up vote 11 down vote favorite

Having heard about Java security issues I deactivated javascript in my firefox. Perhaps it is not javascript which is concerned, and I over-reacted. Anyhow, currently I have this permanent red banner TeX - LaTeX - Stack Exchange works best with JavaScript enabled for which no closing button is available (ironically perhaps because javascript is disabled? I don't know much about html and the like) and my questions is: which features of TeX LaTeX Stack Exchange am I losing with javascript disabled in my browser?

share
27  
Java and JavaScript are entirely separate languages which just happen to share a common partial name. There are reasons some people disable JavaScript, but Java security is not one of them. – Joseph Wright♦ Jan 15 at 22:03
1  
@JosephWright I had to reactivate javascript to access my inbox and I feel the stress now about being at risk ;-) ok, so JavaScript has nothing to do with Java, and the current security issues about the latter have no incidence on the former, I am paraphrasing your comment just to feel safer ... – jfbu Jan 15 at 22:11
Also, Oracle has already released a new Java version. – Speravir Jan 16 at 0:17
2  
+1 for asking and caring about your computer security – there’s always something new to learn. – doncherry Jan 16 at 19:27
2  
@Speravir: There are apparently already known exploits for that version too. – Caramdir Jan 17 at 6:22
@Caramdir Can you link to information about that? – marczellm Jan 20 at 18:17
1  
@marczellm: arstechnica.com/security/2013/01/… – Caramdir Jan 20 at 23:54

2 Answers

up vote 28 down vote accepted

You don't need to worry: Java and Javscript are entirely different things. To quote an answer on Stack Overflow:

Java and Javascript are similar like Car and Carpet are similar.

The reason you can't close that permanent red banner is that without Javascript only static (non interactive) content can be served. Without Javascript you're missing out on quite a lot.

share
I never went beyond using simple css specifications... so I know javascript only as an end-user (unwilling) and my experience is that it is acceptable only in my firefox with pop-ups set to unauthorized and AdBlockPlus. But it might not be that great Evil I was fearing... – jfbu Jan 15 at 22:25
2  
Great comparison! :D – doncherry Jan 16 at 19:17
1  
This answer addresses the OPs concerns but it does not answer the question “which features of TeX LaTeX Stack Exchange am I losing with javascript disabled?” – Marco Jan 17 at 13:43
up vote 18 down vote

Javascript takes care of everything that is happening (changing, moving) on a site. Such as

  • timestamps of posts refreshing themselves every minute
  • clicking a link or an image to bring up a box, like the question mark above the answer editing area to bring up Help
  • live preview of question/answer as you edit
  • notifications that a new question was asked or the current one was edited
  • everything about Inbox
  • hovering over a tag to display the description

etc.

share
I was indeed asking for such a list in my question, thanks. – jfbu Jan 17 at 14:05

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged