-Junkbuster Frequently Asked Questions
+Privoxy Frequently Asked Questions
- By: Junkbuster Developers
+ By: Privoxy Developers
- $Id: faq.sgml,v 1.3 2001/09/23 10:13:48 swa Exp $
+ $Id: faq.sgml,v 1.22 2002/03/24 11:51:00 swa Exp $
The FAQ document gives users and developers alike answers to
- frequently asked questions about the Internet Junkbuster. The Internet
- Junkbuster is an application that provides privacy and security to the
- user of the world wide web.
+ frequently asked questions about Privoxy. Privoxy is a web proxy with
+ advanced filtering capabilities for protecting privacy, filtering web
+ page content, managing cookies, controlling access, and removing ads,
+ banners, pop-ups and other obnoxious Internet Junk. Privoxy has a very
+ flexible configuration and can be customized to suit individual needs
+ and tastes. Privoxy has application for both stand-alone systems and
+ multi-user networks.
You can find the latest version of the document at
[1]http://ijbswa.sourceforge.net/faq/. Please see the Contact section
- in the user-manual if you want to contact the developers.
-
- Feel free to send a note to the developers at
- <[2]ijbswa-developers@lists.sourceforge.net>.
+ in the [2]user-manual if you want to contact the developers.
_________________________________________________________________
Table of Contents
- 1. [3]Introduction
- 2. [4]Frequently Asked Questions
+ 1. [3]Frequently Asked Questions
- 2.1. [5]Installation
- 2.2. [6]Configuration
- 2.3. [7]Misc
+ 1.1. [4]General Information
+
+ 1.1.1. [5]What is this new version of Privoxy?
+ 1.1.2. [6]How does it differ from the old Junkbuster?
+ 1.1.3. [7]What are some of the new features?
+ 1.1.4. [8]What is a "proxy"? How does Privoxy work?
+ 1.1.5. [9]My browser does the same things as Privoxy. Why
+ should I use Privoxy at all?
+
+ 1.1.6. [10]Is there is a license or fee? What about a
+ warranty? Registration?
+
+ 1.1.7. [11]I would like to help you, what do I do?
+
+ 1.2. [12]Installation
+
+ 1.2.1. [13]Can I install the new Privoxy over the old one?
+ 1.2.2. [14]I just installed Privoxy. Is there anything
+ special I have to do now?
+
+ 1.2.3. [15]What is the proxy address of Privoxy?
+ 1.2.4. [16]I just installed Privoxy, and nothing is
+ happening. All the ads are there. What's wrong?
+
+ 1.3. [17]Configuration
+
+ 1.3.1. [18]Can I use my old config files?
+ 1.3.2. [19]What is an "actions" file?
+ 1.3.3. [20]The "actions"concept confuses me. Please list
+ some of these "actions".
+
+ 1.3.4. [21]How are actions files configured? What is the
+ easiest way to do this?
+
+ 1.3.5. [22]What are the differences between
+ intermediate.action, basic.action, etc.?
+
+ 1.3.6. [23]Why can I change the configuration with a
+ browser? Does that not raise security issues?
+
+ 1.3.7. [24]How can I set up Privoxy to act as a proxy for
+ my LAN?
+
+ 1.3.8. [25]Instead of ads, now I get a Privoxy logo [or
+ checkerboard]. I don't want to see anything.
+
+ 1.3.9. [26]Why would anybody want to see the logo or
+ checkerboard?
+
+ 1.3.10. [27]I see large red banners on some pages that say
+ "Blocked". How do I get rid of this?
+
+ 1.4. [28]Misc
+
+ 1.4.1. [29]How much does Privoxy slow my browsing down?
+ This has to add extra time to browsing.
+
+ 1.4.2. [30]I noticed considerable delays in page requests
+ compared to the old Junkbuster. What's wrong?
+
+ 1.4.3. [31]What is the "http://i.j.b/"?
+ 1.4.4. [32]Do you still maintain the blocklists?
+ 1.4.5. [33]How can I submit new ads?
+ 1.4.6. [34]How can I hide my IP address?
+ 1.4.7. [35]Can Privoxy guarantee I am anonymous?
+ 1.4.8. [36]Might some things break because header
+ information is being altered?
+
+ 1.4.9. [37]Can Privoxy act as a "caching" proxy to speed up
+ web browsing?
+
+ 1.4.10. [38]What about as a firewall? Can Privoxy protect
+ me?
+
+ 1.4.11. [39]The Privoxy logo that replaces ads is very
+ blocky and ugly looking. Can't a better font be
+ used?
+
+ 1.4.12. [40]I have large empty spaces now where ads used to
+ be. Why does Privoxy leave these large gaps?
+
+ 1.4.13. [41]How can Privoxy filter Secure (HTTPS) URLs?
+ 1.4.14. [42]Privoxy runs as a "server". How secure is it?
+ Do I need to take any special precautions?
+
+ 1.4.15. [43]What is a "default.filter"?
+
+ 1.5. [44]Troubleshooting
- 3. [8]Contact the developers
- 4. [9]Copyright and History
- 5. [10]See also
+ 1.5.1. [45]I just upgraded and am getting "connection
+ refused" with every web page?
+
+ 1.5.2. [46]I just added a new rule, but the steenkin ad is
+ still getting through. How?
+
+ 1.5.3. [47]One of my favorite sites does not work with
+ Privoxy. What can I do?
+
+ 1.5.4. [48]What time is it?
+
+ 2. [49]Contact the developers
+ 3. [50]Copyright and History
+ 4. [51]See also
-1. Introduction
+1. Frequently Asked Questions
+
+1.1. General Information
+
+1.1.1. What is this new version of Privoxy?
+
+ The original Internet Junkbuster (tm) is a coyrighted product of
+ [52]Junkbusters Corporation. Development of this effort stopped some
+ time ago as of version 2.0.2. Stefan Waldherr started the ijbswa
+ project on [53]Sourceforge to rekindle development. Other developers
+ subsequently joined with Stefan, and have since added many new
+ features, refinements and enhancements.
+
+ The new Privoxy started with the same code base, but has changed
+ significantly at this point.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.1.2. How does it differ from the old Junkbuster?
+
+ All the old features remain. The new Privoxy still blocks ads and
+ banners, still manages cookies, and still helps protect your privacy.
+ But, these are all enhanced, and many new features have been added,
+ all in the same vein.
+
+ The configuration has changed significantly as well. This is something
+ that users will notice right off the bat. The "blocklist" file does
+ not exist any more. This is replaced by "actions" files, such as
+ default.actions. This is where most of the per site configuration is
+ now.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.1.3. What are some of the new features?
+
+ * Integrated browser based configuration and control utility
+ ([54]http://i.j.b). Browser-based tracing of rule and filter
+ effects.
+ * Blocking of annoying pop-up browser windows.
+ * HTTP/1.1 compliant (most, but not all 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 previous versions.
+ * GIF de-animation.
+ * Web page content filtering (removes banners based on size,
+ invisible "web-bugs", JavaScript, pop-ups, status bar abuse, etc.)
+ * Bypass many click-tracking scripts (avoids script redirection).
+ * Multi-threaded (POSIX and native threads).
+ * Auto-detection and re-reading of config file changes.
+ * User-customizable HTML templates (e.g. 404 error page).
+ * Improved cookie management features (e.g. session based cookies).
+ * 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.
+ * In addition, the configuration is much more powerful and versatile
+ over-all.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.1.4. What is a "proxy"? How does Privoxy work?
+
+ When you connect to a web site with Privoxy, you are really connecting
+ to your locally running version of Privoxy. Privoxy intercepts your
+ requests for the web page, and relays that to the "real" web site. The
+ web site sends the HTTP data stream back to Privoxy, where Privoxy can
+ work its magic before it relays this data back to your web browser.
+
+ Since Privoxy sits between you and the WWW, it is in a position to
+ intercept and completely manage all web traffic and HTTP content
+ before it gets to your browser. Privoxy uses various programming
+ methods to do this, all of which is under your control via the various
+ configuration files and options.
+
+ There are many kinds of proxies. Privoxy best fits the "filtering
+ proxy" category.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.1.5. My browser does the same things as Privoxy. Why should I use Privoxy
+at all?
+
+ Modern browsers do indeed have some of the same functionality as
+ Privoxy. Maybe this is adequate for you. But Privoxy is much more
+ verstatile and powerful, and can do a number of things that browsers
+ just can't.
+
+ In addition, a proxy is good choice if you use multiple browsers, or
+ have a LAN with multiple computers. This way all the configuration is
+ in one place, and you don't have to maintain a similar configuration
+ for possibly many browsers.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.1.6. Is there is a license or fee? What about a warranty? Registration?
- To be filled.
+ Privoxy is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL). It is
+ free to use, copy, modify or distribute as you wish under the terms of
+ this license. See [55]http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html for
+ specifics.
+
+ There is no warranty of any kind, expressed, implied or otherwise.
+ That is something that would cost real money ;-) There is no
+ registration either. Privoxy really is free in every respect!
_________________________________________________________________
-2. Frequently Asked Questions
+1.1.7. I would like to help you, what do I do?
-2.1. Installation
+1.1.7.1. Money Money Money
+
+ We, of course, welcome donations and use the money for domain
+ registering, regular world-wide get-togethers (hahaha). Anyway, we'll
+ soon describe the process how to donate money to the team.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.1.7.2. You want to work with us?
- To be done later.
+ Well, helping the team is always a good idea. We welcome new
+ developers, RPM gurus or documentation makers. Simply get an account
+ on sourceforge.net and mail your id to the developer mailing list.
+ Then read the section Quickstart in the developers manual.
+
+ Once we have added you to the team, you'll have write access to the
+ CVS repository, and together we'll find a suitable task for you.
_________________________________________________________________
-2.2. Configuration
+1.2. Installation
+
+1.2.1. Can I install the new Privoxy over the old one?
-2.2.1. How can I make my Yahoo account work?
+ We recommend you uninstall the old Junkbuster first to minimize
+ conflicts and confusion. You may want to save your old configuration
+ files for future reference. The configuration is substantially
+ changed.
+
+ See the [56]user-manual for platform specific installation
+ instructions. [FIXME: This is meant for after the name change for
+ 3.0!]
_________________________________________________________________
-2.2.2. How can I make my Hotmail account work?
+1.2.2. I just installed Privoxy. Is there anything special I have to do now?
+
+ All browsers must be told to use Privoxy as a proxy by specifying the
+ correct proxy address and port number in the appropriate configuration
+ area for the browser. See below.
_________________________________________________________________
-2.2.3. How can I make my GMX account work?
+1.2.3. What is the proxy address of Privoxy?
+
+ If you set up the Privoxy to run on the computer you browse from
+ (rather than your ISP's server or some networked computer on a LAN),
+ the proxy will be on "localhost" (which is the special name used by
+ every computer on the Internet to refer to itself) and the port will
+ be 8118 (unless you have Privoxy to run on a different port with the
+ listen-address config option).
+
+ When configuring your browser's proxy settings you typically enter the
+ word "localhost" in the boxes next to "HTTP" and "Secure" (HTTPS) and
+ then the number "8118" for "port". This tells your browser to send all
+ web requests to Privoxy instead of directly to the Interenet.
+
+ Privoxy can also be used to proxy for a Local Area Network. In this
+ case, your would enter either the IP address of the LAN host where
+ Privoxy is running, or the equivalent hostname. Port assignment would
+ be same as above.
+
+ Privoxy does not currently handle protocols such as FTP, SMTP, IM,
+ IRC, ICQ, or other Internet protocols.
_________________________________________________________________
-2.3. Misc
+1.2.4. I just installed Privoxy, and nothing is happening. All the ads are
+there. What's wrong?
-2.3.1. How can I hide my IP address?
+ Did you configure your browser to use Privoxy as a proxy? It does not
+ sound like it. See above. You might also try flushing the browser's
+ caches to force a full re-reading of pages. You can verify that
+ Privoxy is running, and your browser is correctly configured by
+ entering the special URL: [57]http://i.j.b/. This should give you a
+ banner that says "This is Privoxy" and access to Privoxy's internal
+ configuration. If you see this, then you are good to go. If not, the
+ browser or Privoxy are not set up correctly.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.3. Configuration
+
+1.3.1. Can I use my old config files?
+
+ There are major changes to Junkbuster configuration from version 2.0.x
+ to 2.9.x and later. The older files will not work at all. If this is
+ the case, you will need to re-enter your old data into the new
+ configuration structure. This is probably also a good recommendation
+ even if upgrading from 2.9.x to 3.x since there were many minor
+ changes along the way.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.3.2. What is an "actions" file?
+
+ "actions" files are where various actions that Privoxy might take, are
+ configured. Typically, you would define a set of default actions that
+ apply to all URLs, then add exceptions to these defaults.
+
+ Actions can be defined on a per site basis, or for groups of sites.
+ Actions can also be grouped together and then applied to one or more
+ sites. There are many possible actions that might apply to any given
+ site. As an example, if we are blocking cookies as one of our default
+ actions, but need to accept cookies from a given site, we would define
+ this in our "actions" file.
+
+ Privoxy comes with several default actions files, with varying degrees
+ of filtering and blocking, as starting points for your own
+ configuration (see below).
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.3.3. The "actions"concept confuses me. Please list some of these
+"actions".
+
+ These are all explained in the [58]user-manual. Please refer to that.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.3.4. How are actions files configured? What is the easiest way to do this?
+
+ The easiest way to do this, is to access Privoxy with your web browser
+ at [59]http://i.j.b/, and then select "[60]Edit the actions list" from
+ the selection list. You can also do this by editing the appropriate
+ file with a text editor.
+
+ Please see the [61]user-manual for a detailed explanation of these and
+ other configuration files, and their various options and syntax.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.3.5. 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 +no-cookies-keep (i.e. session cookies only) ? x x x
+ 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 ?
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.3.6. 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 user, while the whole /etc/privoxy hierarchy belongs to the
+ user "privoxy", with only 644 perms.
+
+ When you use the browser-based editor, Privoxy itself is writing to
+ the config files. Because Privoxy is running as the user "privoxy", it
+ can update the config files.
+
+ If you don't like this, setting "enable-edit-actions 0" in the config
+ file will disable the browser-based editor. If you're that paranoid,
+ you should also consider setting "enable-remote-toggle 0" to prevent
+ browser-based enabling/disabling of Privoxy.
+
+ Note that normally only local users can connect to Privoxy, so this is
+ not (normally) a security problem.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.3.7. 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 the Privoxy configuration is located. In that file
+ is a "listen-address" option. It may be commented out with a "#"
+ symbol. Make sure it is uncommented, 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.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.3.8. Instead of ads, now I get a Privoxy logo [or checkerboard]. I don't
+want to see anything.
+
+ This is a configuration option for images that Privoxy is stopping.
+ You have the choice of the Privoxy logo, a checkerboard pattern (this
+ scales better), a transparent 1x1 GIF image, or a custom URL or your
+ choice.
+
+ If you want to see nothing, then change the "+image-blocker" action to
+ "+image-blocker{blank}". This can be done from the "Edit Actions List"
+ selection at [62]http://i.j.b/. Or by hand editing the appropriate
+ actions file. This will only effect what is defined as "images"
+ though.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.3.9. Why would anybody want to see the logo or checkerboard?
+
+ 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 displaying correctly, and Privoxy is not inadvertantly
+ removing something important.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.3.10. I see large red banners on some pages that say "Blocked". How do I
+get rid of this?
- You cannot hide your IP address with Junkbuster.
+ These are URLs that match something in one of Privoxy's block actions
+ (+block). It is meant to be a warning so that you know something has
+ been blocked and an easy way for you to see why. These are handled
+ differently than what has been defined as "images" (e.g. ad banners).
+ If you want them to be treated as if they were images, so that they
+ can be invisible, then move the offending URL from the "+block"
+ section to the "+imageblock" section of your actions file.
+ Alternately, you could modify the "block" HTML template that is used
+ by Privoxy to display this, and make it something more to your liking.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.4. Misc
+
+1.4.1. How much does Privoxy slow my browsing down? This has to add extra
+time to browsing.
+
+ It should not slow you down any in real terms, and may actually help
+ speed things up since ads, banners and other junk are not being
+ displayed. The actual processing time required by Privoxy itself for
+ each page, is relatively small in the overall scheme of things, and
+ happens very quickly. This is typically more than offset by time saved
+ not downloading and rendering ad images.
+
+ "Filtering" via the filterfile mechanism may cause a perceived
+ slowdown, since the entire page is buffered before displaying. See
+ below.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.4.2. I noticed considerable delays in page requests compared to the old
+Junkbuster. What's wrong?
+
+ Using the default filtering configuration, I noticed considerable
+ delays in page requests compared to the old Junkbuster. Loading pages
+ with large contents seemed to take forever, then suddenly delivering
+ all the content at once.
+
+ The whole content must be loaded in order to filter, and nothing is is
+ sent to the browser during this time. The loading time does not really
+ change in real numbers, but the feeling is different, because most
+ browsers are able to start rendering incomplete content, giving the
+ user a feeling of "it works".
+
+ To modify the content of a page (i.e. make frames resizeable again,
+ etc.) and not just replace ads, Privoxy needs to download the entire
+ page first, do its content magic and then send the page to the
+ browser.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.4.3. What is the "http://i.j.b/"?
+
+ Since Privoxy sits between your web browser and the Internet, it can
+ be programmed to handle certain pages specially.
+
+ With recent versions of Privoxy (version 2.9.x), you can get some
+ information about Privoxy and change some settings by going to
+ http://i.j.b/ or, equivalently, http://ijbswa.sourceforge.net/config/
+ (Note that i.j.b is far easier to type but may not work in some
+ configurations).
+
+ These pages are *not* forwarded to a server on the internet - instead
+ they are handled by a special web server which is built in to Privoxy.
+
+ If you are not running Privoxy, then http://i.j.b/ will fail, and
+ http://ijbswa.sourceforge.net/config/ will return a web page telling
+ you you're not running Privoxy.
+
+ 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.x).
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.4.4. Do you still maintain the blocklists?
+
+ No. The format of the blocklists has changed significantly in the
+ versions 2.9.x. Once we have released the new version, there will
+ again be blocklists that you can update automatically.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.4.5. How can I submit new ads?
+
+ As of now, please discontinue to submit new ad blocking infos. Once we
+ have released the new version, there will again be a form on the
+ website, which you can use to contribute new ads.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.4.6. How can I hide my IP address?
+
+ You cannot hide your IP address with Privoxy or any other software,
+ since the server needs to know your IP address to send the answer to
+ you.
+
+ Fortunately there are many publicly usable anonymous proxies out
+ there, which solve the problem by providing a further level of
+ indirection between you and the web server, shared by many people and
+ thus letting your requests "drown" in white noise of unrelated
+ requests as far as user tracking is concerned.
+
+ Most of them will, however, log your IP address and make it available
+ to the authorities in case you abuse that anonymity for criminal
+ purposes. In fact you can't even rule out that some of them only exist
+ to *collect* information on (those suspicious) people with a more than
+ average preference for privacy.
+
+ You can find a list of anonymous public proxies at [63]multiproxy.org
+ and many more through Google.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.4.7. Can Privoxy guarantee I am anonymous?
+
+ No. Your chances of remaining anonymous are greatly improved, but
+ unless you are an expert on Internet security it would be safest to
+ assume that everything you do on the Web can be traced back to you.
+
+ Privoxy can remove various information about you, and allows you more
+ freedom to decide which sites you can trust. But it's still possible
+ that web sites can find out who you are. Here's one way this can
+ happen.
+
+ A few browsers disclose the user's email address in certain
+ situations, such as when transferring a file by FTP. Privoxy does not
+ filter FTP. If you need this feature, or are concerned about the mail
+ handler of your browser disclosing your email address, you might
+ consider products such as NSClean.
+
+ Browsers available only as binaries could use non-standard headers to
+ give out any information they can have access to: see the
+ manufacturer's license agreement. It's impossible to anticipate and
+ prevent every breach of privacy that might occur. The professionally
+ paranoid prefer browsers available as source code, because
+ anticipating their behavior is easier. Trust the source, Luke!
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.4.8. Might some things break because header information is being altered?
+
+ Definitely. More and more sites use HTTP header content to decide what
+ to display and how to display it. There is many ways that this can be
+ handled, so having hard and fast rules, is tricky.
+
+ "USER AGENT" in particular is often used in this way to identify the
+ browser, and adjust content accordingly. Changing this now is not
+ recommended, since so many sites do look for this. You may get
+ undesirable results by changing this.
+
+ For instance, different browsers use different encodings of Russian
+ and Czech characters, certain web servers convert pages on-the-fly
+ according to the User Agent header. Giving a "User Agent" with the
+ wrong operating system or browser manufacturer causes some sites in
+ these languages to be garbled; Surfers to Eastern European sites
+ should change it to something closer. And then some page access
+ counters work by looking at the "REFERER" header; they may fail or
+ break if unavailable. The weather maps of Intellicast have been
+ blocked by their server when no "REFERER" or cookie is provided, is
+ another example. There are many, many other ways things can go wrong
+ when trying to fool a web server.
+
+ If you have problems with a site, you will have to adjust your
+ configuration accordingly. Cookies are probably the most likely
+ adjustment that may be required, but by no means the only one.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.4.9. Can Privoxy act as a "caching" proxy to speed up web browsing?
+
+ No, it does not have this ability at all. You want something like
+ [64]Squid for this. And, yes, before you ask, Privoxy can co-exist
+ with other kinds of proxies like "Squid".
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.4.10. What about as a firewall? Can Privoxy protect me?
+
+ Not in the way you mean, or in the way a true firewall can, or a proxy
+ that has this specific capability. Privoxy can help protect your
+ privacy, but not really protect you from intrusion attempts.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.4.11. The Privoxy logo that replaces ads is very blocky and ugly looking.
+Can't a better font be used?
+
+ This is not a font problem. The logo is an image that is created by
+ Privoxy on the fly. So as to not waste memory, the image is rather
+ small. The blockiness comes when the image is scaled to fill a largish
+ area. There is not much to be done about this, other than to use one
+ of the other "imageblock" directives: pattern, blank, or a URL of your
+ chosing.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.4.12. I have large empty spaces now where ads used to be. Why does Privoxy
+leave these large gaps?
+
+ It would be easy enough to just eliminate this space altogether,
+ rather than fill it with blank space. But, this would create problems
+ with many pages that use the overall size of the ad to help organize
+ the page layout and position the various components of the page where
+ they were intended to be. It is best left this way.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.4.13. How can Privoxy filter Secure (HTTPS) URLs?
+
+ This is a limitation since HTTPS transactions are encrypted SSL
+ sessions between your browser and the secure site, and are meant to be
+ reliably secure and private. This means that all cookies and HTTP
+ header information are also encrypted from the time they leave your
+ browser, to the site, and vice versa. Privoxy does not try to
+ unencrypt this information, so it just passes through as is. Privoxy
+ can still catch images and ads that are embedded in the SSL stream
+ though.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.4.14. Privoxy runs as a "server". How secure is it? Do I need to take any
+special precautions?
+
+ There are no known exploits that might effect Privoxy. On Unix-like
+ systems, Privoxy can run as a non-privileged user, which is how we
+ recommend it be run. Also, by default Privoxy only listens to requests
+ from "localhost". It is not itself directly exposed to the Internet in
+ this configuration. If you want to have Privoxy serve as a LAN proxy,
+ this will have to be opened up to allow for LAN requests. In this
+ case, we'd recommend you specify only the LAN gateway address, e.g.
+ 192.168.1.1 in the main Privoxy config file. All LAN hosts can then
+ use this as their proxy address in the browser proxy configuration. In
+ this way, Privoxy will not listen on any external ports. Of course, a
+ firewall is always good too. Better safe than sorry.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.4.15. What is a "default.filter"?
+
+ The "default.filter" is used to "filter" any page content. By
+ "filtering" we mean it can modify, remove, or change anything on the
+ page, including HTML tags, and JavaScript. Regular expressions are
+ used to accomplish this. This is potentially a very powerful feature,
+ but requires some expertise.
+
+ If you are familiar with regular expressions, and HTML, you can look
+ at the provided default.filter with a text editor and see some of
+ things it can be used for.
+
+ Presently, there is no GUI editor option for this part of the
+ configuration.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.5. Troubleshooting
+
+1.5.1. I just upgraded and am getting "connection refused" with every web
+page?
+
+ Either Privoxy is not running, or your browser is configured for a
+ different port than what Privoxy is using.
+
+ The old Privoxy used port 8000 by default. This has been changed to
+ port 8118 now, due to a conflict with NAS (Network Audio Service),
+ which uses port 8000. If you haven't, you need to change your browser
+ to the new port number, or alternately change Privoxy's
+ "listen-address" setting in the config file used to start Privoxy.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.5.2. I just added a new rule, but the steenkin ad is still getting
+through. How?
+
+ If the ad had been displayed before you added its URL, it will
+ probably be held in the browser's cache for some time, so it will be
+ displayed without the need for any request to the server, and Privoxy
+ will not be in the picture. The best thing to do is try flusing the
+ browser's caches. And then try again.
+
+ If this doesn't help, you probably have an error in the rule you
+ applied. Try pasting the full URL of the offending ad into
+ [65]http://ijbswa.sourceforge.net/config/show-url-info and see if any
+ actions match your new rule.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+1.5.3. One of my favorite sites does not work with Privoxy. What can I do?
+
+ First verify that it is indeed a Privoxy problem, by disabling Privoxy
+ filtering and blocking. Go to [66]http://i.j.b/ and click on "Toggle
+ Privoxy On or Off", then disable it. Now try that page again.
+
+ If still a problem, go to "Show which actions apply to a URL and why"
+ from [67]http://i.j.b/ and paste the full URL of the page in question
+ into the prompt. See which actions are being applied to the URL. Now,
+ armed with this information, go to "Edit the actions list". Here you
+ should see various sections that have various Privoxy features
+ disabled for specific sites. Disabled "actions" will have a "-" (minus
+ sign) in front of them. Add your problem page URL to one of these
+ sections that looks like it is disabling the feature that is causing
+ the problem. Re-try the page. There might be some trial and error
+ involved. This is discussed in a little more detail in the
+ [68]user-manual appendix.
+
+ Alternately, if you are comfortable with a text editor, you can
+ accomplish the same thing by editing the appropriate "actions" file.
_________________________________________________________________
-2.3.2. What is the imagefile (simage.ini, etc.) for?
+1.5.4. What time is it?
- Anytime the Junkbuster determines (with the help of the blocklist)
- that a URL contains an advertisement, it has to decide whether this
- advertisement is an image or not. The Junkbuster uses the imagefile
- for that purpose..
+ Time for you to go!
_________________________________________________________________
-3. Contact the developers
+2. Contact the developers
Please see the user manual for information on how to contact the
developers.
_________________________________________________________________
-4. Copyright and History
+3. Copyright and History
Please see the user manual for information on Copyright and History.
_________________________________________________________________
-5. See also
+4. See also
Please see the user manual for information on references.
References
1. http://ijbswa.sourceforge.net/faq/
- 2. mailto:ijbswa-developers@lists.sourceforge.net
- 3. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current/doc/source/tmp.html#INTRODUCTION
- 4. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current/doc/source/tmp.html#QUESTIONS
- 5. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current/doc/source/tmp.html#INSTALLATION
- 6. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current/doc/source/tmp.html#CONFIGURATION
- 7. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current/doc/source/tmp.html#MISC
- 8. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current/doc/source/tmp.html#CONTACT
- 9. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current/doc/source/tmp.html#COPYRIGHT
- 10. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current/doc/source/tmp.html#SEEALSO
+ 2. http://ijbswa.sourceforge.net/user-manual/contact.html
+ 3. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#QUESTIONS
+ 4. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#GENERAL
+ 5. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#NEWJB
+ 6. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#DIFFERS
+ 7. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#FEATURES
+ 8. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#PROXYMORON
+ 9. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#BROWSERS2
+ 10. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#LICENSE
+ 11. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#JOINTEAM
+ 12. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#INSTALLATION
+ 13. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#NEWINSTALL
+ 14. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN124
+ 15. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#LOCALHOST
+ 16. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN149
+ 17. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#CONFIGURATION
+ 18. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#NEWCONFIG
+ 19. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN165
+ 20. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#ACTIONSS
+ 21. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN183
+ 22. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#CONFIGFILES
+ 23. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#BROWSECONFIG
+ 24. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN300
+ 25. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN312
+ 26. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN323
+ 27. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN328
+ 28. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#MISC
+ 29. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN341
+ 30. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#LOADINGTIMES
+ 31. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#CONFIGURL
+ 32. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#BLOCKLIST
+ 33. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#NEWADS
+ 34. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#IP
+ 35. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN382
+ 36. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN393
+ 37. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN403
+ 38. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN411
+ 39. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN416
+ 40. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN424
+ 41. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN428
+ 42. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN435
+ 43. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN447
+ 44. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN458
+ 45. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN460
+ 46. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN472
+ 47. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN478
+ 48. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN496
+ 49. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#CONTACT
+ 50. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#COPYRIGHT
+ 51. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#SEEALSO
+ 52. http://www.junkbusters.com/
+ 53. http://ijbswa.sourceforge.net/
+ 54. http://i.j.b/
+ 55. http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
+ 56. http://ijbswa.sourceforge.net/user-manual/
+ 57. http://i.j.b/
+ 58. http://ijbswa.sourceforge.net/user-manual/configuration.html#ACTIONSFILE
+ 59. http://i.j.b/
+ 60. http://ijbswa.sourceforge.net/config/edit-actions
+ 61. http://ijbswa.sourceforge.net/user-manual/configuration.html#ACTIONSFILE
+ 62. http://i.j.b/
+ 63. http://www.multiproxy.org/anon_list.htm
+ 64. http://www.squid-cache.org/
+ 65. http://ijbswa.sourceforge.net/config/show-url-info
+ 66. http://i.j.b/
+ 67. http://i.j.b/
+ 68. http://ijbswa.sourceforge.net/user-manual/appenix.html#ACTIONSANAT
projects / privoxy.git / blobdiff