Question

Hi all,

I'm looking for a soft version of NoScript, by which I mean a Firefox extension that blocks most of the usual crap such as google analytics, without blocking unknown stuff by default. Basically I'm looking for a version of no script that blocks only known bad/useless stuff, and that almost never requires user interaction.

EDIT: my goal here is browser speed, not security. (Although security can be a nice side-effect)

EDIT: Yescript is not what I'm looking for either, because it doesn't come with a default blacklist, so you need to add things manually. Not very useful.

Answer 1

there is Ghostery ,

Ghostery alerts you about the web bugs, ad networks and widgets on every page on the web.

Web bugs are hidden scripts that track your behavior and are used by the sites you visit to understand their own audience.

Answer 2

There is YesScript, which is basically blacklists instead of whitelists stuff.

Answer 3

Are you interested in security or "more or less security"?

If you're interested in security (usually when you are in control of your machine), in this scenario, nothing beats NoScript IMHO. YesScript is an alternative, but:

Unlike NoScript, YesScript does absolutely nothing to improve your security. I believe that Firefox is secure enough by default and that blocking all scripts by default is paranoia. YesScript strives to remove hassles from your browsing experience, rather than add them.

This is from the YesScript official add-on Mozilla's website. And I don't think "Firefox is secure by default". Blocking all scripts by default isn't paranoia. To have a really secure environment you block suspicious behaviors so they won't use a possible exploit that wasn't fixed.

If you're interested in a "more or less security" - suppose a machine with a non technical person using it - I suggest using WOT. You can try YesScript too. But remember it can be more secure.

When I started using NoScript, I thought it was a pain because EVERY website I was using, it was blocking javascripts. But you get ussed to it, and after 2 years using this extension, you get used to it.

For tech users, I don't think there's better approach then NoScript, ABP and WOT extensions together.

Answer 4

Sounds like you are looking for a "magic wand". :-)

Seriously, that's not what NoScript is for. To get that kind of behaviour, I suggest turning off NoScript entirely and using AdBlockPlus to block the "usual crap".

EDIT: If your goal is browser speed, then any kind of extension at all that blocks URLs will speed up your browsing, because less bytes have to be downloaded. If you are thinking of "bloated" extensions that connect to update servers to download new configurations, then just turn off that option.

Answer 5

You can just black list certain things but allow everything else in NoScript.

Answer 6

Since your goal here is browser speed and not security I would recommend Ad-Block.

Maybe include the WOT extension can improve on that by giving some degree of security.