Slashdot Mirror

Since Firefox has started their crazy version numbering, I've given up on upgrading. I use 27 different addons and perfectly configured to make my web browser do what I want. It is near impossible to do an upgrade without spending hours reconfiguring the addons, some of which need to be manually downloaded and have their "MaxVersion" incremented so they will install. Maybe in 6 more months when we reach Firefox 50 I'll give it a try, but until then. Firefox 8 all the way!

Application: Firefox 8.0 (20111104165243)
Total number of items: 27

- Active Stop Button 1.4.10
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/active-stop-button/
- Adblock Plus 1.3.10
http://adblockplus.org/en/
- BetterPrivacy 1.68
http://nc.ddns.us/extensions.html
- ColorfulTabs 7.1
http://www.binaryturf.com/free-software/colorfultabs-for-firefox/
- Cookie Monster 1.1.0
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/cookie-monster/?src=api
- Copy Link Name 1.3.2
http://www.captaincaveman.nl/
- Download Statusbar 0.9.10
http://downloadstatusbarapp.com/
- DownloadHelper 4.9.14
http://www.downloadhelper.net/
- DownThemAll! 2.0.8
http://downthemall.net/
- Export Cookies 1.2
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/export-cookies/?src=api
- Find Toolbar Tweaks 3.0.0
http://homepage3.nifty.com/georgei/extension/ftt_en.html
- Firebug 1.8.4
http://www.getfirebug.com/
- Greasemonkey 0.9.13
http://www.greasespot.net/
- HeaderControlRevived 1.1
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/headercontrolrevived/?src=api
- Hide Caption Titlebar Plus 2.4.1
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/13505/
- Menu Editor 1.2.7
http://menueditor.mozdev.org/
- Movable Firefox Button 1.4
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/movable-firefox-button/
- NoScript 2.1.7
http://noscript.net/
- OptimizeGoogle 0.78.2
http://www.optimizegoogle.com/
- RequestPolicy 0.5.27
http://www.requestpolicy.com/
- Screen Capture Elite 2.0.0.23
http://www.grizzlyape.com/
- Searchbastard 1.5.5
http://searchbastard.rosell.dk/
- SkipScreen 0.6.1.2

That's what the Firefox extension, Platypus is for... unfortunately, it's no longer maintained, but Aardvark can produce similarly readable web pages without out too much work. Combine that with the Greasemonkey script, Autopagerize to join those multi-page articles designed to make you look at a whole new set of advertisements for each paragraph, and you come a little closer to having the experience that Tim Berners-Lee had in mind for the world wide web in the first place.

I use Greasemonkey with the Youtube Title Adder script. It appends the title of any youtube video to any link to youtube, thereby alerting you to the content of said link.

Granted, I use this more as a method to see what people are linking to as I can't reach youtube through the corporate firewall, but it works as a rickroll defense, too.

Even AdBlock and NoScript may not be enough. I've read about a recent trend where adverts are hosted directly on the content server. So if your website "requires" JavaScript and/or people have whitelisted it, ads will get through because the scripts and images are hosted directly on your website. Bastards.

In case you are willing to do something about it:

• Greasemonkey (FF|IE)
• Platypus
• Shiftspace
• JetPack
• Chickenfoot
• Privoxy
• Proximodo

the last of which is hosted by... SourceForge.

Right now, a web develoepr can rely on the fact that every visitor to his site is getting an up-to-date copy of the client software. We can have an interesting philosophical debate about whether they should rely on this assumption, or a much more practical one about how many do rely on it.

So I make non-backward-compatible changes to my website, and you run your cached/modified version of the client. Some features don't work. Your browser behaves in ways my server no longer expects. Depending on whether I forsaw this occurance, maybe the effect is harmless (except you're out of luck until you revert to a new download, and then start making your chnages again); or maybe if I was particularly clumsy or just have lousy luck, you corrupt some resource on the server.

Personally I don't see customization of web apps as a pressing need (prior to this article I've never thought about trying it, so clearly it isn't that important to my daily life). So to me, it isn't worth the trouble. YMMV.

Greasemonkey begs to differ - there is a very real and very popular desire to customize many aspects of popular websites, including the Javascript code in them. Greasemonkey also provides a solution to RMS's issue to an extent. It is not as accessible as he might like, and it doesn't solve the problem of programmatically determining whether you have the developer's permission to modify his code, but people are currently using it to make changes - maliciously or otherwise.

So you have two camps under RMS's plan - those that tag their client as free, in which case one would hope that they anticipate client side alteration, and those that do not, in which case they are still naive to expect that there will be no alteration of the client and such a change (bringing the possibility of that type of change into the public limelight) might achieve your "re-educating [of] every web developer". Just because it isn't common doesn't mean it isn't done, and whether browser developers embrace RMS's ideas or not doesn't change the fact that proper security should be a part of the design for every public facing resource.

So the argument, as you mentioned, is not that developers should know what they are doing, but simply that there already exists a desire to customize Javascript (even beyond just AJAX) applications and it needs to be made more accessible to the masses. Right now, people are modifying proprietary apps, which is likely a violation of TOU, because typically no license is included in the script portions of the page. He wants licensing to be made clear to the user so that they can easily detect what they are allowed to change and what they shouldn't (or should only at their own legal risk). More importantly for RMS, he could direct his browser to refuse to run any Javascript that is not free. That is the first step. Once it is clear what you can modify, then he wants the browser to have a simple method for activating your changes. Greasemonkey does this, I believe, but it is not built into the browser (and I don't think it should be, so I disagree with RMS on this point).

In TFA he extends the argument to Java applets, Flash, and Silverlight, which Greasemonkey does not cover as well (though by changing the calling pages you could force the page to load your local copy of the applet, etc), which adds a little more weight to his claim of inadequate current tools, even including third party add-ons.

The important part to remember, however, is that those that do not wish to play are free to not tag their programs as free, in which case they are free to continue on in the blissful belief that they can trust the client.

Suppose you're visiting Slashdot, and your web browser constantly hangs due to the crappy tag formatting code on the front page. If there was a way to modify and replace that code, you could fix it, and distribute the fix to other slashdotters.

It's called Greasemonkey.

Of course, that's just hiding the dirt under the carpet and you're going to trip over it every time you enter your home.

Suppose you're visiting Slashdot, and your web browser constantly hangs due to the crappy tag formatting code on the front page. If there was a way to modify and replace that code, you could fix it, and distribute the fix to other slashdotters.

It's called Greasemonkey.

Now you can disable tags again. Install the firefox greasemonkey extension ( http://www.greasespot.net/ ), or install Opera. Then install this script: http://parksideninjas.com/greasemonkey/notagspleaseslashdot.user.js

Then spread the word.

He could use GreaseMonkey to write a script that removes the link to the spam folder. It wouldn't be foolproof, but it might be 5-year-old proof.

Get GreaseMonkey and add NoRoland!
 
Save your time, and stop Roly Poly freeloading off your clicks!

Get GreaseMonkey and add NoRoland!
 
Save your time, and stop Roly Poly freeloading off your clicks!

Get GreaseMonkey and add NoRoland!

Save your time, and stop Roly freeloading off your clicks!