[Bioperl-l] [Fwd: Enquiry about Remoteblast.pm]

[Roy Chaudhuri]

Hi Robert,

Just a suggestion, maybe you could use HubMed (www.hubmed.org) as a 
PubMed alternative? It seems to work ok with JavaScript disabled.

Roy.

On 05/03/2010 15:08, Robert Bradbury wrote:
> Sorry, yes I too was reading quickly and not separating RemoteBlast from
> Eutilities requirements.
>
> With respect to "hostility", I do agree Chris that NCBI has provided a great
> service over the years (I've used it for over 15 as I'm sure many here
> have).  However, the recent Javascript requirement (without any apparent
> discussion within the user community) has me very annoyed [1].  One could
> back it up a level and ask why NCBI doesn't have a "user community forum"
> (at least that I'm aware of) or even a bug database (it isn't like putting
> up a bugzilla bug database requires all that much work).  Heck, even the
> phone companies (whom I consider to be the epitome of bureaucracy) issue me
> a trouble ticket # when I have a problem (something to the best of my
> knowledge NCBI does not do).
>
> There is also the fact that several months ago when I requested an
> explanation for what code/utilities were being used to generate the
> Homologene "homology" graphics (so I could consider extending it to other
> species, potentially in BioPerl) I was told in unspecific terms that a
> variety of utilities were used (and my impression was perhaps an underlying
> suggestion that it might be too complicated for me to understand -- but that
> could just be subjective impression on my part).  [Of course such a response
> doesn't fit well my perspective of "open government".)
>
> Robert
>
> 1. There are a long list of reasons why Javascript is bad ranging from
> increasing memory and CPU requirements on the end user (one cannot run
> hundreds of open PubMed tabs, as I often may when doing research, on an
> "average" machine if all the tabs are running Javascript, downloading and
> running lots of Javascripts can hardly be considered "green", Javascript
> doesn't work in the lightest weight browsers such as Dillo, Javascript
> decreases the reliability and security of the browser, excessive reliance on
> Javascript may decrease web access for individuals with disabilities
> (potentially in violation of current laws I suspect), etc.)
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