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My former employer Opera Software has filed a lawsuit against me

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Re: My former employer Opera Software has filed a lawsuit against me

#131

Post by eswangren »

Osiris wrote: post #61
malgorithms wrote: post #8

I wish I knew someone who used Opera so I could ask them to start boycotting it.

I use Opera on the desktop and on my mobile devices. So does my wife. I'm not going to stop using it because of a lawsuit, let alone for one that has not had any facts proven in a court. I really don't understand why people who don't know the facts of cases like this (i.e., you don't have an inside knowledge of the nitty-gritty), jump to conclusions to readily. Aren't we supposed to be a community of rational, though…

Yeah, Opera comes in at a whopping 1.74% browser share. They are a competitor to Mozilla in the same way that the Zune was a competitor to the iPod. Not really a competition.

Re: My former employer Opera Software has filed a lawsuit against me

#132

Post by zurn »

dkrich wrote: post #114

I'll admit that I am no IP expert but I'm told that winning an IP suit is impossibly difficult and extremely expensive. To pursue it, you really better believe that you have a tremendous amount of upside (ie, deep pockets on the other side) and that you have a very strong case. You might say that they are "just suing for $3.4 million" and that they might settle out of court, but I'd bet that unless Opera has a really…

Norway, and how different depends on what you're comparing with. Probably not too expensive for his means.

Re: My former employer Opera Software has filed a lawsuit against me

#133

Post by ibrahima »

kamaal wrote: post #116
jarek wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why do people get out of their way to use some marginal browser when there better both proprietary and open source options available? What is your apparently universal definition of "better," please?

I've never tried, let alone use Opera. I just keep hearing something like that exists. For now it feels like a 'me too' product which simply exists in the market.

I haven't used Opera on desktop in probably a decade, but it's been around since before Mozilla. How is it a 'me too' product?

Re: My former employer Opera Software has filed a lawsuit against me

#134

Post by davesims »

coldtea wrote: post #98
Osiris wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use Opera on the desktop and on my mobile devices. So does my wife. I'm not going to stop using it because of a lawsuit, let alone for one that has not had any facts proven in a court. I really don't understand why people who don't know the facts of cases like this (i.e., you don't have an inside knowledge of the nitty-gritty), jump to conclusions to readily. Aren't we supposed to be a community of rational, though…

> I use Opera on the desktop and on my mobile devices. So does my wife. OK. We just need to find the other 10. Why do people get out of their way to use some marginal browser when there better both proprietary and open source options available? Just to add to the web another slightly incompatible rendering engine? Or do they really like the gimmicky extras that Opera offers that much?

Everything I like about FireFox (gestures, tabbed browsing, a reasonable bookmark manager), Opera did first. I used Opera for years back when it flat killed Netscape and IE for features and standards compliance. I only left once FireFox implemented all of the same features I had come to rely on in Opera, PLUS developing its growing add-on ecosystem.

Gimmicky? Marginal? Not in the least. Sure, Opera, as a foreign, small, scrappy little software company wasn't able to knock off the behemoths of MSIE, Google/Chrome and Netscape-cum-Mozilla. But so what? The fact that they've been ahead of the feature curve as long as they have and are still in the fight is, to me, pretty dang amazing and quietly one of the most surprising stories in software in the last 15 years.

I've always been a fan of that resilient little Norwegian shop, and I'm sorry to see them (or, more than likely, their lawyers) get dragged into the unseemly world of lawsuits and recrimination. Hopefully this will resolve itself more amicably than it has started.

EDIT: I don't mean to be snarky or mean, but this bit made me SOL (snort out loud):

  "..another slightly incompatible rendering engine?"
Opera's earliest claim to fame, back in the godawful days of the real incompatibility wars, was its near-religious adherence to W3 standards. A lot of web developers in the late nineties/early oughts would use Opera as the benchmark browser, and then resolve various quirks-mode issues from there. If it worked in Opera, you could be reasonable sure the problem wasn't with your code, but with a quirk that you were about to have to fork your code on, for Netscape or IE.

Re: My former employer Opera Software has filed a lawsuit against me

#135

Post by jonknee »

MichaelApproved wrote: post #127
jonknee wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For starters, Mozilla's lawyer has nothing to offer.

Wouldn't they have lawyers (plural)? I'd guess they also have access to lawyers who know the laws in other countries.

Maybe they have a lawyer on retainer in Norway, but I doubt it. I'm sure they'll get one, but it would be strange for a non-profit like Mozilla to have a worldwide legal staff.

Re: My former employer Opera Software has filed a lawsuit against me

#136

Post by devcpp »

davesims wrote: post #134
coldtea wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I use Opera on the desktop and on my mobile devices. So does my wife. OK. We just need to find the other 10. Why do people get out of their way to use some marginal browser when there better both proprietary and open source options available? Just to add to the web another slightly incompatible rendering engine? Or do they really like the gimmicky extras that Opera offers that much?

Everything I like about FireFox (gestures, tabbed browsing, a reasonable bookmark manager), Opera did first. I used Opera for years back when it flat killed Netscape and IE for features and standards compliance. I only left once FireFox implemented all of the same features I had come to rely on in Opera, PLUS developing its growing add-on ecosystem. Gimmicky? Marginal? Not in the least. Sure, Opera, as a foreign, sma…

Opera might have been ahead in the past, but is it still ahead? Having tried their browser, I must have missed something because I think Firefox with addons is way better.

I find brand fidelity particularly nonsensical when a company is going downhill on the quality of its products.

Re: My former employer Opera Software has filed a lawsuit against me

#137

Post by devcpp »

dkrich wrote: post #114

I'll admit that I am no IP expert but I'm told that winning an IP suit is impossibly difficult and extremely expensive. To pursue it, you really better believe that you have a tremendous amount of upside (ie, deep pockets on the other side) and that you have a very strong case. You might say that they are "just suing for $3.4 million" and that they might settle out of court, but I'd bet that unless Opera has a really…

They probably just want to tell their employees that sharing "trade secrets" won't be tolerated. Nothing better for that than a lawsuit with ridiculous amounts of money. It might fail but it sends a strong message.

Not that I don't despise this kind of practices...

Re: My former employer Opera Software has filed a lawsuit against me

#138

Post by Tomek_ »

Osiris wrote: post #125
coldtea wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I use Opera on the desktop and on my mobile devices. So does my wife. OK. We just need to find the other 10. Why do people get out of their way to use some marginal browser when there better both proprietary and open source options available? Just to add to the web another slightly incompatible rendering engine? Or do they really like the gimmicky extras that Opera offers that much?

Or do they really like the gimmicky extras that Opera offers that much? This. I started using Opera long before Chrome even existed. A basic thing: Hold the right-mouse button and click the left. It takes you back to the previous page. Chrome still doesn't do that. It's the UI that I prefer, not the rendering engine. The major reason that I use Opera is the built-in mail client. I have half a dozen email accounts and…

Exactly. I'm trying to use other browsers too and stuff like these, like the way how ctrl+tab works, or, especially!!!, tabs thumbnails (seriously, this is the best thing ever) are keeping me coming back to Opera

Re: My former employer Opera Software has filed a lawsuit against me

#139

Post by gcp »

suyash wrote: post #27
magclock wrote: post #13

I think he meant to write "My company's former customer".

That makes a big difference, he can be prevented from personal liability in that case and can declare bankruptcy.

Depends on a lot of things, really, like his company's structure and the relevant laws.

Re: My former employer Opera Software has filed a lawsuit against me

#140

Post by pootch »

fakeer wrote: post #91
Osiris wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use Opera on the desktop and on my mobile devices. So does my wife. I'm not going to stop using it because of a lawsuit, let alone for one that has not had any facts proven in a court. I really don't understand why people who don't know the facts of cases like this (i.e., you don't have an inside knowledge of the nitty-gritty), jump to conclusions to readily. Aren't we supposed to be a community of rational, though…

Facts? I've recently developed some (parts) of Android framework for my current employer (which is as of now unique to this OEM phones) and I am seriously looking for a job change for various reasons. Now if my new employer hires me for the same role and I am asked to do the same thing again(and I'll mention this work on my resume and interview), I'll do it. Otherwise, what am I gonna do? Make railway engines for the…

To take your idea even further, I was asked not to "reimplement" something by a new employer, but was flat out asked for the code I wrote in a previous job in the job interview. This is not a mom and pop but a huge corporation which shall remain nameless. As far as not using google, well Chrome and Search are ok with me, the rest of google's products are just data collection (about me) which I can do without.
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