Fossil

antiquated methods.

JavaScript is not perfect, but it's what we have, so we will use it
where we find it advantageous.

[cg]: ./contribute.wiki






















## <a id="debate"></a>Arguments Against JavaScript & Our Rebuttals

There many common arguments against the use of JavaScript. Rather than
rehash these same arguments on the [forum][ffor], we distill the common
ones we’ve heard before and give our stock answers to them here:

    JavaScript blocking than the average web user. Yet, we’d also expect
    to find that our user base has a disproportionately high number who
    run [powerful conditional blocking plugins](#block) in their
    browsers, rather than block JavaScript entirely. We suspect that
    between these two forces, the number of no-JS purists among Fossil’s
    user base is still a tiny minority.

9.  <a id="block"></a>“**I block JavaScript entirely in my browser. That breaks Fossil.**”

    First, see our philosophy statement above. Briefly, we intend that
    there always be some other way to get any given result without using
    JavaScript, developer interest willing.

    But second, it doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing. We recommend that
    those interested in blocking problematic uses of JavaScript use
    tools like [NoScript][ns] or [uBlock Origin][ubo] to *selectively*
    block JavaScript so the rest of the web can use the technology
    productively, as it was intended.

    There are doubtless other useful tools of this sort. We recommend
    these two only from our limited experience, not out of any wish to
    exclude other tools.

    The primary difference between these two for our purposes is that
    NoScript lets you select scripts to run on a page on a case-by-case
    basis, whereas uBlock Origin delegates those choices to a group of
    motivated volunteers who maintain whitelists and blacklists to control
    all of this; you can then override UBO’s stock rules as needed.


10. “**My browser doesn’t even *have* a JavaScript interpreter.**”

    The Fossil open source project has no full-time developers, and only
    a few of these part-timers are responsible for the bulk of the code
    in Fossil. If you want Fossil to support such niche use cases, then
    you will have to [get involved with its development][cg]; it’s
    *your* uncommon itch.

11. <a id="compat"></a>“**Fossil’s JavaScript code isn’t compatible with my browser.**”

    The Fossil project’s developers aim to remain relatively compatible with
    the largest portions of the client-side browser base. We use only
    standards-defined JavaScript features which are known to work in the
    overwhelmingly vast majority of browsers going back approximately 5
    years, at minimum, as documented by [Can I Use...?][ciu] We avoid use of
    features added to the language more recently or those which are still in

[fcgi]:   /help?cmd=cgi
[ffor]:   https://fossil-scm.org/forum/
[flic]:   /doc/trunk/COPYRIGHT-BSD2.txt
[fshome]: /doc/trunk/www/server/
[fsrc]:   https://fossil-scm.org/home/file/src
[fsrv]:   /help?cmd=server
[hljs]:   https://fossil-scm.org/forum/forumpost/9150bc22ca
[ns]:     https://noscript.net/
[pjs]:    https://fossil-scm.org/forum/forumpost/1198651c6d
[s1]:     https://blockmetry.com/blog/javascript-disabled
[s2]:     https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2013/10/21/how-many-people-are-missing-out-on-javascript-enhancement/
[s3]:     https://w3techs.com/technologies/overview/client_side_language/all
[ubo]:    https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/
[v8]:     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V8_(JavaScript_engine)


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## <a id="uses"></a>Places Where Fossil’s Web UI Uses JavaScript