/*********************************************************************
*
- * File : $Source: /cvsroot/ijbswa/current/README,v $
+ * File : README
*
- * Purpose : README file to give a short intro.
+ * Purpose : Give a short intro about Privoxy.
*
- * Copyright : Written by and Copyright (C) 2001 - 2007 the SourceForge
- * Privoxy team. http://www.privoxy.org/
+ * Copyright : Written by and Copyright (C) 2001-2020 the
+ * Privoxy team. https://www.privoxy.org/
*
* Based on the Internet Junkbuster originally written
- * by and Copyright (C) 1997 Anonymous Coders and
+ * by and Copyright (C) 1997 Anonymous Coders and
* Junkbusters Corporation. http://www.junkbusters.com
*
- * This program is free software; you can redistribute it
+ * 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
* 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,
+ * or write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
+ * 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301,
* USA
*
*********************************************************************/
-2007-11-03: The next stable release of Privoxy is being readied. The
-developers consider the current sources to stable, and are doing last minute
-house keeping and fine tuning. The are many new features and enhancements
-many of which may not be fully documented at this point. Please refer to the
-ChangeLog for what's new.
-
-And PLEASE report any problems or comments!
+This README is included with Privoxy 3.0.30. See https://www.privoxy.org/ for
+more information. The current code maturity level is "stable".
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-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
+Privoxy is a non-caching web proxy with advanced filtering capabilities for
+enhancing privacy, modifying web page data and HTTP headers, controlling
+access, and removing ads and other obnoxious Internet junk. Privoxy has a
+flexible configuration and can be customized to suit individual needs and
+tastes. It has application for both stand-alone systems and multi-user
networks.
-Privoxy is based on Internet Junkbuster (tm).
+Privoxy is Free Software and licensed under the GNU GPLv2 or later.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+Privoxy is an associated project of Software in the Public Interest (SPI).
+
+Helping hands and donations are welcome:
-1. IMPORTANT CHANGES
+ * https://www.privoxy.org/participate
-NEWS! November 2006, Privoxy 3.0.6 is released. This is a significant upgrade
-with many new and enhanced features, and many bugs fixed. It is also the first
-stable release in quite some time. There are fifteen new actions available, and
-several actions have enhanced capabilities. Multiple filter files are now
-supported as well. There are many improvements and refinements. See the "What's
-New" section and the "Upgrader's Notes" in the User Manual for details and
-specifics. Preliminary work on 3.0.7 is already underway.
+ * https://www.privoxy.org/donate
-NEWS! September 2006, Privoxy 3.0.5 BETA is released. This is a significant
-upgrade with many new and enhanced features, and many bugs fixed.
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-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.
+1. CHANGES
-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.
+For a list of changes in this release, please have a look at the "ChangeLog",
+the "What's New" section or the "Upgrader's Notes" in the User Manual.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. RUN
privoxy [--help] [--version] [--no-daemon] [--pidfile PIDFILE] [--user USER
-[.GROUP]] [--chroot] [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.
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://
+Manual has an explanation of all configuration options, and examples: https://
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
+127.0.0.1:8118. 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.
configuration files are: 'config', 'default.action', and 'default.filter'.
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,
+documentation is posted on https://www.privoxy.org, in case you don't have it,
or can't find it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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:
+with the best support.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-6.1. Get Support
+6.1. Please provide sufficient information
+
+A lot of support requests don't contain enough information and can't be solved
+without a lot of back and forth which causes unnecessary delays. Reading this
+section should help to prevent that.
+
+Before contacting us to report a problem, please try to verify that it is a
+Privoxy problem, and not a browser or site problem 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 default
+configuration 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 problem may have been found
+and fixed in the meantime. We would appreciate if you could take the time to
+upgrade to the latest version and verify that the problem still exists.
+
+Please be sure to provide the following information when reporting problems or
+requesting support:
+
+ * The exact Privoxy version you are using.
+
+ * The operating system and versions you run Privoxy on, e.g. Windows XP SP2.
+
+ * 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,
+ or if you got your copy somewhere else.
+
+ * Whether you are using Privoxy together with another proxy such as Tor. If
+ so, please temporary disable the other proxy to see if the symptoms change.
-For casual users, our support forum at SourceForge is probably best suited:
-http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=211118
+ * Whether you are using a personal firewall product. If so, does Privoxy work
+ without it?
-All users are of course welcome to discuss their issues on the users mailing
-list, where the developers also hang around.
+ * 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). To get a meaningful logfile, please make sure that the logfile
+ directive is being used and the following debug options are enabled (all of
+ them):
+
+ debug 1 # Log the destination for each request Privoxy let through.
+ # See also debug 1024.
+ debug 2 # show each connection status
+ debug 4 # show tagging-related messages
+ debug 8 # show header parsing
+ debug 128 # debug redirects
+ debug 256 # debug GIF de-animation
+ debug 512 # Common Log Format
+ debug 1024 # Log the destination for requests Privoxy didn't let through,
+ # and the reason why.
+ debug 4096 # Startup banner and warnings.
+ debug 8192 # Non-fatal errors
+ debug 65536 # Log applying actions
+
+ If you are having trouble with a filter, please additionally enable
+
+ debug 64 # debug regular expression filters
+
+ If you suspect that Privoxy interprets the request or the response
+ incorrectly, please enable
+
+ debug 32768 # log all data read from the network
+
+ It's easy for us to ignore log messages that aren't relevant but missing
+ log messages may make it impossible to investigate a problem. If you aren't
+ sure which of the debug directives are relevant, please just enable all of
+ them and let us worry about it.
+
+ Note that Privoxy log files may contain sensitive information so please
+ don't submit any logfiles you didn't read first. You can mask sensitive
+ information as long as it's clear that you removed something.
+
+You don't have to tell us your actual name when filing a problem report, but if
+you don't, 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. Note that
+due to spam the trackers may not always allow to post without being logged into
+SourceForge. If that's the case, you are still free to create a login that
+isn't directly linked to your name, though.
+
+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. Please don't
+bother to add an email address when using the tracker. If you prefer to
+communicate through email, just use one of the mailing lists directly.
+
+The appendix of the Privoxy User Manual also has helpful information on
+understanding actions, and action debugging.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+6.2. Get Support
+
+All users are welcome to discuss their issues on the users mailing list, where
+the developers also hang around.
+
+Please don't send private support requests to individual Privoxy developers,
+either use the mailing lists or the support trackers.
+
+If you have to contact a Privoxy developer directly for other reasons, please
+send a real mail and do not bother with SourceForge's messaging system. Answers
+to SourceForge messages are usually bounced by SourceForge's mail server in
+which case the developer wasted time writing a response you don't get. From
+your point of view it will look like your message has been completely ignored,
+so this is frustrating for all parties involved.
+
+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.
+
+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.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-6.2. Reporting Problems
+6.3. 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.
-
+ cause a crash. Documentation issues, for example spelling errors and
+ unclear descriptions, are bugs, too.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-6.2.1. Reporting Ads or Other Configuration Problems
+6.3.1. 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.
+problem of default.action file, to https://sourceforge.net/p/ijbswa/
+actionsfile-feedback/, the Actions File Tracker.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-6.2.2. Reporting Bugs
+6.3.2. Reporting Bugs
-Please report all bugs only through our bug tracker: http://sourceforge.net/
-tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=111118.
+Before reporting bugs, 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.
-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
-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.
+6.4. Reporting security problems
-Please be sure to provide the following information:
+If you discovered a security problem or merely suspect that a bug might be a
+security issue, please mail Fabian Keil <fk@fabiankeil.de> (OpenPGP
+fingerprint: 4F36 C17F 3816 9136 54A1 E850 6918 2291 8BA2 371C).
- * The exact Privoxy version of the proxy software (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.
-
- * 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 Privoxy User Manual also has helpful information on
-understanding actions, and action debugging.
+Usually you should get a response within a day, otherwise it's likely that
+either your mail or the response didn't make it. If that happens, please mail
+to the developer list to request a status update.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-6.3. Request New Features
+6.5. Mailing Lists
-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.
+If you prefer to communicate through email, instead of using a web interface,
+feel free to use one of the mailing lists. To discuss issues that haven't been
+completely diagnosed yet, please use the Privoxy users list. Technically
+interested users and people who wish to contribute to the project are always
+welcome on the developers list. You can find an overview of all Privoxy-related
+mailing lists, including list archives, at: https://lists.privoxy.org/mailman/
+listinfo. The lists hosted on privoxy.org have been created in 2016, the
+previously-used lists hosted at SourceForge are deprecated but the archives may
+still be useful: https://sourceforge.net/p/ijbswa/mailman/.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-6.4. Other
+6.6. SourceForge support trackers
-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.
+The SourceForge support trackers may be used as well, but have various
+technical problems that are unlikely to be fixed anytime soon. If you don't get
+a timely response, please try the mailing list as well.
projects / privoxy.git / blobdiff