So, one issue not discussed in the comments is transparency and trust. For example, I can take a look at the js in HN, and I can read what it is and know they aren't doing shady stuff. Of course, this is of interest to very few people, and in most pages that make extensive use of js, it's not even practical to revise the code even if it's clear and well documented. I'm personally biased towards serving as little js as possible as clearly as possible, abundant comments included, but many commenters make a good point for focusing on the target audience. I guess if there's not much code and you don't want to hide it, better serve it without minifying, because any picture you end up serving will make the js seem meaningless in comparison, but I still have doubts.