1 /*********************************************************************
3 * File : $Source: /cvsroot/ijbswa/current/README,v $
5 * Purpose : README file to give a short intro.
7 * Copyright : Written by and Copyright (C) 2001-2010 the
8 * Privoxy team. http://www.privoxy.org/
10 * Based on the Internet Junkbuster originally written
11 * by and Copyright (C) 1997 Anonymous Coders and
12 * Junkbusters Corporation. http://www.junkbusters.com
14 * This program is free software; you can redistribute it
15 * and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General
16 * Public License as published by the Free Software
17 * Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at
18 * your option) any later version.
20 * This program is distributed in the hope that it will
21 * be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the
22 * implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
23 * PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public
24 * License for more details.
26 * The GNU General Public License should be included with
27 * this file. If not, you can view it at
28 * http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
29 * or write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
30 * 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301,
33 *********************************************************************/
35 This README is included with Privoxy 3.0.16. See http://www.privoxy.org/ for
36 more information. The current code maturity level is "stable".
38 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
40 Privoxy is a non-caching web proxy with advanced filtering capabilities for
41 enhancing privacy, modifying web page data and HTTP headers, controlling
42 access, and removing ads and other obnoxious Internet junk. Privoxy has a
43 flexible configuration and can be customized to suit individual needs and
44 tastes. It has application for both stand-alone systems and multi-user
47 Privoxy is Free Software and licensed under the GNU GPLv2.
49 Privoxy is an associated project of Software in the Public Interest (SPI).
51 Helping hands and donations are welcome:
53 * http://www.privoxy.org/faq/general.html#PARTICIPATE
55 * http://www.privoxy.org/faq/general.html#DONATE
57 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
61 February 2010, Privoxy 3.0.16 stable is released.
63 This is the first stable release since 3.0.12. It mainly contains bugfixes for
64 the previous betas which introduced IPv6 support, improved keep-alive support
65 and a bunch of minor improvements. See the "ChangeLog", and the "What's New"
66 section and the "Upgrader's Notes" in the User Manual for details.
68 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
72 See the INSTALL file in this directory, for installing from raw source, and the
73 User Manual, for all other installation types.
75 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
79 privoxy [--help] [--version] [--no-daemon] [--pidfile PIDFILE] [--user USER
80 [.GROUP]] [--chroot] [--pre-chroot-nslookup HOSTNAME ][config_file]
82 See the man page or User Manual for an explanation of each option, and other
83 configuration and usage issues.
85 If no config_file is specified on the command line, Privoxy will look for a
86 file named 'config' in the current directory (except Win32 which will look for
87 'config.txt'). If no config_file is found, Privoxy will fail to start.
89 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
93 See: 'config', 'default.action', 'user.action', 'default.filter', and
94 'user.filter'. 'user.action' and 'user.filter' are for personal and local
95 configuration preferences. These are all well commented. Most of the magic is
96 in '*.action' files. 'user.action' should be used for any actions
97 customizations. On Unix-like systems, these files are typically installed in /
98 etc/privoxy. On Windows, then wherever the executable itself is installed.
99 There are many significant changes and advances from earlier versions. The User
100 Manual has an explanation of all configuration options, and examples: http://
101 www.privoxy.org/user-manual/.
103 Be sure to set your browser(s) for HTTP/HTTPS Proxy at <IP>:<Port>, or whatever
104 you specify in the config file under 'listen-address'. DEFAULT is
105 127.0.0.1:8118. Note that Privoxy ONLY proxies HTTP (and HTTPS) traffic. Do not
106 try it with FTP or other protocols for the simple reason it does not work.
108 The actions list can be configured via the web interface accessed via http://
109 p.p/, as well other options.
111 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
115 There should be documentation in the 'doc' subdirectory. In particular, see the
116 User Manual there, the FAQ, and those interested in Privoxy development, should
117 look at developer-manual.
119 The source and configuration files are all well commented. The main
120 configuration files are: 'config', 'default.action', and 'default.filter'.
122 Included documentation may vary according to platform and packager. All
123 documentation is posted on http://www.privoxy.org, in case you don't have it,
126 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
128 6. CONTACTING THE DEVELOPERS, BUG REPORTING AND FEATURE REQUESTS
130 We value your feedback. In fact, we rely on it to improve Privoxy and its
131 configuration. However, please note the following hints, so we can provide you
132 with the best support:
134 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
138 For casual users, our support forum at SourceForge is probably best suited:
139 http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=211118
141 All users are of course welcome to discuss their issues on the users mailing
142 list, where the developers also hang around.
144 Please don't sent private support requests to individual Privoxy developers,
145 either use the mailing lists or the support trackers.
147 Note that the Privoxy mailing lists are moderated. Posts from unsubscribed
148 addresses have to be accepted manually by a moderator. This may cause a delay
149 of several days and if you use a subject that doesn't clearly mention Privoxy
150 or one of its features, your message may be accidentally discarded as spam.
152 If you aren't subscribed, you should therefore spend a few seconds to come up
153 with a proper subject. Additionally you should make it clear that you want to
154 get CC'd. Otherwise some responses will be directed to the mailing list only,
155 and you won't see them.
157 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
159 6.2. Reporting Problems
161 "Problems" for our purposes, come in two forms:
163 * Configuration issues, such as ads that slip through, or sites that don't
164 function properly due to one Privoxy "action" or another being turned "on".
166 * "Bugs" in the programming code that makes up Privoxy, such as that might
169 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
171 6.2.1. Reporting Ads or Other Configuration Problems
173 Please send feedback on ads that slipped through, innocent images that were
174 blocked, sites that don't work properly, and other configuration related
175 problem of default.action file, to http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=
176 11118&atid=460288, the Actions File Tracker.
178 New, improved default.action files may occasionally be made available based on
179 your feedback. These will be announced on the ijbswa-announce list and
180 available from our the files section of our project page.
182 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
184 6.2.2. Reporting Bugs
186 Please report all bugs through our bug tracker: http://sourceforge.net/tracker
187 /?group_id=11118&atid=111118.
189 Before doing so, please make sure that the bug has not already been submitted
190 and observe the additional hints at the top of the submit form. If already
191 submitted, please feel free to add any info to the original report that might
192 help to solve the issue.
194 Please try to verify that it is a Privoxy bug, and not a browser or site bug or
195 documented behaviour that just happens to be different than what you expected.
196 If unsure, try toggling off Privoxy, and see if the problem persists.
198 If you are using your own custom configuration, please try the stock configs to
199 see if the problem is configuration related. If you're having problems with a
200 feature that is disabled by default, please ask around on the mailing list if
201 others can reproduce the problem.
203 If you aren't using the latest Privoxy version, the bug may have been found and
204 fixed in the meantime. We would appreciate if you could take the time to
205 upgrade to the latest version (or even the latest CVS snapshot) and verify that
206 your bug still exists.
208 Please be sure to provide the following information:
210 * The exact Privoxy version you are using (if you got the source from CVS,
211 please also provide the source code revisions as shown in http://
212 config.privoxy.org/show-version).
214 * The operating system and versions you run Privoxy on, (e.g. Windows XP
215 SP2), if you are using a Unix flavor, sending the output of "uname -a"
216 should do, in case of GNU/Linux, please also name the distribution.
218 * The name, platform, and version of the browser you were using (e.g.
219 Internet Explorer v5.5 for Mac).
221 * The URL where the problem occurred, or some way for us to duplicate the
222 problem (e.g. http://somesite.example.com/?somethingelse=123).
224 * Whether your version of Privoxy is one supplied by the Privoxy developers
225 via SourceForge, or if you got your copy somewhere else.
227 * Whether you are using Privoxy in tandem with another proxy such as Tor. If
228 so, please temporary disable the other proxy to see if the symptoms change.
230 * Whether you are using a personal firewall product. If so, does Privoxy work
233 * Any other pertinent information to help identify the problem such as config
234 or log file excerpts (yes, you should have log file entries for each action
235 taken). To get a meaningful logfile, please make sure that the logfile
236 directive is being used and the following debug options are enabled:
238 debug 1 # Log the destination for each request Privoxy let through. See also debug 1024.
239 debug 2 # show each connection status
240 debug 4 # show I/O status
241 debug 8 # show header parsing
242 debug 128 # debug redirects
243 debug 256 # debug GIF de-animation
244 debug 512 # Common Log Format
245 debug 1024 # Log the destination for requests Privoxy didn't let through, and the reason why.
246 debug 4096 # Startup banner and warnings.
247 debug 8192 # Non-fatal errors
249 If you are having trouble with a filter, please additionally enable
251 debug 64 # debug regular expression filters
253 Note that Privoxy log files may contain sensitive information so please
254 don't submit any logfiles you didn't read first. You can mask sensitive
255 information as long as it's clear that you removed something.
257 You don't have to tell us your actual name when filing a problem report, but if
258 you don't, please use a nickname so we can differentiate between your messages
259 and the ones entered by other "anonymous" users that may respond to your
260 request if they have the same problem or already found a solution.
262 Please also check the status of your request a few days after submitting it, as
263 we may request additional information. If you use a SF id, you should
264 automatically get a mail when someone responds to your request.
266 The appendix of the Privoxy User Manual also has helpful information on
267 understanding actions, and action debugging.
269 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
271 6.3. Request New Features
273 You are welcome to submit ideas on new features or other proposals for
274 improvement through our feature request tracker at http://sourceforge.net/
275 tracker/?atid=361118&group_id=11118.
277 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
281 For any other issues, feel free to use the mailing lists. Technically
282 interested users and people who wish to contribute to the project are also
283 welcome on the developers list! You can find an overview of all Privoxy-related
284 mailing lists, including list archives, at: http://sourceforge.net/mail/?