Classilla 9.2.1

[ClassicHasClass]

Posted to the Mac OS 9 mailing list.

Classilla 9.2.1 is released.

This is primarily a bug fix release for the browser; there are no specific

layout or JavaScript changes, so if a site did not work with 9.2 it will

probably still not work with 9.2.1, and there are relatively few new features

this go-around.

That said, there is a big one, and that is Script-B-Gone. While I could never

confirm these myself, I got enough complaints about the whitelist getting

zapped, or not keeping up, or missing entries, that I hatched a scheme for a

more reliable way of tracking sites (and at the same time improve the rather

primitive interface for this older version of NoScript, specific for the

limited XUL controls in this version of Classilla).

Because this solution is intended to mitigate the problem with corrupted

whitelists, YOUR WHITE LIST IS NOT COPIED TO THE NEW FORMAT: YOU START FROM

SCRATCH WHEN YOU UPDATE TO 9.2.1. You might want to note the important sites

you need JavaScript for so you can transfer them over by hand. You can switch

back and forth from 9.2 to 9.2.1 (I don't recommend this, but you can), but

any changes you make in 9.2 are not seen by 9.2.1.

When you visit a site, click on the S as usual. Instead of NoScript, however,

Script-B-Gone appears and offers to add frames from the same domain (the

default), the URL site only, or all frames, or let you visit the manual

options window so you can add and delete sites as usual. For most sites,

enabling JavaScript is two clicks: one on the S, one on OK. The page will

automatically reload with JS on. That's it.

SBG keeps your whitelist in two places: the active whitelist used by the

browser to block scripts, and a shadow whitelist that SBG and NoScript

modify, and which SBG keeps in sync. SBG will adjust the active whitelist

and log errors if the active list does not match the shadow list, which

will help if there are deeper errors afoot.

If you activate SBG on a permanently whitelisted page like about:, it won't

let you delete it, and if you activate SBG on a page you have already

enabled scripts on, it will tell you and let you go to the options window

if you still want.

There are various other sundry small new features and bug fixes, such as

better tab management (open in background tab; Cmd-Shift-T to open the

last tab closed), more user agents, smoother socket timeouts, better

support for Unicode and updated libpng; see the releases page for all

the issues that have been fixed or mitigated. This version also adds the

MRJ Plugin -- MAKE SURE YOU MERGE YOUR CURRENT PLUGINS FOLDER WITH THIS ONE

if you have any special plugins you are using. The MRJ Plugin requires

MRJ 2.2.4 or higher (2.2.6 is recommended). You only need it if you need

to run Java applets, which is still discouraged.

With this release, 9.2.1 is now localization-ready: all the strings are

now frozen and will remain frozen through 9.3.1. If you want to work on

localizing Classilla for your home language (Etienne?), look at

http://www-archive.mozilla.org/projects/l10n/mlp_howto.html

If this seems doable to you, I want to sign up people for this project.

There is already a Japanese locale and I will integrate that into this

release; Mathias W is working on German, and I particularly would like

Spanish.

9.2.2 will mostly just be language packs except for any key regressions,

which I will fix in that release -- it will have no new features. I am

internally forking the codebase into the 9.3 branch so I can work on it

in parallel while the translators do their thing. I have not yet decided

if the packs will be separate or integrated into 9.2.2.

9.3.0 will be a lot of work, as it will involve hand-rewriting layout and

DOM. I don't expect to have this done for several months, but I am

committed to doing it.

Enjoy.

http://www.classilla.org/releases/

 

[Strimkind]

Excellent update. I will have to download immediately.

Keep up the good work!

 

[ClassicHasClass]

Hey, thanks!

 

[barana]

much appreciated, cameron, thx

 

[mx-v]

Thanks for making my ol' clamshell that much more useful.

 

[Scott Baret]

I second mx-v on his comment--I too have made my clamshell a more worthy No. 2 machine, soon to be No. 1 for a few days as I get my chipped MacBook case fixed under warranty.

 

[MattB]

I just installed Classilla on one of my Kangas today. Worlds better than IE 5.1. Is there any way to enable flash support in this browser?

 

[protocol7]

Flash support would be great too. I heard it's possible to get the last OS9 version of the Flash plugin to play current content by changing the version string with ResEdit. But it wouldn't load in Classilla.

 

[ClassicHasClass]

The content wouldn't load, or the plugin wouldn't load?

What does aboutlugins say?

 

[returningmacuser]

Have you considered making a browser based on the Netsurf rendering engine? From what I can see, it has better rendering than the browser you have, and is much faster. The only real shortcoming I can see is lack of Javascript, which is required to use a lot of web sites these days.

 

[ClassicHasClass]

I know about NetSurf and it's solid, but the point of Classilla is to support (or at least support better) dynamic pages, DOM and JavaScript. If layout were the only concern, iCab would still be sufficient (it's even Acid2 compliant). It's because of that need that I'm still doing battle with Gecko/Clecko because it has the best chance of reasonable success and performance.

 

[Forrest]

Tried it on my 700 MHz G3 iBook yesterday - worked great. Much more compatible with current web sites than Mozilla 1.x or IE5.

 

[ClassicHasClass]

Excellent I'm still working with the translators on Classilla 9.2.2 (which will be mostly a localization release). The next feature release is 9.3 and its layout overhaul, which is still on schedule for early next year -- TenFourFox is slightly delaying this, but fortunately 10.4Fx is now mostly on autopilot since we cleared the beta 7 hurdle.

 

[MidnightCommando]

the point of Classilla is to support (or at least support better) dynamic pages, DOM and JavaScript

Because we all know that computers are useless unless they can do Facebook and Twitter. *ducks*

(p.s. Do you need a French localisation? I might be able to arrange it.)

 

[ClassicHasClass]

I do, but I'm too far into 9.2.2 to add more on to the schedule for this release. However, bug me in private messaging.

 

[noidentity]

Finally giving this a try. How do I allow execution of JavaScript on local files? It won't let me add file:/// to the list. Classilla 9.1 always allowed execution of local JavaScript.

 

[ClassicHasClass]

What if you add

file:

? (Notice no slashes.) I'm on the PC they make me use at the office, so I can't test from here.

If that doesn't work, I agree it should, and I will fix it for 9.2.2.

 

[noidentity]

OK, I found a hack that works. First, open the window and add file://foo, which it allows (it doesn't allow file: or file:///). Then quit Classilla, edit prefs.js, and remove the foo, leaving you with

user_pref("capability.policy.maonoscript.sites", "sbg: about: about:blank chrome: file://");
user_pref("classilla.sbg.file.", "y");

Then re-open Classilla, and you'll see a file:// entry. This matches file:/// paths, allowing local files to execute. Adding other URLs and quitting Classilla doesn't disturb this file:// entry.

 

[ClassicHasClass]

I'll file that as a bug against myself with the workaround. Thanks for the legwork.

(edit: added to issue 150, which is the omnibus fix SBG bug for 9.2.2)