Using NoScript to selectively block JavaScript across all websites has opened my eyes to the sewers we wade through online
This comment encouraging me to try out NoScript Security Suite (Firefox) changed my life. googletagmanager is used everywhere!
I first gave NoScript a spin sometime in the mid-2010s. It was an adjustment, to say the least. But once you get used to temporarily allowing a new target domain as a matter of course, holy hell does the whole game come into specific relief.
The Washington Post, for example -- which I was a paid subscriber to until it shit the bed -- wanted JS from some 25 domains (many of which were Amazon ad related). I also have NoScript on Firefox on my Pixel.
Firefox, uBO and NoScript are the floor for passable internet hygiene to me.
You can already block all js and give specific allowances through uBO. Having both uBO and NoScript is redundant, just FYI
At this point, using NoScript is muscle memory. No reason to add friction to a process, even if it may not be the most efficient method in terms of memory usage.
@ISOmorph @Powderhorn Please explain how, when #uBlockOrigin works based on blocklisting while #noScript uses allowlisting?
@opensourceopenmind @ISOmorph @Powderhorn You can use #uBlockOrigin in Medium or Hard mode, which blocks all 3rd-party scripts, frames, etc. by default except for those you specifically allow:
Interesting. Is there a way to port NoScript settings into uBO?
@normplum @ISOmorph @Powderhorn Thanks, will give it a try and see if it can replace noScript.
How would the whitelist flow work in ublock origin? Can I allow only some third party domains to run js or is it all or nothing?
I like how it's just a few clicks in noscript with no need to type - makes usage on my tablet and phone simple.
I think this is about uBlock Origin's "advanced mode". If it's activated, then the uBlock addon's pop-up gets an extra table to the left showing kinds of content or domains used and switches to block/allow them globally (on all websites) or locally (on this website specifically). Those switches have two halves, the left side acts as an "allow" button (or rather a "no-op" button that tells uBO to ignore a previous block, but not to unblock something that's detected as an ad by the add-on's regular filters) and the right side as a "block" button.
So, AFAIK, you enable advanced mode, use a global switch to block third-party scripts and you've basically got almost the same kind of blocking NoScript does. As you visit other websites, you can use that table to locally allow some domains in order to un-break a website, block local scripts if you don't trust them either (you could also set that globally to completely match NoScript if you want), or block all third-party content from some domains. It also works in "just a few clicks".
It is! I read through the docs and did some testing. It's very similar to noscript once you get used to the flags.
Do not Disable scripts globally using the settings checkbox, it overrides dynamic filtering and ignores your flags
Left flags are global (In the example I block first party and third party scripts globally) and right flags are local for the site you're currently on. (Here I allow bbc.com to run scripts, that's the grey flag)
You can locally allow all scripts from a domain like this (notice the grey flag on bbci.co.uk and the inherited dark grey on the subdomains below):
Or you can allow specific subdomains (here I allow emp.bbci.co.uk and ichef.bbci.co.uk specifically while leaving static.bbci.co.uk blocked)
As I'm allowing scripts with the right side local flags the third party sites will still be default blocked if they're used by another domain that isn't bbc.com.
Interesting, then this is better than NoScript. I'm just a bit rattled by the uBO soft-takedown by Manifest v3 or whatever it was that had happened last year and am concerned about uBO, like, dying or something. What do you think is its future? If it still seems stable enough then I guess I'll drop NoScript for it.
And then on that note, would you be willing to share your settings of the scripts you've deemed comfortable, as a shortcut for other newbs like me who are just getting on board with all this? It'd be much appreciated if so! Either way, thanks for sharing.
As a firefox user I'm not really affected by googles changes so I'm not worried about uBO at all.
I will probably stick with noscript as of now, as I'm so used to it and have already built a large whitelist of domains I trust globally.
Not certain what you mean with sharing my settings of scripts. If you mean my whitelist settings in noscript/ublock origin then I would recommend just starting with a blank slate and build up your own whitelist. We're probably not using the same sites after all.
True, there's no way to do a clean merge like we can with multiple KeePass password databases... or can we?
By the way, I now use AdNauseam, which is a uBO fork, but I can't find how to access the color grid in your screenshots. Would you happen to know how to get to it?
It's available in uBlock Origin when advanced user mode is enabled in settings. No idea if AdNauseam works the same.
https://github.com/uBlockOrigin/uBlock-issues/wiki/Dynamic-filtering:-quick-guide
uBlock Origin still functions the same. I doubt it'll die in the foreseeable future because there's interest in it, and moreso than in NoScript (my assumption anyway).
The uBlock Origin introduced https://github.com/uBlockOrigin/uBOL-home to cover the manifest v3. It's a separate software. The original uBlock Origin remains functional like before.
Regarding the earlier point, this lite FAQ entry sounds to me like the main author is more committed to origin than lite.
I mean, if you're still using Chrome, you likely don't know about Manifest v3. Those who do have been on FF for quite some time.
Yeah, it's getting addicting! I just found so much JS that is totally unneeded to watch Paramount+:
What the hell is all this crap? Man... so much tracking going on. All the DEFAULTs are blocked and the TV I'm watching still loads perfectly fine. And if you try to go to the stepcattle.com one out of pure curiosity, uBlock warns you against it, yet robots prevent any info on it from appearing in search engines... capitalist bastards...
Odd ... stepcattle doesn't sound at all like the sort of thing involving jackboots and train cars.
Shit the bed? Do you mean when Jeff Bezos (amazon cto) bought the place?