/********************************************************************* * * File : $Source: /cvsroot/ijbswa/current/README,v $ * * Purpose : README file to give a short intro. * * Copyright : Written by and Copyright (C) 2001 - 2006 the SourceForge * Privoxy team. http://www.privoxy.org/ * * Based on the Internet Junkbuster originally written * by and Copyright (C) 1997 Anonymous Coders and * Junkbusters Corporation. http://www.junkbusters.com * * This program is free software; you can redistribute it * and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General * Public License as published by the Free Software * Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at * your option) any later version. * * This program is distributed in the hope that it will * be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the * implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A * PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public * License for more details. * * The GNU General Public License should be included with * this file. If not, you can view it at * http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html * or write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., * 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 , * USA * *********************************************************************/ This README is included with the development version of Privoxy 3.0.4. See http://www.privoxy.org/ for more information. The current code maturity level is "beta", but seems stable to us :). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Privoxy is a web proxy with advanced filtering capabilities for protecting privacy, modifying web page data, 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. Privoxy is based on Internet Junkbuster (tm). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. IMPORTANT CHANGES BIG NEWS! 2006, Privoxy 3.0.4 is released. This is a significant upgrade with many new and enhanced features, and many bugs fixed. There are fifteen new actions available, and several actions have enhanced capabilities. Multiple filter files are now supported as well. See the "What's New" section and the "Upgrader's Notes" in the User Manual for details and specifics. NEWS! January 2004, Privoxy 3.0.3 is released. This is the another maintenance release of Privoxy which fixes more bugs, further refines the configuration and works around some known third-party problems. See the ChangeLog for complete details. Upgrading from 3.0.2 is recommended. NEWS! March 2003, Privoxy 3.0.2 is released. This is the first maintenance release of Privoxy. There are no significant new features in this release. Some bugs are fixed, and some existing features have been enhanced. See ChangeLog for details. Upgrading from 3.0.0 is recommended. REALLY BIG NEWS! August 2002: The long-awaited, oft-delayed stable version of Privoxy 3.0 is finally released! This is way behind schedule, but better late than never. The developers all hope the wait was worth it. NEWS! As of 03/24/02, the name of this project has been changed from ijbswa/ Junkbuster to Privoxy. This is reflected in many of the included files. IMPORTANT! READ! Configuration Change as of 17 Mar 2002: The default listening port is now 8118 due to conflicts with port 8000 assignment. You will need to change your browser if upgrading!!! And maybe firewall, etc. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. INSTALL See the INSTALL file in this directory, for installing from raw source, and the User Manual, for all other installation types. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. RUN privoxy [--help] [--version] [--no-daemon] [--pidfile PIDFILE] [--user USER [.GROUP]] [--chroot] [config_file] See the man page or User Manual for an explanation of each option, and other configuration and usage issues. If no config_file is specified on the command line, Privoxy will look for a file named 'config' in the current directory (except Win32 which will look for 'config.txt'). If no config_file is found, Privoxy will fail to start. Or for Red Hat based distributions: /etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start Or for SuSE: /etc/rc.d/privoxy start Or Debian: /etc/init.d/privoxy start ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. CONFIGURATION See: 'config', 'default.action', 'user.action', 'default.filter', and 'user.filter'. 'user.action' and 'user.filter' are for personal and local configuration preferences. These are all well commented. Most of the magic is in '*.action' files. 'user.action' should be used for any actions customizations. On Unix-like systems, these files are installed in /etc/ privoxy. On Windows, then wherever the executable itself is installed. There are many significant changes and advances from earlier versions. The User Manual has an explanation of all configuration options, and examples: http:// www.privoxy.org/user-manual/. Be sure to set your browser(s) for HTTP/HTTPS Proxy at :, or whatever you specify in the config file under 'listen-address'. DEFAULT is localhost: 8118. Note that Privoxy ONLY proxies HTTP (and HTTPS) traffic. Do not try it with FTP or other protocols for the simple reason it does not work. The actions list can be configured via the web interface accessed via http:// p.p/, as well other options. All configuration files are subject to unannounced changes during the development process. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. DOCUMENTATION There should be documentation in the 'doc' subdirectory, but it may not be completed at this point. In particular, see the User Manual there, the FAQ, and those interested in Privoxy development, should look at developer-manual. The most up to date source of information on the current development version, may still be either comments in the source code, or the included configuration files. The source and configuration files are all well commented. The main configuration files are: 'config', 'default.action', and 'default.filter' in the top-level source directory. Included documentation may vary according to platform and packager. All documentation is posted on http://www.privoxy.org, in case you don't have it, or can't find it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. CONTACTING THE DEVELOPERS, BUG REPORTING AND FEATURE REQUESTS We value your feedback. In fact, we rely on it to improve Privoxy and its configuration. However, please note the following hints, so we can provide you with the best support: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.1. Get Support For casual users, our support forum at SourceForge is probably best suited: http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=211118 All users are of course welcome to discuss their issues on the users mailing list, where the developers also hang around. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.2. Reporting Problems "Problems" for our purposes, come in two forms: * Configuration issues, such as ads that slip through, or sites that don't function properly due to one Privoxy "action" or another being turned "on". * "Bugs" in the programming code that makes up Privoxy, such as that might cause a crash. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.2.1. Reporting Ads or Other Configuration Problems Please send feedback on ads that slipped through, innocent images that were blocked, sites that don't work properly, and other configuration related problem of default.action file, to http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id= 11118&atid=460288, the Actions File Tracker. New, improved default.action files may occasionally be made available based on your feedback. These will be announced on the ijbswa-announce list and available from our the files section of our project page. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.2.2. Reporting Bugs Please report all bugs only through our bug tracker: http://sourceforge.net/ tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=111118. Before doing so, please make sure that the bug has not already been submitted and observe the additional hints at the top of the submit form. If already submitted, please feel free to add any info to the original report that might help solve the issue. Please try to verify that it is a Privoxy bug, and not a browser or site bug first. If unsure, try toggling off Privoxy, and see if the problem persists. If you are using your own custom configuration, please try the stock configs to see if the problem is configuration related. If not using the latest version, the bug may have been found and fixed in the meantime. We would appreciate if you could take the time to upgrade to the latest version (or even the latest CVS snapshot) and verify your bug. Please be sure to provide the following information: * The exact Privoxy version of the proxy software (if you got the source from CVS, please also give the date). * The operating system and versions you run Privoxy on, (e.g. Windows XP). * The name, platform, and version of the browser you were using (e.g. Internet Explorer v5.5 for Mac). * The URL where the problem occurred, or some way for us to duplicate the problem (e.g. http://somesite.example.com?somethingelse=123). * Whether your version of Privoxy is one supplied by the developers of Privoxy via SourceForge, or somewhere else. * Whether you are using Privoxy in tandem with another proxy such as TOR. If so, please try disabling the other proxy. * Whether you are using a personal firewall product. If so, does Privoxy work without it? * Any other pertinent information to help identify the problem such as config or log file excerpts (yes, you should have log file entries for each action taken). * Please provide your SF login, or email address, in case we need to contact you. The appendix of the user manual also has helpful information on understanding actions, and action debugging. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.3. Request New Features You are welcome to submit ideas on new features or other proposals for improvement through our feature request tracker at http://sourceforge.net/ tracker/?atid=361118&group_id=11118. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.4. Other For any other issues, feel free to use the mailing lists. Technically interested users and people who wish to contribute to the project are also welcome on the developers list! You can find an overview of all Privoxy-related mailing lists, including list archives, at: http://sourceforge.net/mail/? group_id=11118.