np7esk32 ~ ActiveX in Firefox 3

Discussion of Firefox browser and its add-ons.
Locked
Gnintendo
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 69
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 4:19 pm

np7esk32 ~ ActiveX in Firefox 3

Post by Gnintendo »

I was looking around Firefox add-ons when I came across this add-on:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/8265

It's called np7esk32 and allows ActiveX in Firefox 3.0. It's still an "experimental add-on" but it's being actively developed.

I'm probably not going to install it yet, but it's definitely going to be something I'll be looking back at.

I definitely think it's about time somebody started working on this again :D.

Well, that's my find of the day...
~Gnintendo
User avatar
LanikSJ
Site Owner
Site Owner
Posts: 1806
Joined: Thu Feb 15, 2007 7:44 am
Location: /dev/null

Post by LanikSJ »

Personally the main reason I don't use IE is hActiveX. IMO installing in FireFox would be counter productive.
"If it ain't broke don't fix it."
Gnintendo
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 69
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 4:19 pm

Post by Gnintendo »

It's just good that somebody is working on it because there are a lot of LEGIT reasons to have ActiveX and there are a lot of times you wish you could just enable it really quick for one thing and now there's finally going to be something again that will let you do just that.
User avatar
LanikSJ
Site Owner
Site Owner
Posts: 1806
Joined: Thu Feb 15, 2007 7:44 am
Location: /dev/null

Post by LanikSJ »

I've never needed to. And if I did IETab usually takes care of that problem.
"If it ain't broke don't fix it."
Ares2
Emeritus Contributor
Emeritus Contributor
Posts: 4572
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2007 12:49 pm

Post by Ares2 »

Gnintendo wrote:there are a lot of LEGIT reasons to have ActiveX
Except for Microsoft itself (ex: Windows Update in XP) I can't name any legit site that uses it without an alternative (Java for the most part).
Gnintendo
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 69
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 4:19 pm

Post by Gnintendo »

Microsoft is a good example, there are some driver update websites that use it too...it's just good to be able to enable it.
User avatar
jade
Site Member
Site Member
Posts: 15
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2008 11:49 pm

Post by jade »

makes me a bit nervous to have activex in my everyday browser in the form of non-official extension. i prefer to explicitly load up IE any time i need to run an activex control. which, now a days, only consists of stuff right off microsoft's site like windows update. i suppose it wouldn't be so bad as long as i could disable and re-enable it without having to restart firefox.

heck i wish i had the patience to run noscript. i tried installing it, but got irritated at having to manually enable scripts for 75% of the pages on the internet. that didn't last long, i decided to deal with the small risk :lol:
Gnintendo
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 69
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 4:19 pm

Post by Gnintendo »

jade wrote:makes me a bit nervous to have activex in my everyday browser in the form of non-official extension. i prefer to explicitly load up IE any time i need to run an activex control. which, now a days, only consists of stuff right off microsoft's site like windows update. i suppose it wouldn't be so bad as long as i could disable and re-enable it without having to restart firefox.

heck i wish i had the patience to run noscript. i tried installing it, but got irritated at having to manually enable scripts for 75% of the pages on the internet. that didn't last long, i decided to deal with the small risk :lol:
I share many of the same thoughts with you, which is why I'm glad it can be disabled and re-enabled. Just enable/disable from firefox Add-ons plugins tab.
User avatar
Adblock Plus Fan
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 248
Joined: Mon May 28, 2007 6:27 am

Post by Adblock Plus Fan »

jade wrote:heck i wish i had the patience to run noscript. i tried installing it, but got irritated at having to manually enable scripts for 75% of the pages on the internet. that didn't last long, i decided to deal with the small risk :lol:
Noscript is actually perfectly fine if you know how to set it up to your liking. Latest version practically has 3 modes:
1st mode is the default one, the one that annoyed you.
2nd mode is one which automatically allows all 1st party scripts and only blocks 3rd party scripts which are not in your whitelist. (I use this one)
3rd mode allows all scripts except for those that you manually put into the Untrusted list. (Essentially does everything Yesscript does, but is more flexible for blocking particular servers)
Fan
Alan Baxter
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 149
Joined: Sun Apr 08, 2007 5:27 am
Location: Colorado, USA

Post by Alan Baxter »

Adblock Plus Fan wrote:3rd mode allows all scripts except for those that you manually put into the Untrusted list. (Essentially does everything Yesscript does, but is more flexible for blocking particular servers)
That's the Allow Scripts Globally mode, which continues to provide Anti-XSS protection. (YesScript doesn't.)

From http://noscript.net/faq#qa2_3:
If you just prefer to restore Firefox's default (less safe) behavior of allowing JavaScript and plugins by default, but you'd like to retain Anti-XSS protection and the ability to selectively blacklist sites, you can just click the NoScript icon and select "Allow Scripts Globally (dangerous)" command.
And http://noscript.net/features#xss:
Furthermore, NoScript checks also requests started from whitelisted origins for specific suspicious URL patterns landing on other trusted sites: if a potential XSS attack is detected, even if coming from a trusted source, filters are promptly triggered.
User avatar
Adblock Plus Fan
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 248
Joined: Mon May 28, 2007 6:27 am

Post by Adblock Plus Fan »

Alan Baxter wrote:That's the Allow Scripts Globally mode, which continues to provide Anti-XSS protection. (YesScript doesn't.)
Yeah, it's one of the many other good features in noscript, my favourite which I use often is plug-in control for Java and Quicktime/Realmedia, those are awesome because they are hidden behind collapsible placeholders and need your permission to start.

And seeing the numerous bugs and vulnerabilities for Adobe's flash plug-in, I was tempted to use noscript's placeholder for Flash as well. But it's unfortunate that noscript puts up placeholders for items which would have been blocked by ABP to begin with, meaning lots unnecessary placeholders every time you have flash ads. Noscript would have been better if it only offered placeholders for the remaining relevant Flash objects that has gone through ABP's filtering. So since the Flash placeholder doesn't play nicely with ABP, I've opted not to use it.

That one is high on my wish list, but noscript is a great extension already even without Flash placeholder. As far as I can remember, I think Wladimir once talked about placeholder functionality for Flash in the future, once he resolved some issues that allows you to load/unload objects, this one is probably somewhere at the top of my wish list, can't wait for it to happen :P
Fan
Alan Baxter
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 149
Joined: Sun Apr 08, 2007 5:27 am
Location: Colorado, USA

Post by Alan Baxter »

Adblock Plus Fan wrote:But it's unfortunate that noscript puts up placeholders for items which would have been blocked by ABP to begin with, meaning lots unnecessary placeholders every time you have flash ads. Noscript would have been better if it only offered placeholders for the remaining relevant Flash objects that has gone through ABP's filtering. So since the Flash placeholder doesn't play nicely with ABP, I've opted not to use it.
I see what you mean, although I've never been irritated by that. I kind of like seeing all those placeholders for flash. :twisted:
I'm eking by with an eight year old pc, and flash usually slow it down too much.
Locked