Years ago, I used Lynx (the Web browser). And it had a neat feature: you could follow a link normally, or you could specify that you wanted a non-cached copy. Regular link loading, or link reloading. As the users' guide for Lynx 2.8.6 says:
The NOCACHE ('x' or 'X') command can be used in lieu of ACTIVATE (Return or right-arrow) to request an uncached copy and new rendition for the current link, or resubmission of a FORM, if a cache from a previous request or submission exits. The request or submission will include Pragma: no-cache and Cache-Control: no-cache in its headers. Note that FORMs with POST content will be resubmitted regardless of whether the NOCACHE or ACTIVATE command is used....
This seems such an obvious feature to have — and, as demonstrated, it exists in at least one browser — that it seems surprising to me that Firefox, Chrome, and Microsoft don't seem to have such a feature (say, as a right- (or command-) click menu option). Nor, in fact, does there seem even to be a Firefox extension for it.
So, my questions:
- Is there something blocking implementation of this idea in modern graphical browsers? Some specific reason it can't feasibly exist in them even though it can in Lynx?
- Is there some reason this feature is not necessary or desired in modern graphical browsers? If so, does that reason apply to Lynx?
- As I mentioned, I couldn't find a Firefox or Chrome extension (or built-in feature) like this. Does one exist that I'm missing?