Ordinary users do not want to disable JavaScript. Hell, they don't even know what it is. Advanced users like you can still use NoScript or about:config.
This was exactly the explanation from Mozilla side and it makes sense. The reason for the decision was people telling "my internet stopped working" (white pages) once they've disabled JS by accident.
Too many people mistakenly disable JavaScript every time a Java vulnerability hits the news, and there was a period not too long ago when a new Java vuln seemed to appear every other week. It was around this time that the "disable JavaScript" option disappeared from Firefox.
It's an interesting thought: should we be dumbing down everything or just engaging in a bit of education instead and helping people understand what JavaScript does and its use on web pages?
The manual for my car mentions things that must be done for maintenance. They don't dumb it down. Meanwhile in computer land we hide all options and dumb everything down to "protect" the user.
There is a difference between being easy to use and molly-coddling. It is a difficult balance to get it seems!
>> Ordinary users do not want to disable JavaScript
But sometimes "ordinary" users do need to disable Javascript. Wouldn't it make more sense to put in a pop-up "Disabling Javascript will potentially break lots of websites. Are you sure? Y/N"
It's perhaps a tempest in a teapot, since these ordinary blokes will simply follow a different set of connect-the-dots instructions they found while searching for "how do I save an image from XYZ website?"
jakub_g|12 years ago
kijin|12 years ago
72deluxe|12 years ago
The manual for my car mentions things that must be done for maintenance. They don't dumb it down. Meanwhile in computer land we hide all options and dumb everything down to "protect" the user.
There is a difference between being easy to use and molly-coddling. It is a difficult balance to get it seems!
blisterpeanuts|12 years ago
But sometimes "ordinary" users do need to disable Javascript. Wouldn't it make more sense to put in a pop-up "Disabling Javascript will potentially break lots of websites. Are you sure? Y/N"
It's perhaps a tempest in a teapot, since these ordinary blokes will simply follow a different set of connect-the-dots instructions they found while searching for "how do I save an image from XYZ website?"