http://www.perlmonks.org?node_id=283723


in reply to I mostly browse with JavaScript...

I have JavaScript turned on, except for popup blocking and some other small things that Firebird allows, such as stopping scripts from faking stuff in the status bar and such. Some sites I frequent use popups for their message system which is kinda stupid, but those go in a whitelist, so no problem there.

The whole notion that javascript should be disabled by default on every site is pretty strange to me. Yes, on this very site javascript could be used to take control over someones account (as I even demonstrated hands on in some thread after a "put your money where your mouth is" challenge). But this site is a rare bird in that it allows user posted HTML and javascript pretty much unchecked, *and* it uses a login cookie that is not session based. Session based cookies aren't safe either, but sessions can be timed out.

Sites with this kind of system and especially that combination is rare however, so for almost any other place this is not an issue. Disabling it on this site might be a good idea though, if nothing else because some home nodes likes to annoy people severely because their owners has some kind of JS-hate. I don't mean the friendly warnings about the security, but rather the ones that crash browsers or popup a million windows/popups and such. Pretty silly.

I rarely use JS myself, but used right, it can really enhance a site, and in a much better way that those stupid flash sites that just makes sites hard to use. Flash is good for games and funny movies, nothing else IMO. :) Like any technology, there are good and bad uses.

As a side note, JScript (the MS version) and VBScript and all that crap has at least in the past shown to be very dangerous beasts, with severe security issues and the possibility to write a virus on a web page. Having those disabled is probably still a good idea, and I suggest doing that by not using IE. Finally, the replacements such as Firebird is actually better in all respects, not just better morally, philosophically and in some areas such as popup blocking and security. So no excuse to be on IE still. Apart from some special sites, though Firebird works nice at my bank too, and no site I've wanted to visit the last few months have required IE anymore. Happy me. :)


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