If you’ve ever used Opera in Linux, then you most likely installed it by manually downloading the install file.

Now I’m going to show you how to add the Opera repository so that it automatically updates when you check for normal updates in Linux.

There are some directions listed at deb.opera.com, but they don’t make it very clear in my opinion for Ubuntu.

1. Open: System ->  Administration -> Software Sources -> Third-Party Software
   

2. Click Add, copy and paste the following
   deb http://deb.opera.com/opera/ sid non-free

   This can be confusing if you’re using Ubuntu, however, I’m using Ubuntu Jaunty and the above source worked great for me.

   *If you want to use the latest stable version of Opera, then the above line will be just fine. However, if you prefer to use Betas or Snapshots then you can replace the “/opera/” with “/opera-beta/” and “/opera-snapshot/” respectively.

   *If you’re using Debian or maybe even an older version of Ubuntu then you may need to use a different release name than “sid” in the source above, so you can use any of the following: potato, woody, sarge, etch, lenny, sid

3. After adding the correct repository, you will need to add the repository key. You can do that by running the following line in a terminal window:

   Debian users:
   wget -O – http://deb.opera.com/archive.key | apt-key add -

   Ubuntu users:
   sudo wget -O – http://deb.opera.com/archive.key | sudo apt-key add -

4. Now, if you have any version(s) of Opera already installed, you will likely need to remove it:
   sudo apt-get remove opera

5. Now you need to update apt before Opera will be available via the newly added repository:
   sudo apt-get update

6. All that is left is to install Opera again:
   sudo apt-get install opera

You may be wondering why you need to remove Opera only to install it again. This is because, the first time that it was installed, it was installed as a “local or obsolete” package and is not “maintained” by any package manager or update application. After you update apt and install Opera, it is maintained with the rest of the applications that you install and update directly through a package manager.

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