Mozilla plans to remove some settings from preferences

[dudewithit]

bug #851698

"Remove checkboxes that kill" . Or remove some settings from the preferences menu that can potentially harm the browser.
Eg :

1. Disable Javascript.
2. Dont load images.

And the solution ? "These users should move to ABP, NoScript etc."

[lyceus]

This could be fixed with Pale Moon Commander, an add-on made for Moonchild for really move all the cranks and nooks inside the motor. From Graphics acceleration to IPV6. Experts only, as one bad choice render Pale Moon unstable.

http://www.palemoon.org/commander.shtml

[Moonchild]

Alexander Limi at it again, I see?
I'm not sure when this would land, but I'll keep an eye on this at any rate. It's just stupid. Remove "loading images"? The people who touch that setting have very good reason to do so. Same with Javascript. And I sure as hell don't want to lose access to my certification manager.
And disabling the removal of the navigation bar is just silly. I thought Firefox was about being configurable - but it seems as Mr. Limi gets to decide more and more about the UI, it becomes less configurable, and with less controls every iteration.

Bottom line is, people are going to touch settings they don't understand. The people who are now deprived of checkboxes will find a way to do it another way, will discover about:config, and subsequently will start messing with a lot more prefs to shoot themselves in the foot with

[Moonchild]

Update:
:Gavin Sharp (use gavin@gavinsharp.com for email) <gavin.sharp@gmail.com> changed:

What |Removed |Added
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Restrict Comments| |1

They are now restricting comments on that bug. as in, putting fingers in their ears and going "LALALALALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

[dudewithit]

Some of the options are OK to be removed, like the SSL/TSL thing, the navigation toolbar.
maybe even Javascript too. Since a person who knows javascript is, would know that its essential for the web. And if needed, an addon can be added to disable it.


Edit : Brendan seems to be the sanest, most "nerdy" guy there. This guy is amazing. In a separate bug, where they changed the warning on the about:config screen, he was the only person who said there shouldnt be any warnings.
I think mozilla has less core engineers, and more "UX engineers".

[Moonchild]

It's not a matter of "can" they be removed - of course they can. the browsers are supplied with sane defaults (one would hope) so in fact the people they are afraid of that would change preferences that could cause problems should never even have to open the preferences in the first place. Might as well completely remove the preferences dialog if you start out on that path, and be done with it. Javascript isn't necessarily "essential" you can still browse the web without it, as long as the sites you visit don't require it. Similarly you can browse without flash apart from the sites that only have flash content. So it becomes a question of if any preference in the dialog box has "sufficient weight" for "inexperienced users" to keep, or not.

"Inexperienced users", when too much is removed, will end up being sent to about:config to change something that is essential to them, because configurability is removed (which is one of the few redeeming qualities for Firefox and derivatives). Once there, imagine the mess they could make of it, because if they are apt to change random things in the preferences dialog, they sure as hell are going to blindly change prefs that "seem relevant to their browsing experience", without knowing what it does. Ask yourself: what is more dangerous: a limited number of preferences in the preferences dialog that is fairly easy for a techie t correct if it's messed with, or every pref under the sun once the inept user has discovered the configurability they were looking for in about:config?

"Preferences" should serve the more advanced user, since they are the ones more likely to actually open it up in the first place, without making a hard distinction "newbie" versus "IT Pro". Many users are in-between those two, who would benefit from more options in the preferences dialog, with enough options for power users to configure the browser the way they want to or need to for their personal use, but without going overboard and exposing hundreds and hundreds of prefs in about:config in a very user-UNfriendly manner.