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0 pointsSomeone12y ago0 comments

I am not planning on implementing that, but let's pretend I want to. When would that dialog come up?

Attempt #1: show that dialog as soon as a page tries to load some JavaScript. Result (I'm guessing): dialog shows up on 99.9% of all web pages one visits (even for the nerdiest of nerds)

Attempt #2: silently download the JavaScript to figure out whether it is 'benign' or 'evil'. Result: users complain that they pay for downloading stuff they do not want.

Attempt #3: make that dialog less intrusive; do not require acknowledgment. Result: users get trained to overlook it; users who accidentally enable the mode will never figure out what happened to their browser.

Attempt #4: a whitelist of allowed scripts. Problem: users will disagree about what should make it into the whitelist.

Attempt #5: the JSBlock extension. This may have merit. So, if you want this feature, download it, or write it if it doesn't exist yet. If the API does not allow writing it, bicker Mozilla.

0 comments

SomeoneElsa12y ago

Understand that no dialog is necessary for such an idea to be implemented at all.

Observe:

  <noscript>
    The webpage you are viewing may 
    not work correctly because the following 
    options differ from their default values:

    1. Enable automatic loading of images. 
    2. Enable JavaScript.

    These features of Firefox are essential 
    for most webpages to run properly. If the 
    webpage you are trying to access is behaving 
    strangely or appears to be working incorrectly, 
    <a href="">click here</a> to load the page 
    with the default browser configuration.
  </noscript>

SomeoneOP12y ago

1. who would insert that fragment in a page (and where, but let's ignore that)? I don't think you can expect sites to do it to make their site work with users who have JavaScript disabled (target audience is too small), so the browser must do it. How is the browser going to figure out whether to insert it?

Also: how is that not a dialog? It presents a message to the user, and waits for a reply.

I still think 'no JavaScript' is a niche feature that is best delegated to an extension that sports a whitelist or a blacklist of scripts to allow/forbid. A variation on Adblock would work fine (maybe, Adblock already can be used to blacklist JavaScript. If so, it is a matter of tweaking its UI)

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