How To End A NoScript Annoyance
February 8th, 2009 by ComputerBob
In November of 2004 — back when I was still a full-time Windows user — I stopped using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer web browser and started using the more-secure, free and open-source Firefox web browser instead.
Then, in July of 2006, I stopped using Microsoft Windows and started using Linux full-time instead. And I began using Firefox as my Linux web browser.
One of my favorite Firefox add-ons has always been NoScript. NoScript makes Firefox even more secure by allowing JavaScripts to run only on web sites that I’ve given permission to run them. A side benefit of that is that Flash content also only runs on web sites that I’ve given permission to run it.
If you use Firefox, there are a lot of good reasons why you should use NoScipt.
But one of NoScript’s features has always annoyed me. To stay as secure as possible, I have NoScript configured to automatically check for updates each time I start my browser. I haven’t kept track of how often I get a NoScript update, but it feels like it’s usually about once or twice each week, though a few times, it’s been several times in one week. That’s a good thing, from a security perspective.
The annoying part is that every time NoScript gets even a minor update, it automatically redirects my browser to the NoScript web site’s Welcome page, where the NoScript people congratulate me for installing the latest update, and tell me all about it in excrutiating detail.
If I were a new NoScript user, I might want to read about a few new updates. But I’ve seen a few hundred of those messages over the past few years, and I’m tired of them. A quick Google search convinced me that a lot of people feel the same way, but very few people know what to do about it.
Luckily, the NoScript web site tells how to stop that annoyance by making one simple change to Firefox’s about:config page.
I highly recommend that you use Firefox with NoScript — and that you also turn off NoScript’s annoying update redirects.
Permalink:
http://www.computerbob.com/wp/how-to-end-a-noscript-annoyance.php
Tags:
Consumer Info, Freedom, Google, Internet, Linux, Microsoft, Security, Tech Support, Windows
January 7th, 2011 at 9:49 pm
thanks!
October 25th, 2011 at 1:55 pm
How about the request policy add on as an alternative to no script? You lose some of the protection, but gain awareness to cross-site requests and avoid the No Script trust issue.
October 25th, 2011 at 5:54 pm
@jk,
Please elaborate. I’m not familiar with “the request policy add on.”