Are you thenwhat? Just on the off-chance that you're not him: What you described is exactly what a fork is. Please don't try to comment on software development until you've actually gained the experience that job entails.
Desktop is a smaller and smaller part of their income. It could disappear tomorrow, and the company would still be in great shape. It's growing all over the place. So again, claiming that Opera self-destructed is silly.
Thenwhat? Huh? A fork is taking the code in a new direction and making it differ from the original. Using the code as-is, is not a fork.
> Opera 15 is not a fork of Chrome either.
Are you thenwhat? Just on the off-chance that you're not him: What you described is exactly what a fork is. Please don't try to comment on software development until you've actually gained the experience that job entails.