By: Privoxy Developers
-$Id: faq.sgml,v 1.47 2002/04/10 04:05:32 hal9 Exp $
+$Id: faq.sgml,v 1.51 2002/04/26 17:24:31 swa Exp $
This FAQ gives users and developers alike answers to frequently asked questions
about Privoxy .
tastes. Privoxy has application for both stand-alone systems and multi-user
networks.
-Privoxy is based on the code of the Internet Junkbuster (tm). Junkbuster was
-originally written by Junkbusters Corporation, and was released as free
-open-source software under the GNU GPL. Stefan Waldherr made many improvements,
-and started the SourceForge project to continue development.
-
-Privoxy continues the Junkbuster tradition, but adds many refinements,
-enhancements and new features.
+Privoxy is based on Internet Junkbuster (tm).
You can find the latest version of the document at http://www.privoxy.org/faq/.
Please see the Contact section if you want to contact the developers.
3.3. The "actions" concept confuses me. Please list some of these
"actions".
3.4. How are actions files configured? What is the easiest way to do this?
- 3.5. What are the differences between intermediate.action, basic.action,
- etc.?
- 3.6. Why can I change the configuration with a browser? Does that not raise
+ 3.5. Why can I change the configuration with a browser? Does that not raise
security issues?
- 3.7. What is "default.filter"?
- 3.8. How can I set up Privoxy to act as a proxy for my LAN?
- 3.9. Instead of ads, now I get a checkerboard pattern. I don't want to see
+ 3.6. What is "default.filter"?
+ 3.7. How can I set up Privoxy to act as a proxy for my LAN?
+ 3.8. Instead of ads, now I get a checkerboard pattern. I don't want to see
anything.
- 3.10. Why would anybody want to see a checkerboard pattern?
- 3.11. I see large red banners on some pages that say "Blocked". Why and how
+ 3.9. Why would anybody want to see a checkerboard pattern?
+ 3.10. I see large red banners on some pages that say "Blocked". Why and how
do I get rid of this?
- 3.12. I cannot see all of the "Blocked" page banner. All I see is a bright
+ 3.11. I cannot see all of the "Blocked" page banner. All I see is a bright
red square.
- 3.13. Can Privoxy run as a service on Win2K/NT?
- 3.14. How can I make Privoxy work with other proxies like Squid?
+ 3.12. Can Privoxy run as a service on Win2K/NT?
+ 3.13. How can I make Privoxy work with other proxies like Squid?
4. Miscellaneous
5.2. I just added a new rule, but the steenkin ad is still getting through.
How?
5.3. One of my favorite sites does not work with Privoxy. What can I do?
- 5.4. Where can I get help? Report bugs? Feature Requests? Etc?
- 5.5. What time is it?
+ 5.4. What time is it?
7. Contacting the developers, Bug Reporting and Feature Requests
+
+ 7.1. Get Support
+ 7.2. Report bugs
+ 7.3. Request new features
+ 7.4. Report ads or other filter problems
+ 7.5. Other
+
8. Copyright and History
8.1. Copyright
1.4. What are some of the new features?
- * Integrated browser based configuration and control utility (http://p.p).
- Browser-based tracing of rule and filter effects.
+ * FIXME: complete the list of features. change the order: most important
+ features to the top of the list. prefix new features with "NEW".
+
+ * Integrated browser based configuration and control utility at http://
+ config.privoxy.org/ (shortcut: http://p.p/). Browser-based tracing of rule
+ and filter effects. Remote toggling.
* Blocking of annoying pop-up browser windows.
- * HTTP/1.1 compliant (most, but not all 1.1 features are supported).
+ * HTTP/1.1 compliant (but not all optional 1.1 features are supported).
* Support for Perl Compatible Regular Expressions in the configuration files,
and generally a more sophisticated and flexible configuration syntax over
* GIF de-animation.
* Web page content filtering (removes banners based on size, invisible
- "web-bugs", JavaScript, pop-ups, status bar abuse, etc.)
+ "web-bugs", JavaScript and HTML annoyances, pop-ups, etc.)
* Bypass many click-tracking scripts (avoids script redirection).
* Improved signal handling, and a true daemon mode (Unix).
- * Builds from source on most UNIX-like systems. Packages available for: Linux
- (RedHat, SuSE, or Debian), Windows, Sun Solaris, Mac OSX, OS/2, HP-UX 11
- and AmigaOS.
+ * Every feature now controllable on a per-site or per-location basis,
+ configuration more powerful and versatile over-all.
- * In addition, the configuration is much more powerful and versatile
- over-all.
+ * Many smaller new features added, limitations and bugs removed, and security
+ holes fixed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.2. Which operating systems are supported?
-At present, Privoxy is known to run on Win32, Mac OSX, OS/2, AmigaOS, Linux
-(RedHat, Suse, Debian), FreeBSD, and many flavors of Unix. There are source and
-binary releases for these available for download at http://sourceforge.net/
-project/showfiles.php?group_id=11118.
+At present, Privoxy is known to run on Windows(95, 98, ME, 2000, XP), Linux
+(RedHat, Suse, Debian), Mac OSX, OS/2, AmigaOS, FreeBSD, NetBSD, BeOS, and many
+more flavors of Unix.
But any operating system that runs TCP/IP, can conceivably take advantage of
Privoxy in a networked situation where Privoxy would run as a server on a LAN
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-3.5. What are the differences between intermediate.action, basic.action, etc.?
-
-Configuring Privoxy is not easy. To help you get started, we provide you with
-three different default configurations. The following table shows you, which
-features are enabled in each configuration.
-
-Table 1. Default Configurations
-
-+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
-|Feature |default.action|basic.action |intermediate.action|advanced.action|
-|--------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------------+---------------|
-|ad-filtering |? |x |x |x |
-|--------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------------+---------------|
-|blank image |? |x |x |x |
-|--------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------------+---------------|
-|de-animate GIFs |? |x |x |x |
-|--------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------------+---------------|
-|referer forging |? |x |x |x |
-|--------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------------+---------------|
-|jon's |? |x |x |x |
-|+no-cookies-keep | | | | |
-|(i.e. session | | | | |
-|cookies only) | | | | |
-|--------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------------+---------------|
-|no-popup windows |? | |x |x |
-|--------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------------+---------------|
-|fast redirects |? | |x |x |
-|--------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------------+---------------|
-|hide-referrer |? | |x |x |
-|--------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------------+---------------|
-|hide-useragent |? | |x |x |
-|--------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------------+---------------|
-|content-modification|? | | |x |
-|--------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------------+---------------|
-|feature-x |? | | | |
-|--------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------------+---------------|
-|feature-y |? | | | |
-|--------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------------+---------------|
-|feature-z |? | | | |
-+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-3.6. Why can I change the configuration with a browser? Does that not raise
+3.5. Why can I change the configuration with a browser? Does that not raise
security issues?
What I don't understand, is how I can browser edit the config file as a regular
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-3.7. What is "default.filter"?
+3.6. What is "default.filter"?
The "default.filter" file is used to "filter" any web page content. By
"filtering" we mean it can modify, remove, or change anything on the page,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-3.8. How can I set up Privoxy to act as a proxy for my LAN?
+3.7. How can I set up Privoxy to act as a proxy for my LAN?
By default, Privoxy only responds to requests from localhost. To have it act as
a server for a network, this needs to be changed in the main config file where
and assign it the address of the LAN gateway interface, and port number to use:
listen-address 192.168.1.1:8118
-
Save the file, and restart Privoxy. Configure all browsers on the network then
to use this address and port number.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-3.9. Instead of ads, now I get a checkerboard pattern. I don't want to see
+3.8. Instead of ads, now I get a checkerboard pattern. I don't want to see
anything.
This is a configuration option for images that Privoxy is stopping. You have
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-3.10. Why would anybody want to see a checkerboard pattern?
+3.9. Why would anybody want to see a checkerboard pattern?
This can be helpful for troubleshooting problems. It might also be good for
anyone new to Privoxy so that they can see if their favorite pages are
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-3.11. I see large red banners on some pages that say "Blocked". Why and how do
+3.10. I see large red banners on some pages that say "Blocked". Why and how do
I get rid of this?
These are URLs that match something in one of Privoxy's block actions (+block).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-3.12. I cannot see all of the "Blocked" page banner. All I see is a bright red
+3.11. I cannot see all of the "Blocked" page banner. All I see is a bright red
square.
There is not enough space to fit the entire page. Try right clicking on the
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-3.13. Can Privoxy run as a service on Win2K/NT?
+3.12. Can Privoxy run as a service on Win2K/NT?
Yes, it can run as a system service using srvany.exe. The only catch is that
this will effectively disable the Privoxy icon in the taskbar. You can have one
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-3.14. How can I make Privoxy work with other proxies like Squid?
+3.13. How can I make Privoxy work with other proxies like Squid?
This can be done. See the user manual, which describes how to do this.
If you have version 2.0.2, then the equivalent is http://example.com/
show-proxy-args (but you get far less information, and you should really
-consider upgrading to 2.9.13).
+consider upgrading to 2.9.14).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.5. How can I submit new ads?
-Beginning with Privoxy v2.9.14, missed ads and banners and other actions file
-problems, can be submitted by accessing "actions file feedback system" from
-http://p.p/
+Please see the Contact section.
This process does not work with earlier versions of Privoxy or Junkbuster.
-There will soon be regularly updated actions files posted. These will be
-announced on the ijbswa-announce list.
-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.6. How can I hide my IP address?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-5.4. Where can I get help? Report bugs? Feature Requests? Etc?
+5.4. What time is it?
-Feedback is encouraged, whether good, bad or ugly. Please see the contact page
-in the user-manual for details.
+Time for you to go!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-5.5. What time is it?
+7. Contacting the developers, Bug Reporting and Feature Requests
-Time for you to go!
+We value your feedback. However, to provide you with the best support, please
+note the following sections.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-7. Contacting the developers, Bug Reporting and Feature Requests
+7.1. Get Support
-We value your feedback. However, to provide you with the best support, please
-note:
+To get support, use the Sourceforge Support Forum:
- * Use the Sourceforge Support Forum to get help:
-
- http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=211118
-
-
- * Submit bugs only through our Sourceforge Bug Forum:
-
- http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=111118.
-
-
- Make sure that the bug has not already been submitted. Please try to verify
- that it is a Privoxy bug, and not a browser or site bug first. If you are
- using your own custom configuration, please try the stock configs to see if
- the problem is a configuration related bug. And if not using the latest
- development snapshot, please try the latest one. Or even better, CVS
- sources. Please be sure to include the Privoxy/Junkbuster version,
- platform, browser, any pertinent log data, any other relevant details
- (please be specific) and, if possible, some way to reproduce the bug.
-
- * Submit feature requests only through our Sourceforge feature request forum:
-
- http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=361118&group_id=11118&func=browse.
-
-
- * Submit missed ads and banners, and incorrectly blocked images, popups, etc:
-
- http://p.p/, and select "actions file feedback system"
-
-
- This page can also be reached from many of the internal CGI pages.
-
- * For any other issues, feel free to use the mailing lists:
-
- http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=11118.
-
+ http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=211118
- Anyone interested in actively participating in development and related
- discussions can also join the appropriate mailing list. Archives are
- available too.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.2. Report bugs
+
+To submit bugs, use the Sourceforge Bug Forum:
+
+ http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=111118.
+
+
+Make sure that the bug has not already been submitted. Please try to verify
+that it is a Privoxy bug, and not a browser or site bug first. If you are using
+your own custom configuration, please try the stock configs to see if the
+problem is a configuration related bug. And if not using the latest development
+snapshot, please try the latest one. Or even better, CVS sources. Please be
+sure to include the Privoxy version, platform, browser, any pertinent log data,
+any other relevant details (please be specific) and, if possible, some way to
+reproduce the bug.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3. Request new features
+
+To submit ideas on new features, use the Sourceforge feature request forum:
+
+ http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=361118&group_id=11118&func=browse.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4. Report ads or other filter problems
+
+You can also send feedback on websites that Privoxy has problems with. Please
+bookmark the following link: "Privoxy - Submit Filter Feedback". Once you surf
+to a page with problems, use the bookmark to send us feedback. We will look
+into the issue as soon as possible.
+
+New, improved default.action files will occasionally be made available based on
+your feedback. These will be announced on the ijbswa-announce list.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.5. Other
+
+For any other issues, feel free to use the mailing lists:
+
+ http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=11118.
+
+
+Anyone interested in actively participating in development and related
+discussions can also join the appropriate mailing list. Archives are available,
+too. See the page on Sourceforge.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Copyright and History