Opera

Plug-In documentation for Opera on Linux

This document was last updated for Opera 9.50.

Table of contents

• Introduction
• Linux Distributions and Package Managers
• Plug-Ins

Introduction

Plug-ins are programs that extend the capabilities of Opera. Commonly used plug-ins include Adobe Flash Player (Adobe), Adobe Reader (Adobe), and Java Runtime Environment (Sun). Other plug-ins enable you to play audio samples or view videos within a browser window.

All the major Linux distributions today have excellent systems for installing and updating software, making it possible to download and install a plug-in with a simple click or command. We recommend using such a package manager to install plug-ins; instructions follow. The alternative is to read the instructions for downloading and installing various popular plug-ins without a package manager.

Linux Distributions and Package Managers

To start, you should know which Linux distribution you are using, and become familiar with its package manager. Every major Linux distribution has its own informal support channels (mailing lists, forums, IRC, and/or wiki) that should help you to cope with any problems.

Distribution	Package Manager(s)	Plug-in Support	Community Support
Debian	aptitude / synaptic	Debian Multimedia	Mail - Forums - Other
Fedora	Yum	"Forbidden Items"	Forums - IRC - Mail - Wiki
Gentoo	Portage	Desktop Software	Forums - IRC - Mail - Wiki
Linspire	CNR (Click and Run)	many pre-installed see Compatibility	Forums
Mandriva	Rpmdrake	Mandriva Club	Forums
SUSE/openSUSE	YaST		Forums - IRC - Mail - Wiki
Red Hat	up2date / Yum	"Forbidden Items"	Forums - IRC - Mail - Wiki
Ubuntu	Installing Software	Restricted Formats	Community Support
Xandros	Xandros Networks	many pre-installed	Support
Yellow Dog	Yum		Forums - Mail

Next, you need to identify the name of the plug-in package, and use your package manager to install it. Different Linux distributions may use slightly different names.

In some cases, it may be necessary to locate and use third-party package repositories, because the license prevents your Linux distributor from offering it to you directly. For more detailed information, see the column labeled Plug-in Support in the table above. Users of .rpm-based distributions may find it useful to search in a database of .rpm packages.

For the case that this procedure fails, either because you do not know the name of the package, or because you cannot locate it, we give instructions for downloading and installing various popular plug-ins without a package manager.

Plug-Ins

Some of the more popular plug-ins are listed below. The package names in the second column should only be taken as a hint, because they depend on your Linux distribution. In this case, the names are taken from the Debian distribution, but they apply also to Ubuntu.

Tip for Kubuntu/Ubuntu/Xubuntu users: the meta-package ubuntu-restricted-extras adds several useful plug-ins, including Adobe Flash Player, to the basic set of packages installed by Ubuntu. There is also a kubuntu-restricted-extras package for Kubuntu users, and a xubuntu-restricted-extras package for Xubuntu users.

Plug-in	Package Name(s)	Description
Adobe Reader (Adobe)	acroread, mozilla-acroread	Adobe Reader allows you to view, navigate, and print PDF files across all major computing platforms. Adobe Reader is the free viewing companion to Adobe Acrobat and to Acrobat Capture software.
Adobe Flash Player (Adobe)	flashplugin-nonfree, flashplayer-mozilla	Adobe Flash Player is a free and highly popular multimedia plug-in for enhancing Web sites.
Java Runtime Environment (Sun)	sun-java6-jre, sun-java6-plugin	Java software allows you to run applications called "applets" that are written in the Java programming language. These applets allow you to play online games, chat with people around the world, calculate your mortgage interest, and view images in 3D. Corporations also use applets for intranet applications and e-business solutions.
GXine	gxine, gxineplugin	GXine is a gtk-based front-end to the movie player Xine. It includes a plug-in that will let you play most video formats by catching streaming video in Web pages and showing the video in an external player.
MPlayer	mplayer	MPlayer is a movie player that supports most video formats, including MPEG 1/2/4, DivX 3/4/5, Windows Media 7/8/9, RealAudio/Video up to 9, Quicktime 5/6, and Vivo 1/2. It is also capable of playing many audio formats.
Helix Player	helix-player, mozilla-helix-player	Helix Player is a streaming multimedia program, that can also act as a plug-in for Linux browsers. The following media types and protocols are supported: Theora (content must be encoded with Alpha3 or greater), Vorbis, Ogg, Basic SMIL 2.0, h363, RealPix, RAM and RPM playlist formats, RTSP streaming with RTP, HTTP streaming, RealText, RealEvents, and uncompressed audio (wav, au, aiff). RealPlayer for Linux is based on the Helix Player, and supports a few additional formats.
RealPlayer	realplayer	RealPlayer is a streaming multimedia program, that can also act as a plug-in for Linux browsers. It supports all media types supported by the Helix Player, plus: RealAudio, RealVideo, MP3, Windows Media Audio[7-9], Windows Media Video 9, MP4 audio (AAC unprotected only), and Flash 4.