Topic: Opera Browser/Sever?

[Nemesis]

Link to full article

So what is Opera Unite? In a nutshell, Opera Unite is a collaborative technology that uses a compact server inside the Opera desktop browser to share data and services. You can write applications — in the form of Opera Unite Services — that use this server to serve content to other Web users.

Why is this exciting? Well, it allows you to interact with contacts, sharing data and services without the need for any third-party Web sites/applications to be involved at all. Think of the possibilities:

    * You could play games and chat to your peers directly using the service

    * You could share photos and videos with peers, straight off your hard drive, without needing to use third-party Web applications

    * You can work collaboratively with others on files such as data and images (think wikis or drawing applications), and then work with those files offline if you wish, before sharing them again at a later date

    * You could even start creating some crazy hacks, like an application that controls a remote car across the Web (I’ve seen a rough prototype in action)

I must admit that I have my doubts about the security of such a system.  Across your own network, ok.  Might even have some business uses within small companies or offices.  Just open wide on the internet by average users, seems like a security nightmare to me.

Otherwise I'd want a very secured application cut off from as much as possible of the rest of the system.

[Bonk]

This is what all the mystery hype was about? Whopee doo.

I wonder how they intend to address the typical residential ISP EULA that restricts permission to run servers.

[Nemesis]

I hadn't heard there was anything going on until I saw this.

That "no servers" thing is one reason I never went broadband.  For me the attraction would have been the ability to set up and run things for a (SFC) server and other things.  High speed just for web browsing hasn't been enough of an attraction.