My Opera news » How to install Opera on a real OS

How to install Opera on a real OS

Tuesday, November 4, 2008 4:00:23 PM

Ubuntu is a sweet and popular operating system for Linux. It's easy to use and installation is like a breeze, but some of you might have difficulties installing Opera and plugins? Thanks to Ubuntu- and Opera evangelist suribe we now have an excellent tutorial which guides you through some of the bottlenecks you may encounter with Opera on Ubuntu.

Get Opera & plugins

Download the latest version of Opera Browser to your Ubuntu desktop and double-click on the .deb file to install it. The launcher will appear in Applications » Internet. You can create a panel launcher by right clicking and choose "Add to Panel". Good stuff. You now have Opera installed.

Next task is to get the flash plugin installed. Open a terminal (click on Applications » Accessories » Terminal) and paste this chunk of code in your terminal window:

sudo apt-get install flashplugin-nonfree

Install Java to run applications (for example the picture upload on Facebook). Again, copy and paste this to a terminal:

sudo apt-get install sun-java6-fonts sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin

That's it. Start (or restart) Opera with both Flash and Java installed.

Cool tweaks

The first time you run Opera on Ubuntu you might notice that the colors don't match natively with Ubuntu. To change this, click on Tools » Appearance and select the "Gold" color scheme for Opera.

Two different color schemes in Opera under Ubuntu

There will still be some blue left in the color theme. To change this you have to tweak your QT/KDE applications to be more "gnomeish". Fire up the terminal and paste:

sudo apt-get install qt3-qtconfig polymer

And:

wget http://www.informatik.tu-cottbus.de/~mkrause/debian/polymer/polymer_0.3.2-1_i386.deb

Run the qtconfig application:

qtconfig

Head over to the tab Library Paths and add /usr/plugins. In the Appearence tab choose Polymer in the Select GUI Style and save (CTRL+S). Exit qtconfig and restart Opera. You will see a magical switch from blue to brown color. You might also want to check out "Dapper", a skin available for download.

And last, but certainly not least — do yourself a favor and use Opera Link (File » Synchronize Opera) to synchronize your Bookmarks, Speed Dial, Notes and other useful browser data between your computer(s) and mobile phones(s).

More information about Opera running on Linux can be found in the Opera Forums.

Comments

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Tamil # Tuesday, November 4, 2008 4:01:40 PM

(119)

Angelikiellinidata # Tuesday, November 4, 2008 4:04:51 PM

thank you Espen! as always your posts are very helpful!!!
you deserve a

joeljoel.lasrado # Tuesday, November 4, 2008 4:16:24 PM

Good work. My linux fedora is stuck, who cares. I'll use xp.

Phantom2 # Tuesday, November 4, 2008 4:21:04 PM

GuillermoGuille # Tuesday, November 4, 2008 4:38:14 PM

I like this one better to install opera:

1º)

sudo wget -O - http://deb.opera.com/archive.key | sudo apt-key add -

2º)

Edit /etc/apt/sources.list with root permissions and add:

deb http://deb.opera.com/opera/ stable non-free

to the end of the file

3º)

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install opera

And then continue with the plugins

Rafael Luikrafaelluik # Tuesday, November 4, 2008 5:02:58 PM

I don't like Linux.

Matt Coxcoxy # Tuesday, November 4, 2008 5:03:31 PM

I'm with Guille on this one. My preferred method is his.

CharlieBAMAToNE # Tuesday, November 4, 2008 5:06:10 PM

Kubuntu ftw.

Soumitrasoumitram4u # Tuesday, November 4, 2008 5:07:04 PM

Charles SchlossChas4 # Tuesday, November 4, 2008 5:35:50 PM

Thats Opera for you Linux, Mac, or Windows it just runs well

also added a link to this page on this page: http://my.opera.com/Chas4/blog/2008/10/24/ubuntu-8-10-coming-soon

Sergio Uribesuribe # Tuesday, November 4, 2008 6:18:22 PM

thanks Espenao for share this! can I use the banner for my blog?
@coxy happy to see that you *actually* use ubuntu

JadDj-omega # Tuesday, November 4, 2008 6:21:50 PM

Need it for mobile 2 , and we need for opera-mini New Version With Flash&Java_Player , with Adobe and Script Support !

Mihai Sucanrobodesign # Tuesday, November 4, 2008 6:30:13 PM

And usually you also need to fix font rendering issues by enabling font hinting for fontconfig, not just for gnome (like the default). Additionally, you need to ensure you have the msttfcore fonts package installed.

For better GUI you can customize your qt3 color theme and then you can install a nice ubuntu skin from the my.opera skins section.

PhoenixP3Kphoenixp3k # Tuesday, November 4, 2008 6:43:19 PM

Adding the Opera repository is very important in my opinion, helps get the latest verion within a few days of it's release.

However, the final part of your instructions didn't change the menu to a brown color. Remains blue (like in your screenshot might I add).

Thanks for the post.

Miladin MiladinoskiEagleMKD # Tuesday, November 4, 2008 6:58:49 PM

Absolutely great guide! I am still on 8.04 but will upgrade this evening

Daniel Ziltenerzilti # Tuesday, November 4, 2008 7:06:25 PM

Kubuntu!! Mandriva!! KDE 4!!

Ydnpkhinmgayeydnpkhinmgaye # Tuesday, November 4, 2008 7:31:40 PM

hello!

Espen André ØverdahlEspenAO # Tuesday, November 4, 2008 7:54:27 PM

Nice to see a lot of interest on this subject.

Originally posted by suribe:

thanks Espenao for share this! can I use the banner for my blog?

Sure!

dirkthetomster # Tuesday, November 4, 2008 8:30:32 PM

espen, thanks for the great guid, will update next weekend to 8.10:)
ubuntu and opera matches perfectly ... who needs xp anyway?

yeeliberto # Tuesday, November 4, 2008 8:49:12 PM

Thanks for the tips, I am already using Opera in Ubuntu.

Ivanivan--p # Tuesday, November 4, 2008 8:59:06 PM

Nice guide, I think I'll add the repository too.

BTW
I upgraded few days ago from 8.04 to 8.10, and it also upgraded the flash from 9 to 10, and since then flash is very slow at Opera (but works ok at Firefox). Have someone seen this too? (Please don't redirect me to support forums: I'm going to ask there soon...)

Charles SchlossChas4 # Tuesday, November 4, 2008 9:18:11 PM

ivan_p I have also notice flash is slow, but if I pause the video it loads faster

Kyle Bakerkyleabaker # Tuesday, November 4, 2008 9:39:22 PM

Awesome! I've had Opera in Ubuntu for nearly two years now, but I'm ecstatic to see that you are showing the Linux community some love too!

I've been trying to push Ubuntu to update their version of Opera (which is still 9.27 through the partner repository), but they are being so slow about it even with the debs available from Opera.com that they could just upload.

0x29a # Tuesday, November 4, 2008 10:11:50 PM

I think my favorite part of this whole thread (besides Guille's apt configuration) is the "real OS" part of the thread title. I've been using Opera under linux for many years in both rpm and deb package formats. It is indeed nice to see linux users get some frontpage love at my.opera.com.

Not to be a fanboi, or anything, but w00t!

(hehe)

merlin!pintavodki # Wednesday, November 5, 2008 12:17:36 AM

I'm already using Opera in Ubuntu, but thanks for the "gnomeish" look tip. =) Nice job. =)

Joeljgm21 # Wednesday, November 5, 2008 12:19:03 AM

nice post!

Webshit # Wednesday, November 5, 2008 12:30:26 AM

The only thing I miss is a skin for the Dust-theme

Christopher DaSilvadannii # Wednesday, November 5, 2008 3:27:24 AM

I'm running Opera on Linux Mint and it rocks!

Gary Samanogrysmn # Wednesday, November 5, 2008 5:03:14 AM

I use Opera running on Ubuntu on two different laptops, while surfing at public wi-fi hotspots. Opera was crashing ubuntu and I was using only Firefox and Flock, Your tips seem to have Opera up and running! Thanks

joeljoel.lasrado # Wednesday, November 5, 2008 5:22:37 AM

Operamini needs a flashplayer and the server should be socket://195.189.142.68:1080

Kyle Bakerkyleabaker # Wednesday, November 5, 2008 7:51:07 AM

I think we should start a post about Opera in "alternative" platforms since Opera is obviously an "alternative" browser and have people post images or links to images with their own customizations and configurations to show how Opera can fit into any platform and theme! EspenAO, you should hop on that as a way to not only spread different operating systems and platforms, but also to encourage people to realize that no matter what you use...Opera is available and compatible.

Go election 2008!

Sh*t Happensask4whyshithappens # Wednesday, November 5, 2008 11:58:25 AM

Good work yo! Is cool to let us know...

Christian HuffPedric # Wednesday, November 5, 2008 12:52:09 PM

For Opera to look even more native within any color scheme, you could also download the QT4 build through the Opera ftp server. With a little polishing, it can be set to display native interface elements drawn by QT4!

sms985 # Wednesday, November 5, 2008 2:12:22 PM

@Webshit: The only thing I miss is a skin for the Dust-theme...

To better match the dust theme, this is what you can try:
Add new color schemes as explained by Tamil here:

http://my.opera.com/Tamil/blog/more-color-schemes-in-opera

then I choose Cornsilk color scheme in Appearance window. This color scheme matches almost perfectly the Dust-theme

sms985 # Wednesday, November 5, 2008 2:13:39 PM

Pedric, can you tell us more about polishing QT4 builds please? would be really helpful

element119 # Wednesday, November 5, 2008 2:31:25 PM

@dannii linux mint with opera here too. i like mint better than an other distro i have ever tried.

contarc # Wednesday, November 5, 2008 3:31:18 PM

For a theme to match the Dust-theme, check out this blog post.

http://kyleabaker.com/2008/10/08/an-opera-skin-to-match-the-ubuntu-dust-theme/

Great skin for any OS.

Christian HuffPedric # Wednesday, November 5, 2008 4:19:44 PM

@tomas.sprlak: The QT4 builds of Opera are statically linked against QT4, and try to determine the QT style in the /usr/bin/opera startup script. To do so, the startup script searches a config file for a specific "style=STYLENAME" line. However, it looks for the QT style in the QT_3_ config file instead of the QT_4_ file.

In Ubuntu 8.04, the user's QT3 config is in ~/.qt/qtrc, while the user's QT4 config is in ~/.config/Trolltech.conf

As super-user, edit /usr/bin/opera, line 40, and change the two occurrences of the QT3 config file to the QT4 config file to make Opera find the name of your QT4 style. This needs to be repeated everytime you upgrade Opera to a new version, as the .deb overrides the startup script.

Of course, you will need qtconfig-qt4 to configure QT4. The QT4 builds come with a native QT4 skin, that draws the UI elements using QT4. You can build your own native skin from any skin by extracting the skin, editing the ini file and rezipping, to get different icons.

Chrystallotusninja # Wednesday, November 5, 2008 7:36:05 PM

Opera on Kubuntu now has working flash, w00t w00t! Thanks!

slackwrdave # Wednesday, November 5, 2008 8:24:25 PM

Everything running like a dream (Opera/Linux)! Has been for years.

On my old computer I used Opera because it ran lighter than the others. On my powerful one, I still use Opera because I get to duck as the lightening bolts fly out of it from the speed.

Of course there are countless other reasons to use it, too.

The Opera team has always paid attention to the non-dominant system users. I've always had room in my heart for Opera.

Mauriciomrmxo # Wednesday, November 5, 2008 11:24:58 PM

i can't conect my modem in ubuntu!

TJBohemianT # Thursday, November 6, 2008 3:29:12 AM

Ubuntu is a backward piece of trash. Simplicity is the key, Opera mini is like a pioneer in terms of mobile innovation. Mac os is also twisted. Im sticking with the tried and tested, all that to install software?! I don't think so.

Johnnyrhonnysparks # Thursday, November 6, 2008 4:15:15 AM

Is java working in 64 bit ubuntu intrepid? I know it definitely does NOT work in 64 bit hardy.

@Guille: the only problem with that method is that it doesn't include weeklies

slackwrdave # Thursday, November 6, 2008 4:23:09 AM

all that to install software?! I don't think so

Oh but there's a bucketload of ways to install software, you're not tied to any particular one. Some like a single click from the GUI, others like to type away on a console.

I always find it fun to explore the many different ways of accomplishing a desired task. Linux has been my learning playground for years, and if I screw it up, I get to re-fetch the damaged stuff, or learn how to untangle the mess I made.

Though I'm not talented enough to write source code, compiling and installing from source is quite fun, though you won't be doing this with Opera if you're on the consumer end.

TJBohemianT # Thursday, November 6, 2008 7:15:22 AM

Don't get me wrong i like experimenting with my machines too. Laptop, desktop and phone. But ubuntu looks rank, and it's impractical. I want folders with sharp corners! Not cutesy bubbles and things. I hate the childish feel of Mac and ubuntu. But you're probably right, exposure to different things is the root of all knowledge. I'm sticking with microsoft though. IE 8 is a nightmare, i'm using Firefox but im gonna try Opera on my pc because this app runs like clockwork.

sms985 # Thursday, November 6, 2008 12:22:14 PM

@ Pedric: Thank you, just before I try it, can you tell me please what's the benefit of using qt4 over qt3 builds? (apart from opera using system color scheme properly)
Another thing: there used to be a problem with opera qt4 builds, they didn't draw the content properly (scrolling pages messed-up the text and images on the page). Do you know how to fix it?

Maciek # Thursday, November 6, 2008 5:06:00 PM

How to make Opera look native in KDE 4: http://userbase.kde.org/Tutorials/Opera

Christian HuffPedric # Thursday, November 6, 2008 7:23:17 PM

tomas.sprlak, no real benefits. One of the reasons that the QT4 builds are not yet available through the download page is that they really lack some polishing. Opera was build with the skinning engine in mind and controls too many aspects of the interface itself, such as font families and sizes for UI elements, it wont't respect the font you set in qtconfig. The current use of native QT elements definitely needs some work (which holds true for the QT3 version as well). Promises of QT4 include a more modular design and thus faster speeds on the interface. In theory, it is possible to build the Windows and MacOS versions using QT and spare the devs some work... Maybe for Opera 10... or 11...

Kyle Bakerkyleabaker # Friday, November 7, 2008 12:33:04 AM

@contarc
Just noticed you linked to my Dust theme for Opera. Thanks.

I have two "Dust" themes for Opera posted here:
http://kyleabaker.com/goodies/opera/skins/#my-opera-skins