Hi everyone,
I’ve done a deep dive into Vivaldi’s source code situation, and I’d like to share my understanding while inviting you to fact-check me if I’ve gotten anything wrong. From what I’ve gathered, Vivaldi’s code is 100% auditable, whether it’s client-side or server-side. Roughly 95% of the code is open source, primarily based on Chromium, and the remaining 5%, which is Vivaldi’s proprietary UI layer, is source-available. This means the proprietary code is fully accessible for auditing, just like the open-source portions, but it’s restricted from being forked or reused by other developers. This seems to be Vivaldi’s way of protecting their unique features and brand.
If this is accurate, I’m completely fine with it. As a strong open-source advocate, I also support software that’s fully source-available for auditing, even if it can’t be reused. I think this approach is fair and should be appreciated, as it balances transparency with protecting their work. However, if any part of the code were hidden and not auditable, I’d have concerns, as that could suggest potential privacy issues. But my understanding is that Vivaldi’s code is 100% transparent for review, just not fully open for reuse.
Can anyone confirm if I’ve got this right? I’d love to hear your thoughts or corrections if I missed something!