*
* Purpose : README file to give a short intro.
*
- * Copyright : Written by and Copyright (C) 2001,2002 the SourceForge
+ * Copyright : Written by and Copyright (C) 2001-2008 the SourceForge
* Privoxy team. http://www.privoxy.org/
*
* Based on the Internet Junkbuster originally written
* 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., 59
- * Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
+ * 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 3.1.1, which
-will someday become Privoxy v3.2. See http://www.privoxy.org/ for more
-information. The current code level is technically alpha, but is not yet
-significantly different from the 3.0.0 stable branch at this time (other
-than more bugs).
-
-There is not much reason to actually run this branch unless you want to help
-chase bugs, or with development.
+This README is included with the development version of Privoxy 3.0.9. 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, 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.
+Privoxy is a non-caching web proxy with advanced filtering capabilities for
+enhancing privacy, modifying web page data, managing HTTP cookies, controlling
+access, and removing ads, banners, pop-ups and other obnoxious Internet junk.
+Privoxy has a 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
-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.
+June 2008, Privoxy 3.0.9 beta is released. There are not any major new
+features, but many improvements and refinements. As usual there are changes
+that effect the configuration. See the "ChangeLog", and the "What's New"
+section and the "Upgrader's Notes" in the User Manual for details and
+specifics.
+
+NEWS! January 2008, Privoxy 3.0.8 stable is released. This is a significant
+upgrade with many new and enhanced features, and many bugs fixed. All Privoxy
+users are encouraged to upgrade. See the "ChangeLog", and the "What's New"
+section and the "Upgrader's Notes" in the User Manual for details and
+specifics. There are changes related to configuration, so anyone upgrading and
+keeping their old configuration should read ahead first.
-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.
+December 2007, Privoxy 3.0.7 is released. This is a beta release in preparation
+for the forthcoming 3.0.8 release.
-WARNING! If upgrading from earlier versions of this project via RPM packages,
-the new package will delete any previously installed 'Junkbuster' packages.
+NEWS! November 2006, Privoxy 3.0.6 stable is released. This is a significant
+upgrade with many new and enhanced features, and many bugs fixed.
-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.
+There was and will not be an official 3.0.4 release. This release cycle was
+used to gather our thoughts, play with some new ideas and refine some old ones.
+It will remain a development cycle with no actual release. 3.0.5 is the fruit
+of these efforts.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. INSTALL
-See the INSTALL file in this directory, for installing from source, and the
-User Manual, for other installation types.
+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]] [config_file]
+[.GROUP]] [--chroot] [--pre-chroot-nslookup HOSTNAME ][config_file]
See the man page or User Manual for an explanation of each option, and other
configuration and usage issues.
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 for Red Hat and Fedora based distributions: /etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start
Or Debian: /etc/init.d/privoxy start
4. CONFIGURATION
-See: 'config', 'default.action', 'user.action', and 'default.filter'.
-'user.action' is 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 since
-Junkbuster v2.0.x. The User Manual has an explanation of all configuration
-options, and examples: http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/.
+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 typically 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 <IP>:<Port>, 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.
+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.
5. DOCUMENTATION
-There should be documentation in the 'doc' subdirectory, but it is not
+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.
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 toplevel source directory.
+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,
6.1. Get Support
-For casual users, our support forum at SourceForge is probably best suited:
+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.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+Please don't sent private support requests to individual Privoxy developers,
+either use the mailing lists or the support trackers.
-6.2. Report Bugs
+Note that the Privoxy mailing lists are moderated. Posts from unsubscribed
+addresses have to be accepted manually by a moderator. This may cause a delay
+of several days and if you use a subject that doesn't clearly mention Privoxy
+or one of its features, your message may be accidentally discarded as spam.
-Please report all bugs only through our bug tracker: http://sourceforge.net/
-tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=111118.
+If you aren't subscribed, you should therefore spend a few seconds to come up
+with a proper subject. Additionally you should make it clear that you want to
+get CC'd. Otherwise some responses will be directed to the mailing list only,
+and you won't see them.
-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.
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-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.
-The appendix of the user manual also has helpful information on action
-debugging. If you are using your own custom configuration, please try the stock
-configs to see if the problem is configuration related.
+6.2. Reporting Problems
-If not using the latest version, chances are that the bug has 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, but this is not required for reporting.
+"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".
-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.
+ * "Bugs" in the programming code that makes up Privoxy, such as that might
+ cause a crash.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-6.4. Report Ads or Other Actions-Related Problems
+6.2.1. Reporting Ads or Other Configuration Problems
Please send feedback on ads that slipped through, innocent images that were
-blocked, and any other problems relating to the default.action file through our
-actions feedback mechanism located at http://www.privoxy.org/actions/. On this
-page, you will also find a bookmark which will take you back there from any
-troubled site and even pre-fill the form!
+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 will occasionally be made available based on
+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.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-6.5. Other
+6.2.2. Reporting Bugs
+
+Please report all bugs 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 to solve the issue.
+
+Please try to verify that it is a Privoxy bug, and not a browser or site bug or
+documented behaviour that just happens to be different than what you expected.
+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 you're having problems with a
+feature that is disabled by default, please ask around on the mailing list if
+others can reproduce the problem.
+
+If you aren't using the latest Privoxy 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 that
+your bug still exists.
+
+Please be sure to provide the following information:
+
+ * The exact Privoxy version you are using (if you got the source from CVS,
+ please also provide the source code revisions as shown in http://
+ config.privoxy.org/show-version).
+
+ * The operating system and versions you run Privoxy on, (e.g. Windows XP
+ SP2), if you are using a Unix flavor, sending the output of "uname -a"
+ should do, in case of GNU/Linux, please also name the distribution.
+
+ * 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 Privoxy developers
+ via SourceForge, or if you got your copy somewhere else.
+
+ * Whether you are using Privoxy in tandem with another proxy such as Tor. If
+ so, please temporary disable the other proxy to see if the symptoms change.
+
+ * 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).
+
+You don't have to tell us your actual name when filing a problem report, but
+please use a nickname so we can differentiate between your messages and the
+ones entered by other "anonymous" users that may respond to your request if
+they have the same problem or already found a solution.
+
+Please also check the status of your request a few days after submitting it, as
+we may request additional information. If you use a SF id, you should
+automatically get a mail when someone responds to your request.
+
+The appendix of the Privoxy 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
projects / privoxy.git / blobdiff