One reason why, if a user hits cancel, the meta refresh gets canceled, while a javascript/one doesn't if you just call your function without using any events like so

<script language=javascript>
<!--//

var counter=1000;
var urla="http://pathto/logout.cgi";
function stoperror(){ return true; }
window.onerror=stoperror;

function countdown()
{
  if(counter==0)
  { window.location=urla; }

  counter--;
  setTimeout("countdown();",995);
}

countdown();
//-->
</script>
[download]

"cRaZy is co01, but sometimes cRaZy is cRaZy".
                                                      - crazyinsomniac

Of course, anyone who has been reading the CERT alerts for the past few years already has Javascript (and perhaps Java) disabled while surfing the Wild Wild Web, so this solution won't work.

In fact, there are provably more people with Javascript turned off today than ever before. So we'll have to increasing provide solutions for problems that do not use Javascript. Get used to it!

-- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker

That is very true,
which is why you make having JavaScript enabled a requirement for logging in to your( or whoevers) website.

"cRaZy is co01, but sometimes cRaZy is cRaZy".
                                                      - crazyinsomniac