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 3.0.17. 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 November 2010, Privoxy 3.0.17 stable is released.
63 This is mainly a bug-fix release for the previously released Privoxy 3.0.16.
65 It contains fixes for two bugs that could cause connections to hang under
66 certain circumstances when keep-alive support was enabled, until they timed
67 out or where closed by the server.
69 As usual, there are also a bunch of minor improvements. For details please
70 see the "ChangeLog", the "What's New" section or the "Upgrader's Notes" in
73 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
77 See the INSTALL file in this directory, for installing from raw source, and the
78 User Manual, for all other installation types.
80 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
84 privoxy [--help] [--version] [--no-daemon] [--pidfile PIDFILE] [--user USER
85 [.GROUP]] [--chroot] [--pre-chroot-nslookup HOSTNAME ][config_file]
87 See the man page or User Manual for an explanation of each option, and other
88 configuration and usage issues.
90 If no config_file is specified on the command line, Privoxy will look for a
91 file named 'config' in the current directory (except Win32 which will look for
92 'config.txt'). If no config_file is found, Privoxy will fail to start.
94 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
98 See: 'config', 'default.action', 'user.action', 'default.filter', and
99 'user.filter'. 'user.action' and 'user.filter' are for personal and local
100 configuration preferences. These are all well commented. Most of the magic is
101 in '*.action' files. 'user.action' should be used for any actions
102 customizations. On Unix-like systems, these files are typically installed in /
103 etc/privoxy. On Windows, then wherever the executable itself is installed.
104 There are many significant changes and advances from earlier versions. The User
105 Manual has an explanation of all configuration options, and examples: http://
106 www.privoxy.org/user-manual/.
108 Be sure to set your browser(s) for HTTP/HTTPS Proxy at <IP>:<Port>, or whatever
109 you specify in the config file under 'listen-address'. DEFAULT is
110 127.0.0.1:8118. Note that Privoxy ONLY proxies HTTP (and HTTPS) traffic. Do not
111 try it with FTP or other protocols for the simple reason it does not work.
113 The actions list can be configured via the web interface accessed via http://
114 p.p/, as well other options.
116 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
120 There should be documentation in the 'doc' subdirectory. In particular, see the
121 User Manual there, the FAQ, and those interested in Privoxy development, should
122 look at developer-manual.
124 The source and configuration files are all well commented. The main
125 configuration files are: 'config', 'default.action', and 'default.filter'.
127 Included documentation may vary according to platform and packager. All
128 documentation is posted on http://www.privoxy.org, in case you don't have it,
131 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
133 6. CONTACTING THE DEVELOPERS, BUG REPORTING AND FEATURE REQUESTS
135 We value your feedback. In fact, we rely on it to improve Privoxy and its
136 configuration. However, please note the following hints, so we can provide you
137 with the best support:
139 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
143 For casual users, our support forum at SourceForge is probably best suited:
144 http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=211118
146 All users are of course welcome to discuss their issues on the users mailing
147 list, where the developers also hang around.
149 Please don't sent private support requests to individual Privoxy developers,
150 either use the mailing lists or the support trackers.
152 Note that the Privoxy mailing lists are moderated. Posts from unsubscribed
153 addresses have to be accepted manually by a moderator. This may cause a delay
154 of several days and if you use a subject that doesn't clearly mention Privoxy
155 or one of its features, your message may be accidentally discarded as spam.
157 If you aren't subscribed, you should therefore spend a few seconds to come up
158 with a proper subject. Additionally you should make it clear that you want to
159 get CC'd. Otherwise some responses will be directed to the mailing list only,
160 and you won't see them.
162 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
164 6.2. Reporting Problems
166 "Problems" for our purposes, come in two forms:
168 * Configuration issues, such as ads that slip through, or sites that don't
169 function properly due to one Privoxy "action" or another being turned "on".
171 * "Bugs" in the programming code that makes up Privoxy, such as that might
174 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
176 6.2.1. Reporting Ads or Other Configuration Problems
178 Please send feedback on ads that slipped through, innocent images that were
179 blocked, sites that don't work properly, and other configuration related
180 problem of default.action file, to http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=
181 11118&atid=460288, the Actions File Tracker.
183 New, improved default.action files may occasionally be made available based on
184 your feedback. These will be announced on the ijbswa-announce list and
185 available from our the files section of our project page.
187 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
189 6.2.2. Reporting Bugs
191 Please report all bugs through our bug tracker: http://sourceforge.net/tracker
192 /?group_id=11118&atid=111118.
194 Before doing so, please make sure that the bug has not already been submitted
195 and observe the additional hints at the top of the submit form. If already
196 submitted, please feel free to add any info to the original report that might
197 help to solve the issue.
199 Please try to verify that it is a Privoxy bug, and not a browser or site bug or
200 documented behaviour that just happens to be different than what you expected.
201 If unsure, try toggling off Privoxy, and see if the problem persists.
203 If you are using your own custom configuration, please try the stock configs to
204 see if the problem is configuration related. If you're having problems with a
205 feature that is disabled by default, please ask around on the mailing list if
206 others can reproduce the problem.
208 If you aren't using the latest Privoxy version, the bug may have been found and
209 fixed in the meantime. We would appreciate if you could take the time to
210 upgrade to the latest version (or even the latest CVS snapshot) and verify that
211 your bug still exists.
213 Please be sure to provide the following information:
215 * The exact Privoxy version you are using (if you got the source from CVS,
216 please also provide the source code revisions as shown in http://
217 config.privoxy.org/show-version).
219 * The operating system and versions you run Privoxy on, (e.g. Windows XP
220 SP2), if you are using a Unix flavor, sending the output of "uname -a"
221 should do, in case of GNU/Linux, please also name the distribution.
223 * The name, platform, and version of the browser you were using (e.g.
224 Internet Explorer v5.5 for Mac).
226 * The URL where the problem occurred, or some way for us to duplicate the
227 problem (e.g. http://somesite.example.com/?somethingelse=123).
229 * Whether your version of Privoxy is one supplied by the Privoxy developers
230 via SourceForge, or if you got your copy somewhere else.
232 * Whether you are using Privoxy in tandem with another proxy such as Tor. If
233 so, please temporary disable the other proxy to see if the symptoms change.
235 * Whether you are using a personal firewall product. If so, does Privoxy work
238 * Any other pertinent information to help identify the problem such as config
239 or log file excerpts (yes, you should have log file entries for each action
240 taken). To get a meaningful logfile, please make sure that the logfile
241 directive is being used and the following debug options are enabled:
243 debug 1 # Log the destination for each request Privoxy let through. See also debug 1024.
244 debug 2 # show each connection status
245 debug 4 # show I/O status
246 debug 8 # show header parsing
247 debug 128 # debug redirects
248 debug 256 # debug GIF de-animation
249 debug 512 # Common Log Format
250 debug 1024 # Log the destination for requests Privoxy didn't let through, and the reason why.
251 debug 4096 # Startup banner and warnings.
252 debug 8192 # Non-fatal errors
254 If you are having trouble with a filter, please additionally enable
256 debug 64 # debug regular expression filters
258 If you are using Privoxy 3.0.17 or later and suspect that it interprets the
259 request or the response incorrectly, please enable
261 debug 32768 # log all data read from the network
263 Note that Privoxy log files may contain sensitive information so please
264 don't submit any logfiles you didn't read first. You can mask sensitive
265 information as long as it's clear that you removed something.
267 You don't have to tell us your actual name when filing a problem report, but if
268 you don't, please use a nickname so we can differentiate between your messages
269 and the ones entered by other "anonymous" users that may respond to your
270 request if they have the same problem or already found a solution. Note that
271 due to spam the trackers may not always allow to post without being logged into
272 SourceForge. If that's the case, you are still free to create a login that
273 isn't directly linked to your name, though.
275 Please also check the status of your request a few days after submitting it, as
276 we may request additional information. If you use a SF id, you should
277 automatically get a mail when someone responds to your request. Please don't
278 bother to add an email address when using the tracker. If you prefer to
279 communicate through email, just use one of the mailing lists directly.
281 The appendix of the Privoxy User Manual also has helpful information on
282 understanding actions, and action debugging.
284 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
286 6.3. Request New Features
288 You are welcome to submit ideas on new features or other proposals for
289 improvement through our feature request tracker at http://sourceforge.net/
290 tracker/?atid=361118&group_id=11118.
292 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
296 If you prefer to communicate through email, instead of using a web interface,
297 feel free to use one of the mailing lists. To discuss issues that haven't been
298 completely diagnosed yet, please use the Privoxy users list. Technically
299 interested users and people who wish to contribute to the project are always
300 welcome on the developers list. You can find an overview of all Privoxy-related
301 mailing lists, including list archives, at: http://sourceforge.net/mail/?