Open-source Vivaldi
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This is probably never going to happen but for the sake of completeness: Release Vivaldi as open-source.
Open internet needs open browsers.( And I am curious how often the
gotostatement is used by Vivaldi developers
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I'll link it here (again for completeness' sake), the source of the chromium part of the codebase can be downloaded from here: https://vivaldi.com/source/?lang=en_US
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This what Jon said on the topic:
A few words about Open Source & Vivaldi
February 19, 2016 3 comments
I got a question from users while doing AMA on Twitter regarding the license of Vivaldi. I replied with a short answer due to Twitter’s character limitation but I thought I would post longer answer here.Our source code package is available here: vivaldi.com/source. This links to a copy of the Chromium source code with the changes we made to allow our HTML/CSS/JS UI to run.
All our changes to Chromium source code are under a BSD license and hence can read by anyone. The details are explained in the the README and LICENSE files, within that package.
In addition, all of our UI code (included in normal packages) is written in plain, readable text. This means that all parts of Vivaldi are full audit-able and open from that perspective.
Posted in: Blog, Technology
Tagged: browser, open sourcePosted by Jon von Tetzchner
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I am aware that the main parts of Vivaldi are available in source. But will this continue to be the case? Will the (possibly available) email client also be available in source? Will you be able to use your own server for Vivaldi's upcoming synchronisation feature?
My definition of open-source is also slightly larger. It additionally relates to the open development of a software. E.g. being able to see features commited to public repositories, checking out the most recent version of Vivaldi (at the moment, vivaldi.com/source does not list version 1.14), and also accepting contributions from the community.
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Vivaldi is Open Source, but not GPL or free soft. Do not confuse these concepts. Open Source does not mean more than the Source Code is available, but not necessarily that it is also free to create another browser for another company, but if it is free so that the user can create a Vivaldi based on this source code to your size or suggest codes to improve its operation for other users.
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@catweazle This feature request is not about dumping Vivaldi's source code once in a while, it is about developing Vivaldi in the open.
I would like to see Vivaldi developed in a public repository (what about https://github.com/vivaldi ?), where people are able to fetch the current state of development any time and are able to submit contributions that can be discussed in public.
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@christian-rauch said in Open-source Vivaldi:
@catweazle This feature request is not about dumping Vivaldi's source code once in a while, it is about developing Vivaldi in the open.
I would like to see Vivaldi developed in a public repository (what about https://github.com/vivaldi ?), where people are able to fetch the current state of development any time and are able to submit contributions that can be discussed in public.
This may one day come true, but for now Vivaldi has some unique features that other companies would like, Google with Chrome first.
Vivaldi being still a fairly new browser that also wants its share of the market, completely releasing its code would be suicide.
It is understood therefore that Jon at the moment wants to safeguard his inventions -
Contributions are usually welcome, it's already happened (on github)
Vivaldi chromium patches if found are checked up from devs and merged if/when possible -
I will use Vivialdi if it was open source. I do not trust a web browser that is closed source. I need to be guarantee that I a not being spyed on by Vivaldi. This is a good browser and I like the development that is put into it. Many major browser are open source such as Chromium, Brave and Firefox to name a few. This is really my only request I want from Vivaldi.
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@trymeout You can audit the entire Code of Vivaldi, start to finish, to ensure you are not being spied upon. "Open Source" is a guarantee of nothing, other than the ability to copy and branch. There is nothing hidden about Vivaldi code. Nothing. You just don't have a license to convert it to your own use.
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@trymeout said in Open-source Vivaldi:
I will use Vivialdi if it was open source. I do not trust a web browser that is closed source. I need to be guarantee that I a not being spyed on by Vivaldi. This is a good browser and I like the development that is put into it. Many major browser are open source such as Chromium, Brave and Firefox to name a few. This is really my only request I want from Vivaldi.
Vivaldi is OpenSource, but it has multiple licenses, not a unified one and has some patented codes. That is, you can see, download and modify the code for personal use. Vivaldi is OSS, but not FOSS.
https://help.vivaldi.com/article/is-vivaldi-open-source/
https://vivaldi.com/en/source/>Laptop ACER, AMD Ryzen, GPU AMD Radeon RAM 16GB, SSD 512GB -Win11 Home 64 v24H2| Vivaldi last stable|
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I remember that Jon once said that this is why some codes have a patent, to avoid this, but not that they are closed codes, but that everything is open for audit.
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@Catweazle said in Open-source Vivaldi:
Vivaldi is OpenSource
It is not, by the definition of Open Source. Making source code visible to the public is not enough to make a project open source.
(Relevant reference: The Open Source Definition)
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@Gwen-Dragon said in Open-source Vivaldi:
@Komposten To the definition Vivaldi is not Open Source.
https://opensource.org/osd-annotatedI know the definition of OpenSource, but having the code in sight for audit does not mean that it is not closed code either. This makes Vivaldi Freeware, but it does not justify claims of carrying suspicious codes, because if you have all the code in sight to check it, it is not the same as Chrome, if it is closed source and nobody outside Google knows it contains
.This is why I prefer to use the definition of open source, but not free, although it does not fit the general definition. Vivaldi is a special case.
There are other examples of some NASA programs, OpenSource, but limited for use in certain scientific and government centers. -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_software
I can understand the vivaldi developers closed sourcing their own work because if it was fully open source which vivaldi is not then their work can be used and altered.
Vivaldi could be classed as partially open source as it is based on chromium.
Just because the source code is viewable does not make it open source.
Vivaldi is just protecting it's own work,this may put a lot of potential users off. -
I also think that the OpenSource concept should be revised. For me Vivaldi is OSS, what it is not, is FOSS. Basically important is that the code is auditable in its entirety, to be able to check that it does not contain suspicious things, which is the case in Vivaldi, which is not FOSS is only interesting for those who want to use the code for other projects, these have to settle for the Chromium part.
Chrome also use Chromium, but it isn't auditable, this is why it only can named Freeware, but not OSS. -
Another aspect of open source software is community interaction and code injection.Problem with closed source software is vendor lock in,You are more or less stuck with the features the "vendor" decides should be included,i am not even certain firefox fully satisfies the open source criteria and this is why forks are created.
I think the main worry with closed source software to most people is the code integrity and what code is inserted.
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https://vivaldi.com/source/ includes versions up to 2.10. What happened afterwards?
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I am of the belief vivaldi would benefit tremendously by being fully open source.others can add to it and perhaps make it better.Some open source developers could add and perhaps create some of the extensions or feature requests in the browser.
One of the benefits of open source is make a small program and make it bigger.
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@Priest72 , I think anything is possible with a fully auditable code from Vivaldi. Most of the Vivaldi code is FOSS. they are parts of the code that are not, to prevent others from using it to use Vivaldi code for other third-party browsers.
But it does not prevent users with the necessary notions can contribute their improvements by knowing the code.
