[chii]

i think opening in a new tab for an external link is completely reasonable (i don't care about GA tracking, but if that was one of the reasons, its also a reasonable reason).

Unless your computer is too slow to handle many tabs, having more tabs is almost always better!

[jonahx]

I agree and don't like to be forced to open external links in the same tab. I've actually written a tampermonkey script to override the default behavior of HN and SO for this reason.

But I hesitate to make this comment as this debate can approach the intensity of the "vim/emacs" debate in its religious fervor.

[garethadams]

I don't think 'be forced' means what you think it means.

If a site defaults its links to "same tab" then I can easily override that behaviour and open them in new tabs if I choose (just by using a different mouse button or holding down a key when I click)

If a site defaults links to "new tab", can you tell me the simplest way I can override that behaviour?

[jonahx]

I will help you, despite your snarkiness :)

Just use greasemonkey or tampermonkey and a script like this:

    var a = document.getElementsByTagName("a"); 
    for (i=0;i<a.length;i++) { 
        if (a[i].target="_blank") { 
            a[i].target="_self" 
        }                        
    }

It should work for the majority of cases. You should be able to tweak it to handle any exceptions.

[kamjam]

Drag the link and drop it into the URL bar of your browser.