Browser indicates script is bugged, is this an indication of a hacker?
 

I recently saw on my ASUS Eee PC running Mint, what I have seen many times before on other computers, running Mint and Windows 7, that a script has stopped and the options are given, debug, stop script or continue. Is this an indication of spyware, malware or a hacker remote accessing a computer?

I am using Firefox, and for banking and email, and online purchases. And home wireless modem connection.

If I go into debug, I can read the programming, maybe Java or something. Is there anything to look our for?

On a computer like an eeePC, it would usually be an indication that Firefox has choked due to running out of RAM. It's usually accompanied by the entire UI getting really laggy and feeling like it's seizing up. Takes many seconds to switch from one tab to another (if there are multiple tabs).

How much RAM does it have? My habit is to keep an eye out on RAM usage (not sure what the default system monitor utility in Mint is like). If it seems like it's getting pretty high, then I close some tabs or close/restart Firefox.

i second the above. i doubt its anything malicious. the designer of the website probably assumes that everyone visiting that page has cpu/gpu/ram/hd/high speed wifi/audio adapter/... resources to spare.

on an old slow pc, certain software will warn the user when things seem to take a long time so it gives you the option to stop the activity so you dont have to hold down the power switch for 10 seconds.

this is your interpretation.
what is the exact and complete error message, and on what page(s) does it occur and under which circumstances?
how do you get out of it?

I find that message is usually due to inept web designers thinking that including the kitchen sink makes a web page better. I've seen the "script frozen" using internal web applications and very trusted web sites. As above it may be issue with RAM but it could equally be some bug that the developer can't be bothered fixing -- I say this because I've seen it happen when I've still half my RAM free and the processor's fine with everything but that particular page.

It has 2gb RAM.
it uses the word "debug". That option leads to an open window of code.

The debug option is offered when the web browser has a problem displaying a page for any reason - not all of these reasons are necessarily due to an error in the code. It could be due to, for example, a problem with the network or overloaded resources on either the server or the client (your computer).

The code you will see is javascript/html5, but it will almost certainly not be useful for you to try and examine/investigate. The debug option is most useful for web developers who are troubleshooting their own code during development (or production, less ideally).

To debug a computer program is to look for faults in it and correct them so that it will run properly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_bug

Nothing to do with hidden microphones, secret spyware or the likes.

I would tend to say that, unless the machine is an 80486 with less than 512MB RAM, then it is really an error in the code. I've never seen it on this site, for example, and it is perfectly possible to produce perfectly useable websites which would practically never give the error.
(I leave out websites meant to make use of computing facilities using WebGL, etc., as that's another thing entirely)

There are many sites which consume incredible resources even with just a single tab - two or more can easily bring a 2GB machine with a 1.66Ghz Atom processor to its knees.

Indeed, and they are bug-filled messes of rubbish.

Or they're working as intended, they just aren't designed with weaker older computers in mind.

For example, the PBS Kids Video web site is practically unusable on a 1.66Ghz Atom (regardless of how much RAM you throw at it). There aren't any ads and the site itself is rather simplistic. But it only streams HD resolution - no lower resolution stream option for weaker hardware or slower connections.

Is that a software bug? No, it's just working the way it was intended, for the target computer systems they intend to support.

HD video, like the case I mentioned using WebGL, is something else entirely -- you know exactly why the errors are there because the web site is delivering content that requires that much computing power. For the most part web pages don't need anything like that and the majority of websites which throw these kind of errors in browsers are serving nothing more than text and pictures.
Besides, even pages delivering rich content ought to have some method of enabling that content manually in case somebody reaches the pages without knowing what it is.
There is no excuse for producing a page which freezes browsers.

[offtopic]
every now and then, i'm surprised at how people see "the internet" - it is not the internet i know, or use on a daily basis.
i guess there's as many internets as there are internet users.
[/offtopic]