Opera 12.13 still crashing, three weeks after it got known. Ignorance or neglection ?
Yesterday I paid a visit to my relatively elder mate. She told me that she cannot launch Opera for the last few days.
Surely that was 12.13 - by chance her installed extensions set did not induced the crash in early day of 12.13 but they finally did.
And that reminded me the question, that i did not asked in 12.13 timespan, for not pouring oil into the fire.
Why does 12.13 crash at all?
We, concerned Opera users, had been told, that 12.13 was released with known crash problem, because the condition, causing the crash, were not thoroughly investigated yet, and it was thought that share of users affected by crash would be less, that it actually turned to be. But after that assumption proved wrong, could Opera users expect Opera Software ASA to treat them responsibly and stop those crashes ?
I stress it - not releasing 12.14 someday tomorrow, but stopping 12.13 from crash the instant the problem became public? That is #1.
Also - why could it happen that my mate used 12.13 for at least a week and not demanded to upgrade and not told how dangerous condition she keeps ? That is #2
And when Opera crashed what did she saw ? strange dialog, asking her for login/password, and having few lines in English, that she does not speak. That is #3.
Now with more details and thoughts.
#3: asking people with beginners IT skills to visit some page, when their main browser does not work, that actually looks... inconsistent at least.
Sure IT geeks would be able to launch another browser or to check the page from another computer. But Opera does not think about geeks. For last few years Opera Software ASA consistently keeps ignoring geeks' and oldtimers' complains and removes advanced features of past and introduces beginner-oriented features. Then Opera should not expect its users to speak English, and should understand that the dialog it displayed instead of submitting crash report would just be but FUD and ridiculing them. They already are in trouble, and as a remedy Opera suggests them recipe that they cannot read and action that they cannot do! Actually my mate, being unable to read that text, just considered that new dialog as one more manifestation of utterly damaged Opera state, that caused the crash. If she managed to read it, i think she would be very upset. Again, she is not geek, for her visiting the web page for years meant to launch Opera and click the link. Demanding to open the page when Opera is defunct to her could mean nothing but trolling her.
#2: 12.13 was withdrawn from the download page, when the spread of the crasher got realized. 12.13 was assessed a total disaster, that no one should use. Then... WHY DID IT WORKED ? Opera is a bit proud about its browser.js functionality. "We fix the errors of stupid webmasters for them". Great!
But why didn't Opera SA fixed its own error and made all the users do either upgrade or downgrade but departure form time bomb that 12.13 is ? They had a lot of means to do it, and browser.js is just one of them - most easy and most obvious. But not the only. Opera is targeting newcomers, but it act like it only deals with hardcore hackers, who knew all the whereabouts of 12.13 before it was even released. "If some user is running 12.13 that is because he/she deliberately searching for troubles" is what Opera SA thinks. But that is wrong. The person may nto know that 12.13 is not most recent version auto-upgrade mechanism is not always reliable and fast, and it may be disabled. And even if it worked, then there is no information given to user, that 12.13 is but a timebomb. 12.14 is presented (if presented) as a mere "minor fix" that can be safely postponed. That is not what a company caring about its users and having a lot of ways to communicate with them should do.
#1 We were told that the reason of the crash is in the interaction between Opera 12.13 and Opera SA extensions update server. Opera 12.13 is invariant - if it is installed, then it is. But Opera SA servers are not! They are under full control of Opera SA. I remember some materials about Opera Turbo even bragged which a cool C-like dynamic language did Opera SA developed to make easy and instant changes to their servers.
That is what i was thinking about week ago when reading about 12.13 and wondering why those "instant changes" would not be applied to stop the loop.
Opera representatives described the crash as a force major, as something that Opera just does not have any control upon. And those implications were insincere at least.
Let's looks at the situation again.
Opera SA released 12.13 program and then user installed it, and then it got known, that Opera SA's servers send it the command to crash before user (inexperienced users the majority is) could interfere.
Again, 12.13 program had a kill switch incorporated. But those were functioning and working Opera SA servers that pulled the trigger. The fact that it was a side-effect does change nothing. Opera SA servers knowingly did and still do send a command "Opera 12.13 crash this instant!"
But maybe i am asking for a Divine Intervention? Maybe Opera SA really could not do a thing about its own servers ? Well, let us think a bit.
Opera employs talented professionals, why i am a mere user, who did not ever administered a single web server. So if i can suggest a way to stop crashes, then Opera SA knew those way even before i saw 1st 12.13 crash. Is there something we, inexperienced mere users, can think of, that would instantly stop ALL 12.13 crashes all around the world. We can.
Again, the given situation:
a: a lot of users installed Opera 12.13 with built-in kill switch and Opera SA can not directly and pro-actively remove it. That is and should be accounted as invariant by Opera SA.
b: Opera SA servers, that Opera SA has full and total control over, do send "crash this instant" command to Opera 12.13
Is there anything Opera SA could do then ? Sure. They could
b.1: correct their servers to never send kill command to Opera 12.13
b.2: isolate their servers from Opera 12.13, so that it would not be able to interact with them and receive kill command
How it can be done ? Easily. Opera Browser does interact with Opera SA servers using HTTP protocol, and HTTP Protocol does publish browser version. How does the communication looks now ?
user to company: Hello! I am Opera 12.13 ! Any news for me ?
company back to user: Yes, 12.13, there are news: go CRASH !!!
How it would look for any company caring for their users ?
user to company: Hello! I am Opera 12.13 ! Any news for me ?
company back to user: Yes, 12.13... wait! THAT 12.13 ??? No, no news for you, sorry. Good bye. {hang-up the phone}
Actually that is exaggerating things a bit. Opera SA update servers still could provide all their functionality without crashing 12.13, though that would ask for a bit more intelligent change, which perhaps was not worth it
I actually suspect that Opera could achieve this even without changing a bit in their servers - just by issuing updated browser.js that would modify communication with update servers and protect 12.13 from kill command, like it is done for all other servers around the Globe.
But let's assume that those talents, who once coded update servers, all have long since left and Opera SA really has no control over internal machinery of their own servers. Why not.
Would this mean Opera SA could do nothing to protect their users and stop that never-ending crash loop ? Again no.
At very least Opera SA does have the control of their name servers! All they had to do is switching the name of their crash-update server and incorporating the new name into 12.14
user to company: Hello! I am Opera 12.13 ! Any news for me ?
company back to user: Yes, 12.13, there are news: CRASH !!!
by two configuration changes could be easily turned by Opera SA into
user to company: Hello! I am Opera 12.13 ! Any news for me ?
Internet to user: no one there to answer you, sorry. {hang up}
And then after an upgrade which should anyway be done it would be
user to company-new-postbox: Hello! I am Opera 12.14 ! Any news for me ?
company back to user: Yes, 12.14, there are news: update those extensions:...
But that is not all! This at least demands ignoring 12.12 and all prior versions.
But HTTP protocol - and let us recall it again, Opera Browser communicates with its servers using HTTP - has a well known redirect feature.
So instead of indiscriminate detaching all 12.13-and-prior releases, Opera SA just could precisely address that one failed release.
Just set up one small dispatcher server, that would only let go all versions but 12.13
user to company: Hello! I am Opera 12.13 ! Any news for me ?
company back to user: Yes, 12.13, there are news: CRASH !!!
this infamous infinite loop Opera SA by a single additional server could easily turn into
user to company: Hello! I am Opera 12.12 ! Any news for me ?
company back to user: Yes, 12.12, proceed to company-new-postbox for more instructions.
user to company-new-postbox: Hello! I am Opera 12.12 ! Any news for me ?
company back to user: Yes, 12.12, there are news: update those extensions: ...
user to company: Hello! I am Opera 12.14 ! Any news for me ?
company back to user: Yes, 12.14, proceed to company-new-postbox for more instructions.
user to company-new-postbox: Hello! I am Opera 12.14 ! Any news for me ?
company back to user: Yes, 12.14, there are news: update those extensions: ...
user to company: Hello! I am Opera 12.13 ! Any news for me ?
company back to user: Yes, 12.13... wait! THAT 12.13 ??? proceed to black hole for more instructions.
user to black hole: Hello! I am Opera 12.13 ! Any news for me ?
Internet to user: no one there to answer you, sorry. {hang up}
Any of those simplistic changes, that were and still are in full power of Opera SA, could save their users a lot of time and nerves and could brake crash-loop early and reliably. It could also inform those lucky users, whose 12.13 did not crashed yet, that they are in a very dangerous position and should escape it as soon as they could.
Nothing had been done. Nothing. Because to deploy this safety net there is a critical assumption: You should care about your users. The assumption failed.
To end this on a good note: my elder mate, before i found time to pay her a visit, got the help from her neighbors, who installed her Google Chrome, and shown how to use WebMail, as she was unable to read mail locked inside Opera M2. Using mail she changed all her passwords she needed for online services and that were locked inside defunct Opera Wand. During those few days she learned about other browsers and now is less dependent on Opera and on my help in case of any troubles. That is definitely a positive change for both me and her, yet that also meant one long-time Opera-only user started looking out of Opera realm. Surely that is just the single person from millions, but i also think there were a lot of similar escapes, but they just were not reported. Users hate to be helpless, and when they are forced into this state, they tend to remember it.
PS. This post was made at official Opera forum, where it was censored after approx. 5 hours. Surely none of those concerns were even tried to address. Feeling responsibility for your users is dull and annoying, isn't it?
PPS. Another user accused me of being "Opera hater". Using Opera Browser since v.3.62 and to this day hardly qualifies for being its hater, but even if, this post is totally not about Opera the program, but about Opera Software ASA the business unit.
Surely that was 12.13 - by chance her installed extensions set did not induced the crash in early day of 12.13 but they finally did.
And that reminded me the question, that i did not asked in 12.13 timespan, for not pouring oil into the fire.
Why does 12.13 crash at all?
We, concerned Opera users, had been told, that 12.13 was released with known crash problem, because the condition, causing the crash, were not thoroughly investigated yet, and it was thought that share of users affected by crash would be less, that it actually turned to be. But after that assumption proved wrong, could Opera users expect Opera Software ASA to treat them responsibly and stop those crashes ?
I stress it - not releasing 12.14 someday tomorrow, but stopping 12.13 from crash the instant the problem became public? That is #1.
Also - why could it happen that my mate used 12.13 for at least a week and not demanded to upgrade and not told how dangerous condition she keeps ? That is #2
And when Opera crashed what did she saw ? strange dialog, asking her for login/password, and having few lines in English, that she does not speak. That is #3.
Now with more details and thoughts.
#3: asking people with beginners IT skills to visit some page, when their main browser does not work, that actually looks... inconsistent at least.
Sure IT geeks would be able to launch another browser or to check the page from another computer. But Opera does not think about geeks. For last few years Opera Software ASA consistently keeps ignoring geeks' and oldtimers' complains and removes advanced features of past and introduces beginner-oriented features. Then Opera should not expect its users to speak English, and should understand that the dialog it displayed instead of submitting crash report would just be but FUD and ridiculing them. They already are in trouble, and as a remedy Opera suggests them recipe that they cannot read and action that they cannot do! Actually my mate, being unable to read that text, just considered that new dialog as one more manifestation of utterly damaged Opera state, that caused the crash. If she managed to read it, i think she would be very upset. Again, she is not geek, for her visiting the web page for years meant to launch Opera and click the link. Demanding to open the page when Opera is defunct to her could mean nothing but trolling her.
#2: 12.13 was withdrawn from the download page, when the spread of the crasher got realized. 12.13 was assessed a total disaster, that no one should use. Then... WHY DID IT WORKED ? Opera is a bit proud about its browser.js functionality. "We fix the errors of stupid webmasters for them". Great!
But why didn't Opera SA fixed its own error and made all the users do either upgrade or downgrade but departure form time bomb that 12.13 is ? They had a lot of means to do it, and browser.js is just one of them - most easy and most obvious. But not the only. Opera is targeting newcomers, but it act like it only deals with hardcore hackers, who knew all the whereabouts of 12.13 before it was even released. "If some user is running 12.13 that is because he/she deliberately searching for troubles" is what Opera SA thinks. But that is wrong. The person may nto know that 12.13 is not most recent version auto-upgrade mechanism is not always reliable and fast, and it may be disabled. And even if it worked, then there is no information given to user, that 12.13 is but a timebomb. 12.14 is presented (if presented) as a mere "minor fix" that can be safely postponed. That is not what a company caring about its users and having a lot of ways to communicate with them should do.
#1 We were told that the reason of the crash is in the interaction between Opera 12.13 and Opera SA extensions update server. Opera 12.13 is invariant - if it is installed, then it is. But Opera SA servers are not! They are under full control of Opera SA. I remember some materials about Opera Turbo even bragged which a cool C-like dynamic language did Opera SA developed to make easy and instant changes to their servers.
That is what i was thinking about week ago when reading about 12.13 and wondering why those "instant changes" would not be applied to stop the loop.
Opera representatives described the crash as a force major, as something that Opera just does not have any control upon. And those implications were insincere at least.
Let's looks at the situation again.
Opera SA released 12.13 program and then user installed it, and then it got known, that Opera SA's servers send it the command to crash before user (inexperienced users the majority is) could interfere.
Again, 12.13 program had a kill switch incorporated. But those were functioning and working Opera SA servers that pulled the trigger. The fact that it was a side-effect does change nothing. Opera SA servers knowingly did and still do send a command "Opera 12.13 crash this instant!"
But maybe i am asking for a Divine Intervention? Maybe Opera SA really could not do a thing about its own servers ? Well, let us think a bit.
Opera employs talented professionals, why i am a mere user, who did not ever administered a single web server. So if i can suggest a way to stop crashes, then Opera SA knew those way even before i saw 1st 12.13 crash. Is there something we, inexperienced mere users, can think of, that would instantly stop ALL 12.13 crashes all around the world. We can.
Again, the given situation:
a: a lot of users installed Opera 12.13 with built-in kill switch and Opera SA can not directly and pro-actively remove it. That is and should be accounted as invariant by Opera SA.
b: Opera SA servers, that Opera SA has full and total control over, do send "crash this instant" command to Opera 12.13
Is there anything Opera SA could do then ? Sure. They could
b.1: correct their servers to never send kill command to Opera 12.13
b.2: isolate their servers from Opera 12.13, so that it would not be able to interact with them and receive kill command
How it can be done ? Easily. Opera Browser does interact with Opera SA servers using HTTP protocol, and HTTP Protocol does publish browser version. How does the communication looks now ?
user to company: Hello! I am Opera 12.13 ! Any news for me ?
company back to user: Yes, 12.13, there are news: go CRASH !!!
How it would look for any company caring for their users ?
user to company: Hello! I am Opera 12.13 ! Any news for me ?
company back to user: Yes, 12.13... wait! THAT 12.13 ??? No, no news for you, sorry. Good bye. {hang-up the phone}
Actually that is exaggerating things a bit. Opera SA update servers still could provide all their functionality without crashing 12.13, though that would ask for a bit more intelligent change, which perhaps was not worth it
I actually suspect that Opera could achieve this even without changing a bit in their servers - just by issuing updated browser.js that would modify communication with update servers and protect 12.13 from kill command, like it is done for all other servers around the Globe.
But let's assume that those talents, who once coded update servers, all have long since left and Opera SA really has no control over internal machinery of their own servers. Why not.
Would this mean Opera SA could do nothing to protect their users and stop that never-ending crash loop ? Again no.
At very least Opera SA does have the control of their name servers! All they had to do is switching the name of their crash-update server and incorporating the new name into 12.14
user to company: Hello! I am Opera 12.13 ! Any news for me ?
company back to user: Yes, 12.13, there are news: CRASH !!!
by two configuration changes could be easily turned by Opera SA into
user to company: Hello! I am Opera 12.13 ! Any news for me ?
Internet to user: no one there to answer you, sorry. {hang up}
And then after an upgrade which should anyway be done it would be
user to company-new-postbox: Hello! I am Opera 12.14 ! Any news for me ?
company back to user: Yes, 12.14, there are news: update those extensions:...
But that is not all! This at least demands ignoring 12.12 and all prior versions.
But HTTP protocol - and let us recall it again, Opera Browser communicates with its servers using HTTP - has a well known redirect feature.
So instead of indiscriminate detaching all 12.13-and-prior releases, Opera SA just could precisely address that one failed release.
Just set up one small dispatcher server, that would only let go all versions but 12.13
user to company: Hello! I am Opera 12.13 ! Any news for me ?
company back to user: Yes, 12.13, there are news: CRASH !!!
this infamous infinite loop Opera SA by a single additional server could easily turn into
user to company: Hello! I am Opera 12.12 ! Any news for me ?
company back to user: Yes, 12.12, proceed to company-new-postbox for more instructions.
user to company-new-postbox: Hello! I am Opera 12.12 ! Any news for me ?
company back to user: Yes, 12.12, there are news: update those extensions: ...
user to company: Hello! I am Opera 12.14 ! Any news for me ?
company back to user: Yes, 12.14, proceed to company-new-postbox for more instructions.
user to company-new-postbox: Hello! I am Opera 12.14 ! Any news for me ?
company back to user: Yes, 12.14, there are news: update those extensions: ...
user to company: Hello! I am Opera 12.13 ! Any news for me ?
company back to user: Yes, 12.13... wait! THAT 12.13 ??? proceed to black hole for more instructions.
user to black hole: Hello! I am Opera 12.13 ! Any news for me ?
Internet to user: no one there to answer you, sorry. {hang up}
Any of those simplistic changes, that were and still are in full power of Opera SA, could save their users a lot of time and nerves and could brake crash-loop early and reliably. It could also inform those lucky users, whose 12.13 did not crashed yet, that they are in a very dangerous position and should escape it as soon as they could.
Nothing had been done. Nothing. Because to deploy this safety net there is a critical assumption: You should care about your users. The assumption failed.
To end this on a good note: my elder mate, before i found time to pay her a visit, got the help from her neighbors, who installed her Google Chrome, and shown how to use WebMail, as she was unable to read mail locked inside Opera M2. Using mail she changed all her passwords she needed for online services and that were locked inside defunct Opera Wand. During those few days she learned about other browsers and now is less dependent on Opera and on my help in case of any troubles. That is definitely a positive change for both me and her, yet that also meant one long-time Opera-only user started looking out of Opera realm. Surely that is just the single person from millions, but i also think there were a lot of similar escapes, but they just were not reported. Users hate to be helpless, and when they are forced into this state, they tend to remember it.
PS. This post was made at official Opera forum, where it was censored after approx. 5 hours. Surely none of those concerns were even tried to address. Feeling responsibility for your users is dull and annoying, isn't it?
PPS. Another user accused me of being "Opera hater". Using Opera Browser since v.3.62 and to this day hardly qualifies for being its hater, but even if, this post is totally not about Opera the program, but about Opera Software ASA the business unit.