Table of Contents
nobadbrowser Plugin
Compatible with DokuWiki
- 2022-07-31 "Igor" unknown
- 2020-07-29 "Hogfather" unknown
- 2018-04-22 "Greebo" yes
- 2017-02-19 "Frusterick Manners" yes
Displays a warning when the visitor uses a bad web browser.
Similar to noiewarning
The nobadbrowser is the spiritual successor to plugin:noiewarning. It shows a special warning when the visitor is using a bad web browser, but this warning is not only limited to Internet Explorer - now it also includes Google Chrome, Chrome expies or “reskins” like the post-Presto Opera Browser, Microsoft Edge and Safari.
Installation
Install the plugin using the Plugin Manager and the download URL above, which points to latest version of the plugin. Refer to Plugins on how to install plugins manually.
Prerequisites: Pre-release versions required browscap support in PHP. If you are unsure if your current PHP installation supports browscap, you can check the output of phpinfo(). Enabling browscap support in VPS providers that don't have it is outside the scope of this document. It is recommended you upgrade the plugin.
Usage
You don't need to do anything else after installing the plugin.
In order to check that it works, you need to visit your dokuwiki installation using a browser recognized as a “bad browser”, or fake one via a mechanism such as an user agent switcher extension.
Public Demo: See the plugin in action at my DokuWiki demos (of course, visit with a bad browser or fake one).
Configuration and Settings
As of present, no configuration options are available.
For final release it is intended to reuse the config options already available in plugin:noiewarning, meaning it will be possible for the wiki administrator to recommend a good web browser (which by default will be Mozilla Firefox).
Bad Browsers
The plugin will warn about usage of the following browsers, and offer a redirect to this page where it is explained why these browsers are bad.
Other browsers might be added to the warning list in the future.
At present the plugin does not show information about why a browser is dangerous, instead only directing to this page. This may change in the future if it can be done in a non-invasive way.
Internet Explorer
The plugin warns against Internet Explorer for versions 10 and below. Internet Explorer was the browser included by default in older versions of the MS Windows operating system.
Reasons include:
- Low security and high exploitability (ActiveX, example) in general
- Bad overall performance
- Severe lack of standards compliance, for years breaking web sites and forcing providers and developers to use code specifically for this browser
- Abuse of advantageous market position (back in its time).
- Abuse of manufacturer position by tightly integrating the browser into the operating system's internals.
- Creator was involved in antitrust lawsuits (eg.: United States v. Microsoft Corp.
- As of 2020 too old and superseded by Microsoft Edge
Google Chrome
The plugin warns against usage of Google Chrome any and all versions. Google Chrome is a Webkit-based browser by Google/Alphabet, one of the megacorps in the world recognized among the most dangerous for user security and privacy.
Reasons include:
- Heavy use of private or monopolistic web APIs to impose use of its parent company's own services (eg.: Google Docs).
- Promotion and use of anti-consumer measures (eg.: DRM).
- Heavy user tracking and profiling.
- Overall bad memory performance.
- Abuse of advantageous market position to benefit its parent company.
- Creator was involved in antitrust lawsuits, consumer privacy lawsuits.
- Creator involved in military deals against Human Rights.
- Abuse of market and manufacturer position to impose an encompassing program to forcibly become the content publishers for third parties (projects AMP and NERA).
- Abuse of manufacturer position to enforce logging users into the browser's infrastructure when they use online Google products.
- Illegal collusion with another anti-consumer megacorp, Facebook/Meta, where they would alter documents to cover for each other if any of them was found out.
- Manipulation of web infrastructure in order to restrict or forbid not only the users but also the developers of web browsers from blocking ads or tracking mechanisms.
- Sabotaging of their own clients in the web advertising space in order to obtain unrestricted access to their ad inventory and to the mechanisms they themselves used to track their users.
- Full legal document on the trial demand regarding various of Google's malpractices.
The plugin also warns in case the browser is detected to be a “Chrome expy” or “Chrome reskin” - that is, Google Chrome but with some cosmetic touches for branding. Because these touches are limited merely to branding, in as much as the plugin can detect, these browsers are still Google on the inside and thus considered bad or dangerous for the same reasons.
These reskins include browsers such as Opera (see below), Microsoft Edge, Avast Secure Browser, Android WebView, Brave Browser, etc.
Opera Browser
The plugin warns against usage of the Opera browser for versions later than (not lower than) 12.
Reasons include:
- Versions later than 12 (dropping the “Presto” engine) are simply a Google Chrome reskin, subjects to al the other issues of that particular browser (see google_chrome)
- Owner involved in security breaches and scandals.
Apple
Starting Nov 2020, the plugin warns against usage of the Safari web browser, and in general against any browser that identifies itself as having been built for Apple Inc.
Reasons include:
- Apple uses walled-garden techniques and special market pricing to keep its userbase hostage in their technology stack (hardware + software).
- Apple forces all browser makers to use Apple's own backend and rendering for browsers in their ecosystem. This means the entire Apple ecosystem has a single point of failure for both privacy and browser capacity that is not controlled by the end user.
- Apple has removed request control capability from Safari, making it incompatible with most forms of privacy measures.
Discussion
Raise issues or feature requests in the bug tracker. More general discussion can go below ↓.