Browser identification to websites
In the last post to the "middle clicking in iceweasel dialogs doesn't
work" thread, dated 07-03-12 01:43 UTC +7, Joe Hart said:
"I suppose I'll just have to live with it [different browsers' storing
cookies in different places], or stop using more than one
browser. The problem with that is, some pages don't look right on one
browser or the other. Sometimes you get completely different pages
because the webmaster caters to a specific browser. Maybe I should just
set Konqueror to tell every site that it's Mozilla."
Unfortunately too many webmasters design their pages to cater to one
widely used browser which has yet to conform to the W3C standard.
Opening such sites usually brings a window warning that the user's
browser detected by the site will not deliver all the functionality of
the site. In extreme cases the site will not allow access unless the
user uses that particular browser and no other.
Complaints to those webmasters rarely elicit a positive response. With
supercilious arrogance they make the problem yours rather than theirs
because you refuse against all reason to use the only perfect browser in
captivity. This attitude needs to be fought against, but in the meantime
there are sites which sometimes have to be used because there is there
is no real choice.
Pending success in complaining, there is one recourse. Many browsers
now have the capability of identifying themselves as another in order to
fool such sites into believing they are being accessed by the favoured
browser instead of the actual one.
Besides the perfect browser, these webmasters usually only know or care
about is Netscape. Fortunately, as Mozilla and Firefox are based on the
open source core of Netscape, any website detection system which accepts
Netscape will also accept Mozilla and Firefox.
Unfortunately Iceweasel (and Iceape?) do not seem to have this
identification capability. Konqueror one the other hand does.
Konqueror identifies itself as "Mozilla/5.0". In addition, in the KDE
control centre users can add to a list identifications for specific
sites which would otherwise prohibit access unless they can detect that
identification. I have done so with several sites.
I would certainly like to see such and identification capability in
Iceweasel. What are the possibilities?
Ken Heard
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