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Comment by cm2187 | Hacker News Reader

Another attack that disabling javascript would have defeated.

Another attack that unplugging your computer and going to live in the woods would have defeated.

More and more of the web is built on javascript, so opting out of a chunk of what the web runs on will naturally limit your exposure to the dangers (and joys) of the web.

> More and more of the web is built on javascript

Yes, you should definitely allow arbitrary code to run in a Turing-complete interpreter on your personal computer to read some text in the Economist.

This isn't some advanced app or game pushing the limits of web technology, it's words and a few charts.

The "joys of the web" consist more often than not in moving the text I am trying to read to show some ads, messing with the scrolling of the browser (try scrolling news.google.co.uk on an ipad!), overlaying popups to tell me to register to some newsletter or give some feedback, etc. I actually find the web much faster and nicer without javascript. A couple of blog websites will only show complete gibberish without javascript but I think bloggers massively overestimate how keen a typical user is to read what they have to say.

> More and more of the web is built on javascript

No, the web is built on HTTP and HTML, and it runs just fine without JavaScript.

The malicious bit was an .exe which did not autolaunch. The javascript itself was harmless.

Or just ad-blocking, which is less drastic.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com