Possible issues with NoScript extension.

[herbalist]

After trying Noscript 1.0.9 with Mozilla 1.7.5, and having nothing but problems, I put together a test unit to check into this further. The unit is win98 but is using the latest Mozilla and NoScript extension releases, 1.7.11 and 1.1.1 respectively. I also had the Policy Manager extension installed before adding Noscript, which also allows the user to control Javascripts, but is much more configurable. Both of these were installed in my user profile instead of the program directory via the choice it gave with this dialog box:

NoScript is supposed to block Javascript on all sites that the user doesn't specifically permit it on. What is not mentioned during the installation is that it comes with a list of sites on which Javascript is by default, permitted. While some of these sites belong to its developer, Giorgio Maone, others in the list belong to Google, MSN, and Hotmail. I've also found that these sites can't be removed from the permitted list unless the user manually edits the "prefs.js" file or edits them out via about:config.
What I found even more suprising is that Noscript also added a new policy group in Policy Manager. These policy groups serve much the same purpose as the different "zones" in Internet Explorer but are much more configurable. Here's a screenshot of the user interface of Policy Manager on my unit.



The "maonoscript" policy is not part of the Policy Manager extension and neither is that list of sites. While I don't have any real issue with the sites in that list, I do have some with the behavior of the extension. None of those sites can be removed from the list via the Policy Manager interface. I've also found that the settings for that group can't be changed.
While you can physically uncheck the "enable Javascript for these sites" box or delete the entire maonoscript policy, that policy will come back as soon as you restart Mozilla, with all the sites in the list again and Javascript enabled again.
Since Noscript was supposed to be installed in my profile directory, I shut down Mozilla and erased the entire Mozilla profile directory with Eraser. Mozilla made a new profile directory when I restarted it, with both Noscript and Policy Manager no longer there. I re-installed Policy Manager. It again had that same list of sites in that same maonoscript policy group, not editable again.
On the next attempt, I used the "extension uninstaller" extension to remove Noscript. Policy Manager has its own uninstaller, which works, which I also used. I then manually edited the prefs.js file, removing all Noscript entries. Did the same with about:config. I then erased every file in the profile directory that had anything to do with Noscript and rebooted. After installing Policy Manager again,that group of sites and that policy group was back again, even though there was no trace of Noscript. The only sure way I've found to get rid of it is to completely uninstall Mozilla, then erase the Mozilla program directory and all Mozilla profile directories, reboot and install everything over.
When an application adds entries to the trusted zone in IE6 without telling the user, that's enough to get it classified as adware or malware by most antispyware people or programs. When it doesn't provide a way to uninstall it, that adds to the reasons to call it such. While I like the idea behind Noscript, there's no good reason why it should automatically add those sites to a "permit permanently" list, both in itself and in another completely unrelated extension and require the user to know how to edit configuration files manually. Does anyone else see this behavior or the site list as an issue? Can someone confirm this on something besides win98 and Mozilla, maybe on XP with Firefox?
I have a copy of the Noscript install record as recorded by Inctrl5 as a text file or HTML page if anyone wants to see it.
Rick

[mitch]

running noscripts on XP sp2 with all updates and not policy manager

when i uncheck a pre configured site it grays out and is blocked and DOES NOT re-enable when i close and restart Firefox

my list is a lot shorter than yours?

it comes with what you need for hotmail and google mail and i think one or two other extensions

[herbalist]

Interesting enough. I don't think it has anything to do with the number of sites in the list. On my primary unit, the list is pretty long, but on the test unit, there was only a few besides the default ones. Guess I'll have to start with a clean test rig and try to figure out what it's not getting along with. In the meantime, I'll keep it off of my regular unit.
Rick

[Ghost]

i, like mitch, am runnig noscript on my xp w/ ff and have the same results as mitch when i uncheck a pre configured site.
just my 2 cents :)

E

update: same results w/ my 98se running ff.