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Re:"Disable Javascript" option removed in Firefox 23 by JoshTriplett on Sunday June 30, 2013 @10:35PM (#5968310)
> Javascript is not required to read articles on the web.

Agreed. However, the web consists of far more than just "articles", and quite a bit of content legitimately uses JavaScript for required functionality. Disabling it needs to have the kinds of huge "this will break things" warnings associated with installing an extension like NoScript; it shouldn't have a checkbox in Firefox's preferences.

Re:"Disable Javascript" option removed in Firefox 23 by brudgers on Sunday June 30, 2013 @10:55PM (#5968372)
I surf a lot of the web with javascript off.

Most of the time, the major content of a page doesn't require it. When it does, it is usually either poor design, or good design where the design is intended to display a bunch of crap I don't want and download a hoard of tracking data.

To put it another way, when I'm surfing, Google Analytics isn't doing anything in my interest.

Re:"Disable Javascript" option removed in Firefox 23 by icebraining on Monday July 01, 2013 @02:41AM (#5969109)
Which is why NoScript is great: you can load the main site functionality without having to enable Analytics. The global enable/disable JS switch is just terrible for this kind of browsing, in my opinion.
Re:"Disable Javascript" option removed in Firefox 23 by PavlovsCat on Sunday June 30, 2013 @10:45PM (#5968339)
I have a crazy idea: a popup with an explanation the first time the user toggles the feature.
Re:"Disable Javascript" option removed in Firefox 23 by abtinf on Sunday June 30, 2013 @10:50PM (#5968359)
That's a terrible idea. The explanation would have to be very long - practically an essay. And the only people that will understand the explanation (or even care) are folks who are competent enough to quickly google how to disable javascript through about:config.

Increased software complexity and no tangible benefit. Lose-Lose.

Re:"Disable Javascript" option removed in Firefox 23 by knowaveragejoe on Sunday June 30, 2013 @11:00PM (#5968388)
What? If you can't explain in one sentence the fact that disabling JS will break most websites and it should only be done if you know what you're doing, then you've got bigger problems.
Re:"Disable Javascript" option removed in Firefox 23 by pyre on Sunday June 30, 2013 @11:22PM (#5968442)
And the 'people that know what they are doing' are the ones that know what about:config is, and how to Google for extensions to disable JavaScript. It's also arguable that an extension that provides an easy 'toggle JavaScript on/off' button is a much better interface than needing to dive into the preferences pane to disable JavaScript (and possibly re-enable it sometimes).
Re:"Disable Javascript" option removed in Firefox 23 by UberMouse on Sunday June 30, 2013 @11:27PM (#5968456)
People will still do it without understanding and then complain that Firefox broke. There is no legitimate reason your average user should have access to this checkbox. Especially when if you actually want to disable Javascript it's still very easy.
Re:"Disable Javascript" option removed in Firefox 23 by PavlovsCat on Sunday June 30, 2013 @11:29PM (#5968458)
People will still do it without understanding and then complain that Firefox broke.

If that is true, then point me to all those complaints.

There is no legitimate reason your average user should have access to this checkbox.

That's called kicking away the ladder, and fuck that with a rusty chainsaw. How are people supposed to even get curious about what Javascript is, when they never hear of it?

Re:"Disable Javascript" option removed in Firefox 23 by kingkilr on Sunday June 30, 2013 @11:35PM (#5968480)
Somehow the dark corner of a preferences pane doesn't seem like the place anyone would choose for an introduction to Javascript.
Re:"Disable Javascript" option removed in Firefox 23 by PavlovsCat on Sunday June 30, 2013 @11:50PM (#5968520)
That's the point, you don't choose when to first come across something you haven't heard of before. You don't wake up one morning and say "I guess I'll go to the library and get a book about Javascript" because you dreamed about it.

There are a million ways to display and to drill down into options that would make the FF options less cluttered, more logical, while having even more options than it does. There are ways to inform users pretty much exhaustively via built-in tooltips and documentation -- all of this has been working great in the 90s and got better since then. Icon > Title/Tooltip > Short Description > Verbose Description, so you learn everything you "stumble over" once when you need it, and from then on just use it, with the option to refresh your knowledge anytime.

Just compare about:config in Opera and Firefox, and simply accept we're dealing with different levels of skill and taste here, not just different choices.

Re:"Disable Javascript" option removed in Firefox 23 by potch on Monday July 01, 2013 @02:09AM (#5969001)