UNIX Forums