4 ms·

That is why I never install browser extensions.

by codedokode 9y ago

abecedarius 9y ago
Do you live without adblock?
- astebbin 9y ago
  Not OP, but I live without adblock. In Chrome, I disable Javascript on all sites by default. Rarely do I need to unblock a new site. I have a paid subscription to the Washington Post (which grants access to articles, but doesn't actually hide the ads...), and the ads on other sites I visit aren't too oppressive. More than anything else, over nearly twenty years on the Internet I've developed the mental reflex to "tune out" and automatically ignore any Internet ad, anywhere, unless it's literally shoved in my face to the exclusion of all other content. I've previously used adblock extensions, but my reasons for going without mirror the link author's. I simply can't trust Google/Chrome not to autoinstall a new, broken, malware-infested version of my favorite extension. I don't feel I should have to mess with directory permissions or application sandboxing in order to achieve some half-measure of extension security, so instead I eschew them completely.
- yareally 9y ago
  Host blocking at the OS level. No need for extensions.
  - dest 9y ago
    Sometimes you need to temporary disable filters or edit them. How do you manage that? Is it user-friendly?
    - yareally 9y ago
      Never ran into a problem really. Maybe a couple times a year I'll manually open the host file and ctrl+f a host I need to comment out temporarily after seeing it's causing an issue via the browser's network tools.
- hackinthebochs 9y ago
  I adblock then disable extension updates. The only extension I add.
  - rasz 9y ago
    how do you disable extension updates in chrome?
    - hackinthebochs 9y ago
      Blocking updates on chrome is harder than I remember. A couple of ways here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/27657617/how-to-disable-google-chrome-extension-autoupdate https://stackoverflow.com/questions/27657617/how-to-disable-... Another way is to enable developer mode on the extension page then install an unpacked version of the extensions you want.
      - rasz 9y ago
        manually installing unpacked extensions is the only way that currently works, update_url doesnt work for more than a year, Chrome just calls home on hardcoded IPs.
- DyslexicAtheist 9y ago
  you can do it quite effectively outside the browser using a host block[1] list or pi-hole. my uBlock now only fires sporadically for cases I don't catch with the /etc/hosts approach (e.g. disallowing e.g. remote fonts) [1] https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts
  - codedokode 9y ago
    Many years ago Opera had a blacklist for URLs with wildcard support that was implemented in a native code, not HTML/JS. I used to use it then.
- jmiserez 9y ago
  Install the version from Github instead of the store, and you can avoid the problem. Instructions for Chrome/Firefox here: https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/blob/master/dist/README.md https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/blob/master/dist/README.md Other browsers see the overview here: https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/blob/master/README.md#chromium https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/blob/master/README.md#chro...
- codedokode 9y ago
  Yes, but I have JS disabled on most sites. Regarding adblock, there were posts that it slows the browser down, injects huge CSS rules into every iframe etc.
  - radioo7555 9y ago
    How do you selectively disable has without an extension?
    - codedokode 9y ago
      Chromium can do that. You can disable JS globally in the settings and then there will be a script icon in the address bar to enable it on a specific site.
- tdb7893 9y ago
  It's pretty easy going without adblock. There are a lot of websites without obtrusive ads and it's pretty easy to start to recognize which sites I just don't want to go to anymore.
drdaeman 9y ago
I'm not sure about Chrome but on Firefox for a time being one still can install extensions the classic "old school" software installation way - by placing the files on disk.

That is why I never install browser extensions.

abecedarius 9y ago

Do you live without adblock?

astebbin 9y ago
Not OP, but I live without adblock. In Chrome, I disable Javascript on all sites by default. Rarely do I need to unblock a new site. I have a paid subscription to the Washington Post (which grants access to articles, but doesn't actually hide the ads...), and the ads on other sites I visit aren't too oppressive. More than anything else, over nearly twenty years on the Internet I've developed the mental reflex to "tune out" and automatically ignore any Internet ad, anywhere, unless it's literally shoved in my face to the exclusion of all other content. I've previously used adblock extensions, but my reasons for going without mirror the link author's. I simply can't trust Google/Chrome not to autoinstall a new, broken, malware-infested version of my favorite extension. I don't feel I should have to mess with directory permissions or application sandboxing in order to achieve some half-measure of extension security, so instead I eschew them completely.
yareally 9y ago
Host blocking at the OS level. No need for extensions.
- dest 9y ago
  Sometimes you need to temporary disable filters or edit them. How do you manage that? Is it user-friendly?
  - yareally 9y ago
    Never ran into a problem really. Maybe a couple times a year I'll manually open the host file and ctrl+f a host I need to comment out temporarily after seeing it's causing an issue via the browser's network tools.
hackinthebochs 9y ago
I adblock then disable extension updates. The only extension I add.
- rasz 9y ago
  how do you disable extension updates in chrome?
  - hackinthebochs 9y ago
    Blocking updates on chrome is harder than I remember. A couple of ways here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/27657617/how-to-disable-google-chrome-extension-autoupdate https://stackoverflow.com/questions/27657617/how-to-disable-... Another way is to enable developer mode on the extension page then install an unpacked version of the extensions you want.
    - rasz 9y ago
      manually installing unpacked extensions is the only way that currently works, update_url doesnt work for more than a year, Chrome just calls home on hardcoded IPs.
DyslexicAtheist 9y ago
you can do it quite effectively outside the browser using a host block[1] list or pi-hole. my uBlock now only fires sporadically for cases I don't catch with the /etc/hosts approach (e.g. disallowing e.g. remote fonts) [1] https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts
- codedokode 9y ago
  Many years ago Opera had a blacklist for URLs with wildcard support that was implemented in a native code, not HTML/JS. I used to use it then.
jmiserez 9y ago
Install the version from Github instead of the store, and you can avoid the problem. Instructions for Chrome/Firefox here: https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/blob/master/dist/README.md https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/blob/master/dist/README.md Other browsers see the overview here: https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/blob/master/README.md#chromium https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/blob/master/README.md#chro...
codedokode 9y ago
Yes, but I have JS disabled on most sites. Regarding adblock, there were posts that it slows the browser down, injects huge CSS rules into every iframe etc.
- radioo7555 9y ago
  How do you selectively disable has without an extension?
  - codedokode 9y ago
    Chromium can do that. You can disable JS globally in the settings and then there will be a script icon in the address bar to enable it on a specific site.
tdb7893 9y ago
It's pretty easy going without adblock. There are a lot of websites without obtrusive ads and it's pretty easy to start to recognize which sites I just don't want to go to anymore.

drdaeman 9y ago

I'm not sure about Chrome but on Firefox for a time being one still can install extensions the classic "old school" software installation way - by placing the files on disk.