The production version of Opera 5.0 for Linux is ready to roll, and will be available next. week, although as of this afternoon the company hadn't yet identified the precise release day.

The Linux version of Opera, the 'other' browser, has been in public beta for a while now, in a free ad-supported version or an ad-free variety, price $39. According to Opera's most recent FAQ for it, the core development systems have been using 2.2 on x86, so that'll definitely ship. But the company also mentions 2.4 and a slew of "Un*x platforms" as possible targets for 5.0. In principle, this just requires a recompile for each package and the creation of a native package, and seeing they specifically mention FreeBSD, this one looks at least like an RSN.

The long-suffering Pal at Opera promised to try to harpoon a couple of execs to evangelise at us earlier today, but he seems to have come up empty so far. So maybe an update when they get back from doing whatever it is Norwegians do to celebrate.

Currently, you can get the beta of Opera for Linux and/or more information here. As and when they flip this switch, it'll no doubt be a good place to start. ®