1 /*********************************************************************
3 * File : $Source: /cvsroot/ijbswa/current/doc/source/readme.sgml,v $
5 * Purpose : README file to give a short intro.
7 * Copyright : Written by and Copyright (C) 2001-2011 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 the development version of Privoxy 3.0.18. See
36 http://www.privoxy.org/ for more information. The current code maturity level
37 is "UNRELEASED", but seems stable to us :).
39 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
41 Privoxy is a non-caching web proxy with advanced filtering capabilities for
42 enhancing privacy, modifying web page data and HTTP headers, controlling
43 access, and removing ads and other obnoxious Internet junk. Privoxy has a
44 flexible configuration and can be customized to suit individual needs and
45 tastes. It has application for both stand-alone systems and multi-user
48 Privoxy is Free Software and licensed under the GNU GPLv2.
50 Privoxy is an associated project of Software in the Public Interest (SPI).
52 Helping hands and donations are welcome:
54 * http://www.privoxy.org/faq/general.html#PARTICIPATE
56 * http://www.privoxy.org/faq/general.html#DONATE
58 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
62 November 2010, Privoxy 3.0.17 stable is released.
64 This is mainly a bug-fix release for the previously released Privoxy 3.0.16.
66 It contains fixes for two bugs that could cause connections to hang under
67 certain circumstances when keep-alive support was enabled, until they timed out
68 or where closed by the server.
70 As usual, there are also a bunch of minor improvements. For details please see
71 the "ChangeLog", the "What's New" section or the "Upgrader's Notes" in the User
74 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
78 See the INSTALL file in this directory, for installing from raw source, and the
79 User Manual, for all other installation types.
81 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
85 privoxy [--help] [--version] [--no-daemon] [--pidfile PIDFILE] [--user USER
86 [.GROUP]] [--chroot] [--pre-chroot-nslookup HOSTNAME ][config_file]
88 See the man page or User Manual for an explanation of each option, and other
89 configuration and usage issues.
91 If no config_file is specified on the command line, Privoxy will look for a
92 file named 'config' in the current directory (except Win32 which will look for
93 'config.txt'). If no config_file is found, Privoxy will fail to start.
95 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
99 See: 'config', 'default.action', 'user.action', 'default.filter', and
100 'user.filter'. 'user.action' and 'user.filter' are for personal and local
101 configuration preferences. These are all well commented. Most of the magic is
102 in '*.action' files. 'user.action' should be used for any actions
103 customizations. On Unix-like systems, these files are typically installed in /
104 etc/privoxy. On Windows, then wherever the executable itself is installed.
105 There are many significant changes and advances from earlier versions. The User
106 Manual has an explanation of all configuration options, and examples: http://
107 www.privoxy.org/user-manual/.
109 Be sure to set your browser(s) for HTTP/HTTPS Proxy at <IP>:<Port>, or whatever
110 you specify in the config file under 'listen-address'. DEFAULT is
111 127.0.0.1:8118. Note that Privoxy ONLY proxies HTTP (and HTTPS) traffic. Do not
112 try it with FTP or other protocols for the simple reason it does not work.
114 The actions list can be configured via the web interface accessed via http://
115 p.p/, as well other options.
117 All configuration files are subject to unannounced changes during the
120 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
124 There should be documentation in the 'doc' subdirectory, but it may not be
125 completed at this point. In particular, see the User Manual there, the FAQ, and
126 those interested in Privoxy development, should look at developer-manual.
128 The most up to date source of information on the current development version,
129 may still be either comments in the source code, or the included configuration
130 files. The source and configuration files are all well commented. The main
131 configuration files are: 'config', 'default.action', and 'default.filter' in
132 the top-level source directory.
134 Included documentation may vary according to platform and packager. All
135 documentation is posted on http://www.privoxy.org, in case you don't have it,
138 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
140 6. CONTACTING THE DEVELOPERS, BUG REPORTING AND FEATURE REQUESTS
142 We value your feedback. In fact, we rely on it to improve Privoxy and its
143 configuration. However, please note the following hints, so we can provide you
144 with the best support:
146 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
150 For casual users, our support forum at SourceForge is probably best suited:
151 http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=211118
153 All users are of course welcome to discuss their issues on the users mailing
154 list, where the developers also hang around.
156 Please don't sent private support requests to individual Privoxy developers,
157 either use the mailing lists or the support trackers.
159 If you have to contact a Privoxy developer directly for other reasons, please
160 send a real mail and do not bother with SourceForge's messaging system. Answers
161 to SourceForge messages are usually bounced by SourceForge's mail server in
162 which case the developer wasted time writing a response you don't get. From
163 your point of view it will look like your message has been completely ignored,
164 so this is frustrating for all parties involved.
166 Note that the Privoxy mailing lists are moderated. Posts from unsubscribed
167 addresses have to be accepted manually by a moderator. This may cause a delay
168 of several days and if you use a subject that doesn't clearly mention Privoxy
169 or one of its features, your message may be accidentally discarded as spam.
171 If you aren't subscribed, you should therefore spend a few seconds to come up
172 with a proper subject. Additionally you should make it clear that you want to
173 get CC'd. Otherwise some responses will be directed to the mailing list only,
174 and you won't see them.
176 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
178 6.2. Reporting Problems
180 "Problems" for our purposes, come in two forms:
182 * Configuration issues, such as ads that slip through, or sites that don't
183 function properly due to one Privoxy "action" or another being turned "on".
185 * "Bugs" in the programming code that makes up Privoxy, such as that might
188 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
190 6.2.1. Reporting Ads or Other Configuration Problems
192 Please send feedback on ads that slipped through, innocent images that were
193 blocked, sites that don't work properly, and other configuration related
194 problem of default.action file, to http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=
195 11118&atid=460288, the Actions File Tracker.
197 New, improved default.action files may occasionally be made available based on
198 your feedback. These will be announced on the ijbswa-announce list and
199 available from our the files section of our project page.
201 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
203 6.2.2. Reporting Bugs
205 Please report all bugs through our bug tracker: http://sourceforge.net/tracker
206 /?group_id=11118&atid=111118.
208 Before doing so, please make sure that the bug has not already been submitted
209 and observe the additional hints at the top of the submit form. If already
210 submitted, please feel free to add any info to the original report that might
211 help to solve the issue.
213 Please try to verify that it is a Privoxy bug, and not a browser or site bug or
214 documented behaviour that just happens to be different than what you expected.
215 If unsure, try toggling off Privoxy, and see if the problem persists.
217 If you are using your own custom configuration, please try the stock configs to
218 see if the problem is configuration related. If you're having problems with a
219 feature that is disabled by default, please ask around on the mailing list if
220 others can reproduce the problem.
222 If you aren't using the latest Privoxy version, the bug may have been found and
223 fixed in the meantime. We would appreciate if you could take the time to
224 upgrade to the latest version (or even the latest CVS snapshot) and verify that
225 your bug still exists.
227 Please be sure to provide the following information:
229 * The exact Privoxy version you are using (if you got the source from CVS,
230 please also provide the source code revisions as shown in http://
231 config.privoxy.org/show-version).
233 * The operating system and versions you run Privoxy on, (e.g. Windows XP
234 SP2), if you are using a Unix flavor, sending the output of "uname -a"
235 should do, in case of GNU/Linux, please also name the distribution.
237 * The name, platform, and version of the browser you were using (e.g.
238 Internet Explorer v5.5 for Mac).
240 * The URL where the problem occurred, or some way for us to duplicate the
241 problem (e.g. http://somesite.example.com/?somethingelse=123).
243 * Whether your version of Privoxy is one supplied by the Privoxy developers
244 via SourceForge, or if you got your copy somewhere else.
246 * Whether you are using Privoxy in tandem with another proxy such as Tor. If
247 so, please temporary disable the other proxy to see if the symptoms change.
249 * Whether you are using a personal firewall product. If so, does Privoxy work
252 * Any other pertinent information to help identify the problem such as config
253 or log file excerpts (yes, you should have log file entries for each action
254 taken). To get a meaningful logfile, please make sure that the logfile
255 directive is being used and the following debug options are enabled:
257 debug 1 # Log the destination for each request Privoxy let through. See also debug 1024.
258 debug 2 # show each connection status
259 debug 4 # show I/O status
260 debug 8 # show header parsing
261 debug 128 # debug redirects
262 debug 256 # debug GIF de-animation
263 debug 512 # Common Log Format
264 debug 1024 # Log the destination for requests Privoxy didn't let through, and the reason why.
265 debug 4096 # Startup banner and warnings.
266 debug 8192 # Non-fatal errors
268 If you are having trouble with a filter, please additionally enable
270 debug 64 # debug regular expression filters
272 If you are using Privoxy 3.0.17 or later and suspect that it interprets the
273 request or the response incorrectly, please enable
275 debug 32768 # log all data read from the network
277 Note that Privoxy log files may contain sensitive information so please
278 don't submit any logfiles you didn't read first. You can mask sensitive
279 information as long as it's clear that you removed something.
281 You don't have to tell us your actual name when filing a problem report, but if
282 you don't, please use a nickname so we can differentiate between your messages
283 and the ones entered by other "anonymous" users that may respond to your
284 request if they have the same problem or already found a solution. Note that
285 due to spam the trackers may not always allow to post without being logged into
286 SourceForge. If that's the case, you are still free to create a login that
287 isn't directly linked to your name, though.
289 Please also check the status of your request a few days after submitting it, as
290 we may request additional information. If you use a SF id, you should
291 automatically get a mail when someone responds to your request. Please don't
292 bother to add an email address when using the tracker. If you prefer to
293 communicate through email, just use one of the mailing lists directly.
295 The appendix of the Privoxy User Manual also has helpful information on
296 understanding actions, and action debugging.
298 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
300 6.3. Request New Features
302 You are welcome to submit ideas on new features or other proposals for
303 improvement through our feature request tracker at http://sourceforge.net/
304 tracker/?atid=361118&group_id=11118.
306 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
310 If you prefer to communicate through email, instead of using a web interface,
311 feel free to use one of the mailing lists. To discuss issues that haven't been
312 completely diagnosed yet, please use the Privoxy users list. Technically
313 interested users and people who wish to contribute to the project are always
314 welcome on the developers list. You can find an overview of all Privoxy-related
315 mailing lists, including list archives, at: http://sourceforge.net/mail/?