NoScript 10: Too many changes at the same time
Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2017 3:08 am
First of all I would like to make clear that I am very grateful to Giorgio for all his outstanding work.
Nevertheless concerning NoScript 10 during the last time I got the impression that a lot of problems and confusion among the users could have been caused by a combinaton of two different things:
- the changes (compared with version 5) which were necessary and inevitable because of the new version of Firefox (57/Quantum)
plus
- certain modifications and the introduction of new features which are not required by the new Firefox version.
And indeed, the impression that these two elements were combined in version 10 is confirmed now by an entry of Giorgio in his blog. He writes:
(https://hackademix.net/2017/12/04/noscr ... utshell-2/)
Probably a better solution would have been:
First the introduction only of the inevitable modifications. The new features (concerning customization etc.) a considerable time later, after users have become accustomed to the new look and new way of handling.
Of course it's too late now but surely it would have helped to avoid a lot of frustration.
Nevertheless concerning NoScript 10 during the last time I got the impression that a lot of problems and confusion among the users could have been caused by a combinaton of two different things:
- the changes (compared with version 5) which were necessary and inevitable because of the new version of Firefox (57/Quantum)
plus
- certain modifications and the introduction of new features which are not required by the new Firefox version.
And indeed, the impression that these two elements were combined in version 10 is confirmed now by an entry of Giorgio in his blog. He writes:
(https://hackademix.net/2017/12/04/noscr ... utshell-2/)
To my mind this mix of absolutely necessary changes with additional ones that would not have been required now, was no good decision. It was simply too much of new things at the same time. An overkill.The ones who know better about recent history of Firefox and of its add-ons ecosystem are aware [...] that the UI couldn't stay the same simply because the technical foundation (XUL/XPCOM) for the "old" one is not there anymore, and NoScript has been forced into being completely rewritten as a WebExtension (and therefore its UI as pure HTML) or just die.
Since it was anyway impossible to replicate exactly the well known NoScript 5.x user experience, I've tried to find a silver lining in the forced rewrite, taking it as a chance to incorporate user feedback collected over more than 12 years, especially about making the permissions system more customizable.
Probably a better solution would have been:
First the introduction only of the inevitable modifications. The new features (concerning customization etc.) a considerable time later, after users have become accustomed to the new look and new way of handling.
Of course it's too late now but surely it would have helped to avoid a lot of frustration.