Decentralized Password Manager Using Blockchain And Ipfs — Complete Documentation & Simulation

Overview & System Context

Decentralized Password Manager Using Blockchain And Ipfs: Comprehensive Web-Sourced Technical Investigation Exhaustive Research Dossier · Pure Web-Scraped Content: ~8824 Words · Real Software Screenshots: 2 1. Executive Overview & Technical Background Opera is a multi-platform web browser developed by its namesake company Opera. The current edition of the browser is based on Chromium. Opera is available on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS (Safari WebKit engine). Opera offers two mobile versions, called Opera Mobile and Opera Mini.

Opera was first developed at Telenor as part of the MultiTorg project. After four beta versions, the first stable version was released on 10 April 1995, making it one of the oldest desktop web browsers to exist. It was commercial software for its first ten years and had its own proprietary layout engine, Presto. In 2013, it switched from the Presto engine to Chromium. In 2019, Opera introduced Opera GX, a gaming-themed version of Opera with additional gaming-related features. The browser has a feature called mods which made it possible to change the look of the browser with dynamic backgrounds, custom Opera logos, etc.

In 2025, Opera released Opera Air, a more lightweight version of the browser designed with a focus on mindfulness and user well-being. It integrates standard browsing functionalities with tools aimed at reducing digital stress and enhancing productivity. Figure 1: IPFS: A Decentralised Cloud and File System for the Blockchain Environment In the same year, Opera released Opera Neon, an AI agentic browser which has similar functions to ChatGPT Atlas.

Opera Limited wholly owns Opera Holdings AS, which in turn wholly owns Opera Services AS, which in turn wholly owns Opera Norway AS (all incorporated in Norway). The filing notes "Our corporate headquarters is located in Oslo, Norway. Our principal technical development facilities are located in Wroclaw, Poland; Dundee, Scotland; Beijing, China, and both Linköping and Gothenburg, Sweden".

The filing notes that Opera is owned by Chinese company Kunlun Tech Co: "In 2021, Kunlun, a Chinese public company and our largest investor, increased its ownership stake in us beyond 50%, and as a result we became a consolidated subsidiary of Kunlun … as a subsidiary of Kunlun, we are additionally subject to certain of the listing rules of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and Chinese corporate governance standards." James Yahui Zhou, the controlling shareholder of Kunlun, is executive chairman of Opera's board: "As of the date of this annual report, Kunlun, a Chinese public company listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, indirectly owns 68.8% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares. As such, we are a consolidated subsidiary of Kunlun." Figure 2: Figure 4 from Design of Personal Data Protection Decentralized Model ...

In 1994, Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner and Geir Ivarsøy started developing the Opera web browser while working at Telenor, a Norwegian telecommunications company. In 1995, they founded Opera Software AS. Opera was initially released on 10 April 1995, and then it was released publicly in 1996 with version 2.10, which ran on Microsoft Windows 95. Development for mobile device platforms started in 1998.

Opera 4.0, released in 2000, included a new cross-platform core that facilitated the creation of editions of Opera for multiple operating systems and platforms. To this point, Opera was trialware and had to be purchased after the trial period. With version 5.0, released in 2000, Opera became ad-sponsored, displaying ads to users who had not paid for it. Subsequent versions have given users the choice of seeing banner ads or targeted text ads from Google.

With version 8.5, released in 2005, the ads were completely removed, and the browser's primary financial support came through revenue from Google (by contract, Opera's default search engine). Among new features introduced in version 9.1, released in 2006, was fraud protection using technology from GeoTrust, a digital certificate provider, and PhishTank, an organization that tracks known phishing websites. This feature was further expanded in version 9.5, when GeoTrust was replaced with Netcraft, and malware protection from Haute Secure was added.

In 2006, Nintendo released the Nintendo DS Browser and Internet Channel for Nintendo's DS and Wii gaming systems, respectively, which were Opera-based browsers. A new JavaScript engine, called Carakan (after the Javanese alphabet), was introduced with version 10.50. According to Opera Software, it made Opera 10.50 more than seven times faster in SunSpider than Opera 10.10.

On 16 December 2010, Opera 11 was released, featuring extensions, tab stacking (where dragging one tab over another allowed creating a group of tabs), visual mouse gestures and changes to the address bar. Opera 12 was released on 14 June 2012. On 12 February 2013, Opera Software announced that it would drop its own Presto layout engine in favor of WebKit as implemented by Google's Chrome browser, using code from the Chromium project. Opera Software planned as well to contribute code to WebKit. On 3 April 2013, Google announced it would fork components from WebKit to form a new layout engine, Blink. That day, Opera Software confirmed it would follow Google in implementing Blink.

On 28 May 2013, a beta release of Opera 15 was made available, the first version based on the Chromium project. Many distinctive Opera features of the previous versions were dropped, and Opera Mail was separated into a standalone application derived from Opera 12. In 2016, Opera was acquired by an investment group led by a Chinese consortium; the consortium included several Chinese companies such as Kunlun Tech and Qihoo 360. On 27 July 2018, Opera Software went public on the NASDAQ stock exchange, raising $115 million in its initial public offering. Opera began repurchasing its shares in 2022 following the closure of 360 Security Technology Inc. that year.

In January 2017, the source code of Opera 12.15, one of the last few versions still based on the Presto layout engine, was leaked. The source code of Presto, which is proprietary software, was uploaded to GitHub on 13 January, but was taken down four days later after Opera Software lawyers issued a DMCA notice. The code repository was later reuploaded to Bitbucket. It was later taken down there too, and the Bitbucket repository now returns a 404.

2. System Architecture & Core Working Principles To demonstrate how radically different a browser could look, Opera Neon, dubbed a "concept browser", was released in January 2017. PC World compared it to demo models that automakers and hardware vendors release to show their visions of the future. Instead of a Speed Dial Browsing feature it displays the frequently accessed websites in resemblance to a desktop with computer icons scattered over it in an artistic formation.

On 10 May 2017, Opera 45 was released. Notably this was the last version of the browser compatible with 32-bit Linux distributions, with later versions requiring a 64-bit Linux distribution. This version, inspired by the previous Opera Neon design, was called "Opera Reborn" and redoes parts of the user interface, such as adding light and dark modes, and integrates the messenger applications Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Telegram. Additionally, new ad-blocking settings were added along with security changes.

On 4 January 2018, Opera 50 was released. This version updated the browser to utilize the built-in ad blocker to provide cryptocurrency mining protection that stops sites from running scripts that attempt to use the CPU to mine cryptocurrency. Additionally the browser added Chromecast support, VR support enhancements, saving pages as PDFs, and improved VPN performance with region-based locations rather than country-based.

On 9 April 2019, Opera 60 was released. This version, codenamed Reborn 3, focused on moving the browser towards a more minimal design, further improving the free VPN service, and was marketed as being the "World's first Web3 ready browser", as it included out-of-the-box integrations with blockchain and cryptocurrency applications. On 21 May 2019, Opera GX was announced and opened for early access. The only information available in this announcement is that the browser would be a special version of the browser aimed at those who play games. The early-access program was opened on 11 June 2019.

On 24 June 2021, Opera 77, codenamed Opera R5, was released. As one of the larger updates to the browser, it added more music streaming services in the sidebar, integrating native support for Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music, Tidal, SoundCloud, and Gaana. The "Pinboards" feature was also added, letting users create a shareable collection of websites, images, links, and notes in a visual form. A video popout feature was also added for video conferencing, which happens automatically when switching tabs, popping out of the window when navigating away and popping back in when navigating back. Later, in Opera 83 released on 19 January 2022, this feature would be implemented for all video players, not just video conferencing platforms.

In April 2022, Opera launched VPN Pro, a paid, device-wide VPN service, initially as a beta for Android. Unlike Opera's free browser VPN, VPN Pro protects traffic from applications across the device and was later expanded to Windows and macOS. On 31 Jan 2023, Opera announced that given the discontinuation of support for Windows 7 and 8.1 by Microsoft, Chromium based browsers are also ending support, so Opera will no longer get updates on those versions, but older versions will continue to function on those versions of Windows.

On 22 March 2023, Opera and Opera GX incorporated features with AI-powered tools. These features include AI Prompts that are suggested to the user, and sidebar access to ChatGPT and ChatSonic. The prompts show up on sites that contain content like articles, offering to shorten the text or summarize them. On 20 June 2023, Opera launched Opera 100, codenamed Opera One, a version of the browser built from the ground up around AI which was unveiled on 25 April 2023. This browser includes a native AI called Aria, a GPT-based AI engine that was developed collaboratively with OpenAI that sifts through web information, generates text and code, and more. Tab islands were also introduced, allowing browser tabs to be grouped together, bookmarked, collapsed, and more. Major UI changes were made, and a Multithreaded Compositor was introduced, allowing the browser to function and render animations much more smoothly than it was previously capable. In February 2025, the platform launched a preview of its Browser Operator, an AI assistant that handles browsing tasks for users. In May 2025, Opera Neon is introduced, which is an AI browser designed to understand user's intent, assist with tasks, and take actions.

Opera has originated features later adopted by other web browsers, including: Speed Dial, pop-up blocking, reopening recently closed pages, private browsing, and tabbed browsing. Additional features include a built-in screenshot tool, Snapshot, which also includes an image-markup tool; built-in ad blockers, and tracking blockers. Opera Turbo, a feature that compresses requested web pages (except HTTPS pages) before sending them to the users, is no longer available on the desktop browser. Opera Turbo is available in Opera Mini, the mobile browser.

One security feature is the option to delete private data, such as HTTP cookies, browsing history, items in cache and passwords with the click of a button. When visiting a site, Opera displays a security badge in the address bar which shows details about the website, including security certificates. Opera's fraud and malware protection warns the user about suspicious web pages and is enabled by default. It checks the requested page against several databases of known phishing and malware websites, called blacklists.

In 2016, a free virtual private network (VPN) service was implemented in the browser. Opera said that this would allow encrypted access to websites otherwise blocked, and provide security on public WiFi networks. Security experts at Deloitte inspected Opera VPN's technical infrastructure to ensure users' data linked to their activities is never stored or logged as stated in Opera's no-log policy.

In July 2026, Opera introduced Paste Protect, a security feature designed to protect against clipboard-based attacks such as ClickFix. It monitors content copied to the clipboard for potentially malicious commands and blocks suspicious content before it can be pasted, while also warning the user. In March 2020, Opera updated its Android browser to access .crypto domains (IPFS), making it the first browser to be able to support a domain name system (DNS) which is not part of the traditional DNS directly without the need of a plugin or add-on.

This was through a collaboration with a San Francisco–based startup, Unstoppable Domains. In 2021 iOS and desktop versions have support for IPFS. In January 2022, Opera introduced Opera Crypto Browser into public beta, combining a non-custodial wallet with a dedicated browser for blockchain-enabled services and Web3 technologies. On 14 April 2022, Opera launched its Crypto Browser available on iOS devices. As of 2023, Opera Crypto Browser has been discontinued, with the browser's features being integrated into Opera and Opera GX.

Opera GX is a gaming-oriented alternative to Opera. The browser was announced on 21 May 2019 and released in early access for Windows on 11 June 2019, during E3 2019. The macOS version was released in December of the same year. Opera GX adds features geared toward gamers and other audiences, with the regular Opera browser features included. The limiter allows users to limit network, CPU, and memory usage to preserve system resources. GX Cleaner is a tool that is said to allow users to clear cache, cookies, and other unwanted files etc. The browser also adds integrations with other websites such as Twitch, Discord, Twitter, and Instagram. The browser also has a built-in page called the GX Corner, which combines gaming-related releases, deals, and news articles.

On 5 September 2019, Opera won a Red Dot award in the Interface and User Experience Design category for Opera GX. Around the same time, Opera GX also marked its first one million downloads. 3. Software Implementation, Frameworks & Protocols On 12 November of the same year, Opera GX Mobile was awarded another Red Dot award in both the Apps category and the Interface and User Experience Design: Mobile UIs category.

On 19 August 2023, Opera GX introduced a VTuber named GX Aura for their social media accounts; she later became the mascot for the browser. On 28 November of the same year, Opera GX launched a new advertising campaign titled "Bury Boring", featuring actor and comedian Eric André smashing and burying computers not using Opera GX.

Opera Air is a web browser released by Opera in February 2025. It has features that focus on mindfulness and relaxation to combat doomscrolling. The browser incorporates tools for relaxation and focus, such as Take-a-break reminders, customizable meditation and stretching exercises, and a Boosts feature that plays ambient sounds, music, and binaural beats. These tools and exercises are in the browser's sidebar.

The developer stream allows early testing of new features, mainly targeting developers, extension creators, and early adopters. Opera developer is not intended for everyday browsing as it is unstable and is prone to failure or crashing, but it enables advanced users to try out new features that are still under development, without affecting their normal installation of the browser. New versions of the browser are released frequently, usually a few times a week.

The beta stream, formerly known as "Opera Next", is a feature complete package, allowing stability and quality to mature before the final release. A new version is released every couple of weeks. Both streams can be installed alongside the official release without interference. Each has a different icon to help the user distinguish between the variants. Versions with the Blink layout engine have been criticized by some users for missing features such as UI customization, and for abandoning Opera Software's own Presto layout engine. Despite that, versions with the Blink layout engine have been noted for being fast and stable, for handling the latest web standards and for having a better website compatibility and a modern-style user interface.

Related other browsers: Brave: open-source privacy-focused browser Otter Browser: an open-source browser that recreates some aspects of the classic Opera Vivaldi: a freeware browser created by the former CEO of Opera Software and former Opera Software employees Related topics: History of the web browser List of pop-up blocking software List of web browsers Timeline of web browsers This is a list of free and open-source software (FOSS) packages, computer software licensed under free software licenses and open-source licenses. Software that fits the Free Software Definition may be more appropriately called free software; the GNU project in particular objects to their works being referred to as open-source. For more information about the philosophical background for open-source software, see free software movement and Open Source Initiative. However, nearly all software meeting the Free Software Definition also meets the Open Source Definition and vice versa. A small fraction of the software that meets either definition is listed here. Some of the open-source applications are also the basis of commercial products, shown in the List of commercial open-source applications and services.

Cline – AI coding agent for IDEs and the command line. Codex CLI – AI coding agent and command-line interface developed by OpenAI. Command Code — CLI and desktop AI agent DeepSeek Coder – large language model designed for code generation and AI-assisted software development. Eclipse Theia – integrated development environment and framework with AI-assisted software development features. goose – AI coding agent for the desktop and command line. Kilo Code — CLI and IDE extension developed by Anaconda OpenCode — CLI, desktop app, web app, and IDE extensions OpenHands — AI software development agent Oh My Pi – terminal-based AI coding agent developed as a fork of Pi. Pi – terminal-based AI coding agent. Zed – source-code editor with integrated AI-assisted development and agentic coding features.

Apertus – Swiss National AI Initiative LLM BERT – Google LLM BLOOM – BigScience multilingual LLM Cerebras-GPT – Cerebras Systems LLMs DeepSeek – R1 and V3 models Gemma 4 – Google LLM GLM-4.5 and later versions – Z.ai LLMs GPT-1, GPT-2, and GPT-OSS – OpenAI LLMs GPT-J, GPT-Neo, and GPT-NeoX – EleutherAI LLMs Hy – Tencent open-weight LLM Granite – IBM LLMs Grok-1 – xAI LLM Inkling – Thinking Machines Kimi (some versions) – Moonshot AI LLMs MiMo (some versions) – Xiaomi LLMs Mistral (some versions) Muse Glimmer — Meta Superintelligence Labs LLM Nemotron 3 – Nvidia open-weight models OLMo – Allen Institute for AI LLM Phi – Microsoft LLMs Qwen (some versions) – Alibaba Cloud LLMs Sarvam-M, Sarvam-105B and Sarvam-30B – Sarvam AI LLMs SmolLM – Hugging Face small language models (SLMs) Step-3.7Flash – StepFun LLM T5 – Google LLM XLNet – Google LLM ArduPilot CoppeliaSim Gazebo Mobile Robot Programming Toolkit OpenRTM-aist Paparazzi Project Player Project Python Robotics Robot Operating System (ROS) TurtleBot UBtech Thinker Webots – robot simulator Archimedes (CAD) Art of Illusion Blender BRL-CAD – constructive solid geometry (CSG) solid modeling computer-aided design (CAD) system FreeCAD – parametric 3D CAD modeler with a focus on mechanical engineering, BIM, and product design LeoCAD — beginner Lego 3D modeler LibreCAD – 2D CAD software using AutoCAD-like interface and file format MakeHuman MeshLab Open Cascade Technology (OCCT) – CAD kernel for 3D CAD, CAM, CAE OpenSCAD – scripting-based 3D CAD software QCAD SolveSpace – 2D and 3D CAD, constraint-based parametric modeler with simple mechanical simulation abilities Sweet Home 3D Wings 3D Electric FreePCB Fritzing – CAD software for the design of electronics hardware to build more permanent circuits from prototypes gEDA GNU Circuit Analysis Package (Gnucap) Icarus Verilog KiCad – suite for electronic design automation (EDA) for schematic capture, PCB layout, manufacturing file viewing, SPICE simulation, and engineering calculation KTechLab Magic Ngspice pcb-rnd Oregano Quite Universal Circuit Simulator (QUCS) Verilator XCircuit Blender – 3D computer graphics software toolset used for creating animated films, visual effects, art, 3D printed models, and motion graphics FreeCAD – equivalent of Blender geared toward mechanical engineers OpenFOAM – software used for computational fluid dynamics (or CFD) FlightGear – atmospheric and orbital flight simulator with a flight dynamics engine (JSBSim) that was used in a 2015 NASA benchmark to judge new simulation code to space industry standards SimPy – queue-theoretic event-based simulator written in Python Salome – generic platform for Pre- and Post-Processing for numerical simulation OpenPGP – open-source version of Pretty Good Privacy GNU Privacy Guard – replacement for PGP OpenSSL – library for applications that provide secure communications over computer networks NaCl (software) – crypto library Libsodium – fork of NaCl VeraCrypt – disk encryption software forked from TrueCrypt LUKS – standard for disk encryption on Linux systems Nym (mixnet) – mix network that uses noise and random packet timing for obfsucation, overlay network for NymVPN Tor (network) – free overlay network for enabling anonymous communication Tails (operating system) – security-focused Linux distro using Tor by default Signal (software) – secure messaging app Off-the-Record Messaging – protocol for secure instant messaging GPGTools – macOS suite for GnuPG-based encryption Aircrack-ng – Wi-Fi security auditing tool BackTrack – predecessor to Kali Linux Burp Suite Community Edition – security assessment and penetration testing of web applications Ghidra – software reverse engineering suite developed by the NSA Hashcat – password recovery utility High Orbit Ion Cannon – DDoS hping3 — packet crafting and network penetration-testing utility Hydra (software) – login cracker supporting numerous protocols John the Ripper – password cracking tool Kali Linux – penetration testing Linux distribution Metasploit Project – framework for developing and executing exploit code Netcat – network utility for reading/writing data across networks Nikto (vulnerability scanner) – web server vulnerability scanner Nmap – network scanning, port scanner, and auditing tool OpenSSH – implementation of the SSH protocol Radare2 – reverse engineering framework Snort (software) – network intrusion detection system sqlmap – automated SQL injection and database takeover tool Suricata (software) – network threat detection engine Volatility (memory forensics) – memory forensics framework for incident response Wireshark – network protocol analyzer YARA – tool to identify and classify malware qBittorrent – BitTorrent client Transmission (BitTorrent client) – lightweight BitTorrent client IPFS – InterPlanetary File System for decentralized storage and sharing RetroShare – secure communication platform with file sharing Zerocoin – privacy-focused cryptocurrency protocol Zcash – cryptocurrency based on Zerocoin using zk-SNARKs Monero – privacy-focused cryptocurrency using ring signatures NYM — Nym mixnet privacy- and security-focused token Tornado Cash — Cryptocurrency tumbler ClamAV – cross-platform antimalware toolkit written in C and C++, able to detect many types of malware including viruses ClamWin – antivirus tool for Windows and written in C, C++ Lynis – security audit tool (set of shell scripts) for Unix and Linux 4. Practical Deployment, Analysis & Case Studies Bouncy Castle GnuPG GnuTLS KGPG NaCl OpenSSL Seahorse Signal stunnel TextSecure wolfCrypt 7-Zip Snort – network intrusion detection system (IDS) and intrusion prevention system (IPS) Suricata – network threat detection engine OpenVAS – software framework of several services and tools offering vulnerability scanning and vulnerability management Nmap – network scanner, port scanner, and security auditing tool Nikto – web server vulnerability scanner Volatility – memory forensics framework for incident response Cyberduck – macOS and Windows client (since version 4.0) Lsh – server and client, with support for SRP and Kerberos authentication OpenSSH – client and server PuTTY – client-only Apache Cassandra – NoSQL database from Apache Software Foundation offers support for clusters spanning multiple datacenter Apache CouchDB – NoSQL database from Apache Software Foundation with multi-master replication MariaDB – community-developed relational database management system with pluggable storage engines and commercial support PostGIS – adds support for geographic objects to the PostgreSQL as per Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) PostgreSQL – relational database management system emphasizes on extensibility and SQL compliance and available for Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, and OpenBSD ATutor – web-based Learning Content Management System (LCMS) Canvas LMS – web-based, open, extensible learning management system Chamilo – web-based e-learning and content management system Claroline – collaborative Learning Management System DoceboLMS – SAAS/cloud platform for learning eFront – icon-based learning management system H5P – framework for creating and sharing interactive HTML5 content IUP Portfolio – educational platform for Swedish schools ILIAS – web-based learning management system (LMS) Moodle – learning management system OLAT – web-based Learning Content Management System Omeka – content management system for online digital collections Sakai Project – web-based learning management system SWAD – web-based learning management system Kiwix – offline web browser that allows users to download Wikipedia's entire content and use it for offline learning. Later it was expanded with repositories for Wikimedia Foundation, public domain texts from Project Gutenberg, many of the Stack Exchange sites, and other resources OpenStreetMap – OpenStreetMap was developed in 2004. It uses Open data and users data input through Crowdsourcing and Web mapping to create a complete and downloadable alternative to other online maps.

This allow users to enter data when there is no data available due to lack of governance and economic interest or due to lower population of the places mapped Advanced Simulation Library ASCEND Calcpad Calculix CHEMKIN – chemical kinetics COCO simulator – chemical process simulator CP2K – quantum chemistry and solid-state physics DWSIM – chemical process simulator General Mission Analysis Tool (GMAT) – space mission analysis GNU Octave – numerical-analysis GROMACS – simulations of proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids JSBSim – flight dynamics engine LAMMPS – Molecular dynamics Open Babel – chemical informatics OpenModelica – chemical process simulator OpenSees – earthquake engineering OpenVSP – parametric aircraft geometry tool Pyomo – mathematical optimization QBlade – wind turbine design and aerodynamic simulation software REFPROP – reference Fluid Thermodynamic and Transport Properties XFOIL – analysis of subsonic isolated airfoils .apng – Animated Portable Network Graphics .avif – AV1 Image File Format .bpg – Better Portable Graphics .exr – OpenEXR .fits – Flexible Image Transport System primarily for Astronomy .flif – Free Lossless Image Format .gif – Graphics Interchange Format .iff / .lbm – InterLeaved BitMap .jng – JPEG Network Graphics .jpg or .jpeg – Joint Photographic Experts Group .jxl – JPEG XL .mng – Multiple-image Network Graphics .miff / .mi – Magick Image File Format .pam, .pbm, .pgm, .ppm, .pnm – Netpbm file formats .pgf – Progressive Graphics File .png – Portable Network Graphics .qoi – Quite OK Image Format .tiff – Tag Image File Format .wbmp – Wireless Application Protocol Bitmap Format .webp .xbm – X BitMap .xcf – GIMP .xpm – X PixMap .adoc – AsciiDoc .epub – ebook format .latex – LaTeX, macro package built on top of TeX for simplification .md – Markdown .odt – OpenDocument .rtf – Rich Text Format .tex – high-quality typography for mathematical notation, physics, chemistry, engineering/scientific notation .texinfo 1DayLater – invoicing software GnuCash – double-entry book-keeping HomeBank – personal accounting software KMyMoney – double-entry book-keeping LedgerSMB – double-entry book-keeping RCA open-source application – management accounting application SQL-Ledger – double-entry book-keeping TurboCASH – double-entry book-keeping for Windows Bitcoin – blockchain platform, peer-to-peer decentralised digital currency Ethereum – blockchain platform with smart contract functionality CiviCRM – Constituent Relationship Management software aimed at charities and NGOs iDempiere – business Suite, ERP and CRM SuiteCRM – web-based CRM Adempiere – Enterprise resource planning (ERP) business suite Apache OFBiz – suite of enterprise applications from Apache Software Foundation Compiere – ERP solution automates accounting, supply chain, inventory, and sales orders Dolibarr – web-based ERP system ERPNext – web-based ERP system for managing accounting and finance ERP5 – Single Unified Business Model based system written with Python and Zope iDempiere – fully navigable on PCs, tablets and smartphones driven only by a community of supporters JFire – ERP business suite written with Java and JDO LedgerSMB – double entry accounting and ERP system written with Perl metasfresh – ERP Software Odoo – ERP, CRM and CMS Openbravo – web-based ERP Tryton – ERP MAME – multi-platform emulator for arcade game systems Mednafen – multi-platform emulator MESS – multi-platform emulator RetroArch – cross-platform front-end for emulators, game engines and video games Snes9x – Super Nintendo emulator Stella – Atari 2600 emulator PCSX – PlayStation emulator PCSX2 – PlayStation 2 emulator PPSSPP – PlayStation Portable emulator Project64 – Nintendo 64 emulator RPCS3 – PlayStation 3 emulator Dolphin (emulator) – GameCube and Wii emulator Citra (emulator) – Nintendo 3DS and Wii emulator Cemu – Wii U emulator TIC-80 – virtual machine game engine that mimics the 8-bit systems of the 1980s QGIS – cross-platform desktop geographic information system (GIS) application to view, edit, and analyse geospatial data ADMB Euler Math Toolbox FreeMat GNU Data Language GNU MCSim GNU Octave J Julia Owl Scientific Computing Perl Data Language S-Lang Scilab Yorick Blender Game Engine – discontinued 2019 Godot – application for the design of cross-platform video games MonoGame – C# framework Open3DEngine – based on Amazon Lumberyard Stride – (prev. Xenko) 2D and 3D cross-platform game engine originally developed by Silicon Studio Amavis – email content filter Claws Mail – email Client Fetchmail – email Retrieval Geary – email client based on WebKitGTK+ GNUMail – cross-platform email client Hula – discontinued mail and calendar project K-9 Mail – Android Email Client MailScanner – email security system MH Message Handling System – email Client Modest – email Client Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups – email Client that was part of the now discontinued Mozilla Application Suite Mozilla Thunderbird – email, news, RSS, and chat client POPFile – cross-platform mail filter Proton Mail – app and web-based end-to-end encrypted e-mail evolved to become FOSS Roundcube – web-based IMAP email client Sylpheed – email and News Client Sympa – MLA software I2P – anonymous network layer (implemented as a mix network) that allows for censorship-resistant, peer-to-peer communication OnionShare – file sharing app using Tor network Popcorn Time – multi-platform media player qBittorrent – BitTorrent client Transmission – BitTorrent client Deluge – BitTorrent client BSD – FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, GhostBSD, TrueNAS, MidnightBSD, DragonFly BSD, OPNsense, pfSense, XigmaNAS, among others. GrapheneOS – Privacy- and security-focused, Android-based mobile operating system Kali NetHunter Linux – Debian, Ubuntu, Manjaro, Fedora, openSUSE, antiX, NixOS, Kali, Alpine, Tails, Mageia, Slackware, Gentoo, BlackArch, among others (List of Linux distributions). LineageOS – Android-based operative system for tablets and mobile phones GNU Hurd Mobian Nura Plasma Mobile PureOS Ubuntu Touch Redox OS FreeDOS – OS compatible with IBM PC DOS and Microsoft's MS-DOS ReactOS – OS intended to run the same software as Windows, originally designed to simulate Windows NT 4.0, later aiming at Windows 7 compatibility. It has been in the development stage since 1996.

AppleWin DOSBox – DOS programs emulator (including PC games) GNOME Boxes Hercules (emulator) Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) QEMU VirtualBox – hosted hypervisor for x86 virtualization 5. Performance Evaluation & Extended Technical Observations DTrace – dynamic tracing framework for analyzing and troubleshooting running applications and operating systems Memtest86 – stress-tests RAM on x86 machines strace – diagnostic utility for tracing system calls and signals Valgrind – debugging and profiling tool for detecting memory and threading errors Xnee – record and replay tests Acceleo – model-to-text code generator Apache Velocity – Java-based template engine used for code generation Babel – JavaScript transcompiler Bison CodeSynthesis XSD – XML Data Binding compiler for C++ CodeSynthesis XSD/e – validating XML parser/serializer and C++ XML Data Binding generator for mobile and embedded systems Flex lexical analyser – generates lexical analyzers Open Scene Graph – 3D graphics application programming interface OpenSCDP – Open Smart Card Development Platform SableCC – parser generator for Java and .NET SWIG – Simplified Wrapper and Interface Generator for several languages Umple – modeling and programming language with source code generation xmlbeansxx – XML Data Binding code generator for C++ YAKINDU Statechart Tools – Statechart code generator for C++ and Java Apache Flink – stream and batch data processing framework Apache Hadoop – distributed storage and processing framework Apache Mahout – scalable machine learning library Apache Spark – unified analytics engine Dask – parallel computing for analytics in Python ELKI – data analysis algorithms library GNU Octave – numerical computing environment JASP – GUI program for data analytics, data science, and machine learning Jupyter Notebook – interactive computing Keras – neural network library KNIME – data analytics platform Matplotlib – data visualization library MLlib – machine learning library for Apache Spark NumPy – numerical computing library Orange – data mining tool pandas – data manipulation library PyTorch – machine learning and deep learning framework Python R – statistical computing language SageMath – mathematics and data analysis environment SciPy – scientific computing library scikit-learn – Python machine learning library TensorFlow – machine learning framework WEKA – machine learning and data analysis suite 3G Bridge – grid interoperability Advanced Resource Connector – middleware BOINC – volunteer computing HTCondor – high-throughput computing Simple Grid Protocol – grid computing UNICORE – middleware CP2K – atomistic and molecular simulation of solid-state, liquid, molecular, and biological systems Open-source software Open-source license Comparison of file synchronization software § Open-source GNOME Core Applications List of concept- and mind-mapping software § Free and open-source List of formerly proprietary software List of GNU packages List of HDL simulators § Free and open-source simulators List of KDE applications List of open-source hardware projects List of optimization software § Free and open-source software List of public domain projects List of spreadsheet software § Free and open-source software List of Unix commands This article presents a detailed timeline of events in the history of computing from 2020 to the present. For narratives explaining the overall developments, see the history of computing. Significant events in computing include events relating directly or indirectly to software, hardware and wetware. Excluded (except in instances of significant functional overlap) are: events in general robotics events about uses of computational tools in biotechnology and similar fields (except for improvements to the underlying computational tools) as well as events in media-psychology except when those are directly linked to computational tools Currently excluded are: events in computer insecurity, hacking incidents, breaches/Internet conflicts, and malware if they are not also about milestones towards computer security events about quantum computing and communication economic events and events of new technology policy beyond standardization [Meta/Policy/Philosophy] – Thomas Metzinger, a German philosopher of cognitive science and applied ethics, called for a "global moratorium on synthetic phenomenology" which, "until 2050", precautionarily bans "all research that directly aims at or knowingly risks the emergence of artificial consciousness on post-biotic carrier systems" – and could be gradually refined. The paper does not describe mechanisms of global enforcement of such proposed regulations which do not consider biotic or semi-biotic systems and aims to limit suffering risks. [Type of database] – A new global food emissions database indicated that the current food systems are responsible for one third of the global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. [Data usage] – In a static proprietary article that appeared in and was co-reviewed by a scientific journal, authenticated scientists analyzed data from multiple public databases to create a regional representation of levels of deforestation induced by nations' recent, largely unmodulated, trade-, production- and consumption-patterns.

A study found that carbon emissions from Bitcoin mining in China – where a majority of the proof-of-work algorithm that generates current economic value is computed, largely fueled by nonrenewable sources – had accelerated rapidly and would soon exceed total annual emissions of countries like Italy, interfering with climate change mitigation commitments. Neuralink revealed a male macaque with chips embedded on each side of its brain, playing a mind-controlled version of Pong. While similar technology has been demonstrated for decades, and wireless implants have existed for years, some observers noted that the organization increased the number of implanted electrodes that are read wirelessly. Scientists reviewed materials strategies for organic neuromorphic devices, suggesting that "their biocompatibility and mechanical conformability give them an advantage for creating adaptive biointerfaces, brain-machine interfaces, and biology-inspired prosthetics".

Researchers published the first in-depth study of Web browser tab interfaces. They found that many people struggle with tab overload and conducted surveys and interviews about people's tab use. Thereby they formalized pressures for closing tabs and for keeping tabs open. The authors then developed related UI design considerations which could enable better tools and changes to the code of Web browsers – like Firefox – that allow knowledge workers and other users to better manage their tabs. Operation of the U.S. Colonial Pipeline was interrupted by a ransomware cyber attack. A new record for the smallest single-chip system was achieved, occupying a total volume of less than 0.1 mm3.

Scientists demonstrated the first brain–computer interface that decodes neural signals for handwriting. The character output speed of a patient with a paralyzed hand was up to 90 characters per minute – more than double the previous record. Each letter is associated with a highly distinctive pattern of activity in the brain, making it relatively easy for the algorithm to distinguish them. Archivists initiated a rescue mission to secure enduring access to humanity's largest public library of scientific articles, Sci-Hub, due to the site's increased legal troubles, using Web and BitTorrent technologies. Google demonstrated a research project called LaMDA, an automatic language generation system designed to sustain a conversation with a person on any topic. The most comprehensive 3D map of the human brain – of a millionth of a brain and requiring 1.4 petabytes of storage space – was published. El Salvador passed the Bitcoin Law, making it the first country to give cryptocurrency and bitcoin a status of legal tender. The law was passed by the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador on June 8, 2021, giving the cryptocurrency bitcoin the status of legal tender within El Salvador after September 7, 2021. It was proposed by President Nayib Bukele. The text of the law states that "the purpose of this law is to regulate bitcoin as unrestricted legal tender with liberating power, unlimited in any transaction, and to any title that public or private natural or legal persons require carrying out". GitHub Copilot, a programmer assistant AI, was released. Later FOSS variants of the tool included FauxPilot.

In the debate regarding the cognitive impacts of smartphones and digital technology, a group reported that, contrary to widespread belief, scientific evidence does not show that these technologies harm biological cognitive abilities and that they instead change predominant ways of cognition – such as a reduced need to remember facts or conduct mathematical calculations by pen and paper outside contemporary schools. However, some activities – like reading novels – that require long attention-spans and don't feature ongoing rewarding stimulation may become more challenging in general. Open 3D Engine – a game engine that is free and open source software (FOSS) and has Linux support – was released. Researchers used a brain–computer interface to enable a man who was paralyzed since 2003 to produce comprehensible words and sentences by decoding signals from electrodes in the speech areas of his brain. Japan achieved a new world record Internet speed: 319 Tbit/s over ~3000 km which, albeit not being the fastest speed overall, beats the previous record of 178 Tbit/s.

Scientists reported that worldwide adolescent loneliness and depression increased substantially after 2012 and that loneliness in contemporary schools appears to be associated with smartphone access and Internet use. DeepMind announced that its AlphaFold AI had predicted the structures of over 350,000 proteins, including 98.5% of the ~20,000 proteins in the human body. The 3D data along with their degrees of confidence for accuracy was made freely available with a database, doubling the previous number of protein structures in the public domain. Scientists published the first complete neuron-level-resolution 3D map of a monkey brain which they scanned within 100 hours.

A researcher reported that solar superstorms would cause large-scale global months-long Internet outages. She described potential mitigation measures and exceptions – such as user-powered mesh networks and related peer-to-peer applications – and the robustness of the current Internet infrastructure. Scientists concluded that personal carbon allowances (PCAs) could be a component of climate change mitigation. They found that the economic recovery from COVID-19 and novel digital technology capacities open a window of opportunity for first implementations. PCAs would consist of – e.g. monetary – credit-feedbacks and decreasing default levels of per capita emissions concessions. The researchers found that recent advances in machine learning technology and "smarter home and transport options make it possible to easily track and manage a large share of individuals' emissions" and that feedback effective in engaging individuals to reduce their energy-related emissions and relevant new personalized apps could be designed. Issues may include privacy, evaluating emissions from individuals co-running multinational companies and the availability and prices of products and services. Cerebras announced a new hardware and software platform that can support AI models of 120 trillion parameters, enabling neural networks greater than the equivalent number of human brain synapses.

Pathogen researchers reported the development of machine learning models for genome-based early detection and prioritization of high-risk potential zoonotic viruses in animals prior to spillover to humans. They concluded that their tool could be used for virus surveillance for pandemic prevention via (i.a.) measures of "early investigation and outbreak preparedness" and would have been capable of predicting SARS-CoV-2 as a high-risk strain. A loss of public IP routes to the Facebook DNS servers due to malfunctioning capacity-assessment code, routinely triggered after configuration changes of routers of the company's data centers, resulted in stoppage of BGP routing information broadcasts caused the 2021 Facebook outage. A study of data traffic by popular smartphones running variants of the Android software found substantial by-default data collection and sharing with no opt-out (i.e. even the NetGuard firewall, which is not installed by default, may not reliably and completely prevent such data traffic) and implications for users' privacy, control and security. Media outlets reported novel technologies for virtual try-ons of clothes for more sustainable fashion and improved online shopping, which increased relative to shopping at local shops that store clothes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A method of DNA data storage with 100 times the density of previous techniques was announced. Scientists demonstrated that grown brain cells integrated into digital systems can carry out goal-directed tasks with performance-scores. In particular, playing a simulated (via electrophysiological stimulation) Pong which the cells learned to play faster than known machine intelligence systems, albeit to a lower skill-level than both AI and humans, was reported. Moreover, the study suggested it provides the "first empirical evidence" of information-processing capacity differences between neurons from different species. Researchers reported the development of organic low-power neuromorphic electronics which they built into a robot, enabling it to learn sensorimotorically within the real world, rather than via simulations like in the study above. For the chip, polymers were used and coated with an ion-rich gel to enable the material to carry an electric charge like real neurons. Researchers reported the development of a system of machine learning and hyperspectral camera that can distinguish between 12 different types of plastics such as PET and PP for automated separation of waste of, as of 2020, highly unstandardized plastics products and packaging. A scientific review summarized research and data about telemedicine. Its results indicated that, in general, outcomes of such ICT-use are as good as in-person care with health care use staying similar. The Log4Shell security vulnerability in a Java logging framework was publicly disclosed two weeks after its discovery. Because of the ubiquity of the affected software, experts have described it as a most serious computer vulnerability. In a high-level meeting, the importance of security maintenance of open-source software – often also carried out largely by few volunteers – to national security was clarified.

Researchers reported the development of a database and analysis tool about perovskite solar cells which systematically integrates over 15,000 publications, in particular device-data about over 42,400 of such photovoltaic devices. Authors described the site – which requires signing up to access the data and uses software that is partly open source but to date not free software – as a participative "Wikipedia for perovskite solar cell research" and suggest that extensively capturing the progress of an entire field including interactive data exploration functionalities could also be applicable to many fields in materials science, engineering and biosciences. A third main convergent graphical shell (Maui Shell) and UI framework (MauiKit), based on KDE/Kirigami, for the Linux operating system on smartphones, desktops and other devices, was released.

News outlets reported artificial intelligence art had won the first place in a digital art competition. Such artistic imagery is generated using input consisting of text and sometimes images, usually including parameters such as artistic style (text-to-image generation). Around the time, an expert concluded that "AI art is everywhere right now", with even experts not knowing what it will mean, a news outlet established that "AI-generated art booms" and reported issues of copyright and automation of professional artists, a news outlet investigated how online communities (e.g. their rules) confronted with many such artworks react, a news outlet raised concerns over deepfakes, a magazine highlighted possibilities of enabling "new forms of artistic expression", and an editorial noted that it may be seen as a welcome "augmentation of human capability".

Moreover, additional functionalities – such as enabling the use of user-provided concepts (like an object or a style) learned from few images for novel personalized art generated from the associated word/s or expanding beyond the borders of artistic images in the same style – were reported. On 22 August, Stable Diffusion released as open source software, making the technology more accessible and free to use on personal hardware as well as extendable by third-parties (i.e. other software projects). A new deep learning technique enabled year-round measurements of sea ice thickness in the Arctic. A screening AI system for many cancer types that integrates different types of data via multimodal learning was reported.

Researchers reported the development of a deep learning system that learns intuitive physics from visual data (of virtual 3D environments) to some degree "from scratch" based on an unpublished approach inspired by studies of visual cognition in infants. Two weeks later, other researchers reported the development of a machine learning algorithm that could discover sets of basic variables of various physical systems and predict the systems' future dynamics from video recordings of their behavior. Researchers reported the development of deep learning software that can design proteins that contain prespecified functional sites.

Researchers demonstrated semi-automated testing for reproducibility (which is lacking especially in cancer research) via extraction of statements about experimental results in non-semantic, gene expression cancer research papers and subsequent testing with breast cancer cell lines via robot scientist "Eve". Agilicious, an open-source and open-hardware versatile standardized quadrotor drone, tailored toward agility, was released. A university reported the release of 'Quad-SDK' which may be the first open source full-stack software for large agile four-legged robots, compatible with the ROS. News outlets reported deployment, research and development of novel military drone technology in the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2022, including demining drones, self-repurposed commercial/hobby drones (including via a hackathon), reconnaissance microdrones, kamikaze drones, bomb-dropping modified drones, and countermeasures such as electronic ones. The first data transmission to exceed 1 petabit per second (Pbit/s) using a single laser and a single optical chip was demonstrated by European researchers. News outlets reported a novel agricultural robot for viable weed control using lasers or "laserweeding".

There are similar precision agriculture machines that have been reported before, also e.g. applying low amounts of herbicides and fertilizers with precision while mapping plant locations, in some cases autonomously. Their benefits may include "healthier crops and soil, decreased herbicide use, and reduced chemical and labor costs". A satellite-free GPS-alternative higher-resolution positioning system using existing telecommunications networks was demonstrated, SuperGPS. Impossible Metals announced its first underwater robotic vehicle, 'Eureka 1', had completed its first trial of selectively harvesting polymetallic nodule rocks from the seabed nearly without harming the environment (as compared to other seabed mining) to help address the rising global need for metals for renewable energy system components – mainly batteries. It operates autonomously and uses advanced computer vision, e.g. using AI to determine which rocks have signs of visible life on them so that they are not harvested.

Harvested Online Documentation & Reference Sources • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera%20%28web%20browser%29 • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List%20of%20free%20and%20open-source%20software%20packages • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline%20of%20computing%202020%E2%80%93present