[CentOS] And then there was one (browser)

Mon Feb 10 00:07:50 UTC 2014
Robert Arkiletian <robark at gmail.com>

Sorry for this being off topic but I feel it emphasizes the need for
long term support for desktop browsers on Linux.

Went hunting for any info on Opera for Linux. My assumptions seem to
be correct about Opera.  I have no proof this is a legit post but it
sounds like the truth:


"At my previous employer, a small browser vendor that decided to
abandon its own rendering engine and browser stack, I stopped using
our product because Linux wasn't a priority. Numerous reasons were
given, such as low market share, "only geeks use it", all journalists
use Macs, &c.

This was to the point of ridiculing the platform and the people
working on it, frequently citing "Linux jokes" such as "you'll
probably have to recompile your kernel first" whenever the question
was seriously raised about when we'd start at least getting the core
libraries working.

And when I say it wasn't a priority, I mean that we didn't even have
something that was in a compilable state. A few people had started
fixing up the broken code to get something that would compile on Linux
in their own free time. After a few weeks of hacking, they were told
by management to stop what they were doing and instead focus their
volunteer efforts on the project goals, being to ship a Windows and
Mac version.

So the company began the process of forcefully moving developers who'd
worked on Linux for over 15 years to platforms they felt uncomfortable
and unproductive working on.

This is a much longer tale, but it tells the story of a company
alienating not only their loyal user base, but also a significant
proportion of their own developers. The result? Lack of motivation and
resignations.

Well done."

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7129955