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Ask HN: How to disable right-click blocking in the browser

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Re: Ask HN: How to disable right-click blocking in the browser

#51

Post by aaaaaaaaata »

lapcat wrote: post #44
aaaaaaaaata wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Discovery isn't the problem with these tools — it's trust. I don't trust MacRumors or PC World to vet...anything. I do sorta trust...I dunno...EFF. Bunnie. yadda yadda.

Which part do you distrust exactly? If a software review has screenshots and describes features of an app, do you think that's all just... invented out of thin air?

The...press. Is this thing on?

Anyway, I feel you're feeling some negative emotion here that's really just people interested in the security and privacy of their machine.

Re: Ask HN: How to disable right-click blocking in the browser

#52

Post by gazby »

susam wrote: post #3

I use Firefox and on Firefox this can be done by typing "about:config" (without the quotes) in the address bar, then searching for "dom.event.contextmenu.enabled" (without the quotes) and then double-clicking on the result to toggle its value from "true" to "false".

The downside here is that there are still plenty of legitimate uses for capturing right-click, and this fix will impede operation of those.

I'd go with a bookmarklet style approach suggested by other top-level comments.

Re: Ask HN: How to disable right-click blocking in the browser

#53

Post by lapcat »

aaaaaaaaata wrote: post #51
lapcat wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which part do you distrust exactly? If a software review has screenshots and describes features of an app, do you think that's all just... invented out of thin air?

The...press. Is this thing on? Anyway, I feel you're feeling some negative emotion here that's really just people interested in the security and privacy of their machine.

> The...press. Is this thing on?

I asked what part do you distrust exactly. "The...press" seems very hand-wavey and non-specific. When the argument starts with the premise that nothing the press says can ever be trusted, that's the route to denial of all facts and creation of your own reality. Did the stock market go up or down yesterday? Who can really say... because you can't trust the press!

> Anyway, I feel you're feeling some negative emotion here that's really just people interested in the security and privacy of their machine.

I'm very interested in security and privacy. In fact, StopTheMadness is designed to help protect your privacy. I use other 3rd party software to protect my privacy too, such as Little Snitch on the Mac (which incidentally is closed source, but the developers have earned their trust). I just think there's a distinction between prudence and paranoia, and I think it's counterproductive to fall into the latter, almost shooting oneself in the foot out of fear.

Re: Ask HN: How to disable right-click blocking in the browser

#55

Post by aaaaaaaaata »

lapcat wrote: post #53
aaaaaaaaata wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The...press. Is this thing on? Anyway, I feel you're feeling some negative emotion here that's really just people interested in the security and privacy of their machine.

> The...press. Is this thing on? I asked what part do you distrust exactly. "The...press" seems very hand-wavey and non-specific. When the argument starts with the premise that nothing the press says can ever be trusted, that's the route to denial of all facts and creation of your own reality. Did the stock market go up or down yesterday? Who can really say... because you can't trust the press! > Anyway, I feel you'r…

> Did the stock market go up or down yesterday? Who can really say... because you can't trust the press!

Depending on which stocks are doing well and which aren't, and why, you'll absolutely get the news framed differently publication to publication.

Re: Ask HN: How to disable right-click blocking in the browser

#56

Post by nokya »

You can't.

You can try, but you can't. The only people you'll stop are non-tech users, and the others will shame your business for playing this game.

If you need an analogy, think of it as trying to disable screenshots in an environment where users carry a camera in the other hand...

Re: Ask HN: How to disable right-click blocking in the browser

#57

Post by withinboredom »

lapcat wrote: post #49
withinboredom wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of my friends got offered 8 million for an extension a few years ago. The new owners put malware in it. Meanwhile, he’s still sailing around the Mediterranean on his yacht with his family… This is exactly the kind of thing people are worried about.

> One of my friends got offered 8 million for an extension a few years ago. The new owners put malware in it. Which extension? Was this in the news? There aren't actually that many really big extensions.

I’ve been asked not to share the name. It wasn’t a big extension though, only a few million installs.

FWIW, they put it up for sale as a lark, not intending to actually sell it, on some business sales/acquisitions/mergers site and got more than their asking price.

Re: Ask HN: How to disable right-click blocking in the browser

#58

Post by lapcat »

withinboredom wrote: post #57
lapcat wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> One of my friends got offered 8 million for an extension a few years ago. The new owners put malware in it. Which extension? Was this in the news? There aren't actually that many really big extensions.

I’ve been asked not to share the name. It wasn’t a big extension though, only a few million installs. FWIW, they put it up for sale as a lark, not intending to actually sell it, on some business sales/acquisitions/mergers site and got more than their asking price.

> I’ve been asked not to share the name.

Asked by whom? Your (hopefully former?) friend who sold out millions of people for malware? Are those millions of people aware that they were infected with malware? Not sure how this can be a secret.

> It wasn’t a big extension though, only a few million installs.

That's big!

Apparently there are only 300some Chrome extensions with over a million users. https://www.debugbear.com/blog/counting-chrome-extensions

My user base is orders of magnitude less, so I wouldn't worry about my selling out for $millions.

Re: Ask HN: How to disable right-click blocking in the browser

#59

Post by joshka »

gazby wrote: post #52
susam wrote: post #3

I use Firefox and on Firefox this can be done by typing "about:config" (without the quotes) in the address bar, then searching for "dom.event.contextmenu.enabled" (without the quotes) and then double-clicking on the result to toggle its value from "true" to "false".

The downside here is that there are still plenty of legitimate uses for capturing right-click, and this fix will impede operation of those. I'd go with a bookmarklet style approach suggested by other top-level comments.

What are these valid use cases?

Re: Ask HN: How to disable right-click blocking in the browser

#60

Post by Toadtoad »

joshka wrote: post #59
gazby wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The downside here is that there are still plenty of legitimate uses for capturing right-click, and this fix will impede operation of those. I'd go with a bookmarklet style approach suggested by other top-level comments.

What are these valid use cases?

Sites like PhotoPea and Google Docs capture right-click to offer right-click menus more in line with what you'd expect from a desktop application. You could argue that other UX schemes can work without that, but since that's what a lot of people are used to, I'd say they count as valid use cases.
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