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Why I Don't Use Netscape (1999)

complang.tuwien.ac.at

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Re: Why I Don't Use Netscape (1999)

#251

Post by phendrenad2 »

foobarian wrote: post #174
badsectoracula wrote: post #13

Considering all the discussions about JavaScript and sites with primarily text requiring it, this looks like the more things change, the more they remain the same :-P. Also see Wirth's Plea for Lean Software[0] from 1995 for another "timeless" issue. I did find this bit interesting too... > Apart from this practical reason, there's a principal one: The first time I invoked Netscape, it said that it is obsolete and re…

I blame black hats. If it weren't for viruses and exploits there would be a lot less pressure to keep things updated. Remember how much flak Microsoft got for vulnerabilities pretty much ever since Windows got a networking stack? Meanwhile academic networks got along fine for decades running on unencrypted NFS/NIS.

The black hats keep the developers releasing new versions, and the product and marketing teams keep a list of "features" and "improvements" to slip into every new version. Coincidentally most of the bugs and security vulnerabilities are caused by these new features and improvements. It's a vicious cycle.

Re: Why I Don't Use Netscape (1999)

#252

Post by JakeAl »

badsectoracula wrote: post #13

Considering all the discussions about JavaScript and sites with primarily text requiring it, this looks like the more things change, the more they remain the same :-P. Also see Wirth's Plea for Lean Software[0] from 1995 for another "timeless" issue. I did find this bit interesting too... > Apart from this practical reason, there's a principal one: The first time I invoked Netscape, it said that it is obsolete and re…

> imagine if the software decided by itself that it is too old to run or to replace itself with a new version against my wishes

Why I will never buy another Apple product. Had a great video editing station I would author DVDs with until one day Apple decided I needed to upgrade my OS to continue using the software which of course required a new computer. Apple's dead to me.

Re: Why I Don't Use Netscape (1999)

#253

Post by yesenadam »

incanus77 wrote: post #194

Unrelated to this content (I think), tuwien.ac.at is a domain I have not seen nor thought of in decades. I see that there’s new stuff there too, but does anyone recall why this might have been a well-known domain in the 90s? I feel like I used to regularly read some content or download software from there, probably UNIX stuff.

I recognised it because I got into Forth in the last 5-10 years, and the author Anton Ertl was with Bernd Paysan the creator of GForth in the early 90s.

Otherwise, see here for his CV, interests, links which may trigger your memory

https://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/anton/home.html

Re: Why I Don't Use Netscape (1999)

#254

Post by gofreddygo »

JakeAl wrote: post #252
badsectoracula wrote: post #13

Considering all the discussions about JavaScript and sites with primarily text requiring it, this looks like the more things change, the more they remain the same :-P. Also see Wirth's Plea for Lean Software[0] from 1995 for another "timeless" issue. I did find this bit interesting too... > Apart from this practical reason, there's a principal one: The first time I invoked Netscape, it said that it is obsolete and re…

> imagine if the software decided by itself that it is too old to run or to replace itself with a new version against my wishes Why I will never buy another Apple product. Had a great video editing station I would author DVDs with until one day Apple decided I needed to upgrade my OS to continue using the software which of course required a new computer. Apple's dead to me.

I am sensing a greater divide between people who demand more control over the technology they use and those willing to relinquish it.

Push for silent updates, force upgrades, always on tracking, remote bricking, notarization, (corporate cartels) trusted networks, making things harder to open, harder to repair, authorization for everything all point toward control.

I believe another generation of hackers will emerge from this transition.

Re: Why I Don't Use Netscape (1999)

#257

Post by deadbunny »

weberer wrote: post #37
tannhaeuser wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Firefox on Ubuntu (which I'm not using anymore for these and other reasons) and presumably on other OSs does exactly that: refuse to open new tabs/sites once every two weeks or so, telling me "one more thing we need to do" ie self-update. So you're loosing all your browsing context, though FF does a better job restoring it after restart than it used to, but still that's user-hostile and self-important as fuck. And th…

This is infuriating to me as well. And the stupid Firefox restart dinosaur always comes up at the worst possible time. I would have switched to a new browser years ago, but Firefox seems to be the only one that supports vertical tabs.

Maybe I'm missing something or set some settings years ago and have forgotten but I have zero problems with restarting Firefox after an update from my package manager.

I regularly have 2-4 Firefox windows with dozens of tabs in each and a "You need to restart" button press takes like 4-5 seconds max to close all windows and reload them all with all of my tabs as they were. The most I have to do is stick each instance on the right workspace.

Granted each tab will reload when opening it but if I'm updating my OS packages I'm probably not exactly "in the zone".

Re: Why I Don't Use Netscape (1999)

#258

Post by cptskippy »

int_19h wrote: post #237
cptskippy wrote: post #215

> those who have content generally value being readable I find it ironic that his website looks like hot garbage on a modern ultrawide display. I realize that it's over 20 years old and it still looks bad at 1280x1024 which was the resolution I was using back then as a poor college student with a second hand 19" Sony Trinitron that had a dodgy VGA cable you had to hold up just right with a coat hanger.

I would argue that it's the job of the web browser to provide a default stylesheet such that a basic webpage with a header and a bunch of paragraphs looks "right". Which includes defining sensible viewport size.

That's a completely reasonable expectation and they never have to my knowledge.

So the author, having lived through the computing sea change of the 80s and 90s, who said "those who have content generally value being readable" should have anticipated higher resolution displays and took steps to ensure readability.

Re: Why I Don't Use Netscape (1999)

#259

Post by seba_dos1 »

prange wrote: post #256
seba_dos1 wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The direction of development is irrelevant to it being free.

If it is controlled by corporate interests, it is not free.

Being controlled by corporate interests is completely orthogonal to being free. A lot of Free Software is being controlled by corporate interests and there's nothing wrong with it.

Re: Why I Don't Use Netscape (1999)

#260

Post by dang »

SuperSandro2000 wrote: post #129
forgotmypw17 wrote: post #70

I still use this strategy, though these days, I primarily use Mosaic and Netscape for testing. I tend to browse without JavaScript enabled, except for places I already trust to not abuse it. And if there is anything blocking me from accessing the page, such as a modal dialog, a cookie notice, a survey, a prompt to sign up for the newsletter, I close the tab. Over time, I have found that type of rude lack of considera…

Quoted post unavailable.

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