This file belongs into
ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/home/groups/i/ij/ijbswa/htdocs/
- $Id: faq.sgml,v 2.13 2006/09/04 19:20:33 fabiankeil Exp $
+ $Id: faq.sgml,v 2.14 2006/09/05 13:25:12 david__schmidt Exp $
Copyright (C) 2001-2006 Privoxy Developers <developers@privoxy.org>
See LICENSE.
</subscript>
</pubdate>
-<pubdate>$Id: faq.sgml,v 2.13 2006/09/04 19:20:33 fabiankeil Exp $</pubdate>
+<pubdate>$Id: faq.sgml,v 2.14 2006/09/05 13:25:12 david__schmidt Exp $</pubdate>
<!--
</sect2>
-<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="jointeam"><title>I would like to help you, what do I do?</title>
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="jointeam"><title>I would like to help you, what can I do?</title>
+
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="jointeam-work"><title>Would you like to participate?</title>
+<para>
+ Well, we <emphasis>always</emphasis> need help. There is something for
+ everybody who wants to help us. We welcome new developers, packagers,
+ testers, documentation writers or really anyone with a desire to help in
+ any way. You <emphasis>DO NOT</emphasis> need to be a
+ <quote>programmer</quote>. There are many other tasks available. In fact,
+ the programmers often can't spend as much time programming because of some
+ of the other, more mundane things that need to be done, like checking the
+ Tracker feedback sections.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ So first thing, <ulink
+ url="https://sourceforge.net/account/register.php">get an account on SourceForge.net</ulink>
+ and mail your id to the <ulink url="mailto:ijbswa-developers@lists.sourceforge.net">developers
+ mailing list</ulink>. Then, please read the <ulink
+ url="../developer-manual/index.html">Developer's Manual</ulink>, at least
+ the pertinent sections.
+</para>
+<para>
+ Once we have added you to the team, you'll have access to the <ulink
+ url="http://sourceforge.net/cvs/?group_id=11118">CVS repository</ulink>, and
+ together we'll find a suitable task for you.
+</para>
+</sect3>
<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="jointeam-money"><title>Contribute!</title>
<para>
</para>
</sect3>
-<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="jointeam-work"><title>Would you like to participate?</title>
-<para>
- Well, helping the team is always a good idea. We welcome new developers,
- packagers, testers, documentation writers or really anyone with a desire to help in
- any way. You
- <emphasis>DO NOT</emphasis> need to be a <quote>programmer</quote>. There
- are many other tasks available. In fact, the programmers often can't spend
- as much time programming because of some of the other, more mundane things
- that need to be done, like checking the Tracker feedback sections.
- </para>
- <para>
- So first thing, <ulink
- url="https://sourceforge.net/account/register.php">get an account on SourceForge.net</ulink>
- and mail your id to the <ulink url="mailto:ijbswa-developers@lists.sourceforge.net">developers
- mailing list</ulink>. Then, please read the <ulink
- url="../developer-manual/index.html">Developer's Manual</ulink>, at least
- the pertinent sections.
-</para>
-<para>
- Once we have added you to the team, you'll have access to the <ulink
- url="http://sourceforge.net/cvs/?group_id=11118">CVS repository</ulink>, and
- together we'll find a suitable task for you.
-</para>
-</sect3>
</sect2>
<title>Which browsers are supported by <application>Privoxy</application>?</title>
<para>
Any browser that can be configured to use a proxy, which
- should be virtually all browsers. Direct browser support is not necessary
- since <application>Privoxy</application> runs as a separate application and
- talks to the browser in the standardized HTTP protocol, just like a web server
+ should be virtually all browsers, including
+ <application>Firefox</application>, <application>Internet
+ Explorer</application>, and <application>Opera</application> among others.
+ Direct browser support is not an absolute requirement since
+ <application>Privoxy</application> runs as a separate application and talks
+ to the browser in the standardized HTTP protocol, just like a web server
does.
</para>
</sect2>
</para>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> does not currently handle
- any other protocols such as FTP, SMTP, IM, IRC, ICQ, etc.
+ any other protocols such as FTP, SMTP, IM, IRC, ICQ, etc. Be sure that
+ proxying any of these other protocols is not activated.
</para>
</sect2>
</para>
<para>
- The procedure for clearing the cache varies from browser to browser. As an
- example, <application>Mozilla</application> users would click
+ The procedure for clearing the cache varies from browser to browser. For
+ example, <application>Mozilla/Netscape</application> users would click
<guibutton>Edit</guibutton> --> <guibutton>Preferences</guibutton> -->
<guibutton>Advanced</guibutton> --> <guibutton>Cache</guibutton> and
then click both <quote><guibutton>Clear Memory Cache</guibutton></quote>
and <quote><guibutton>Clear Disk Cache</guibutton></quote>.
+ And, <application>Firefox</application> users would click
+ <guibutton>Tools</guibutton> --> <guibutton>Options</guibutton> -->
+ <guibutton>Privacy</guibutton> --> <guibutton>Cache</guibutton> and
+ then click <quote><guibutton>Clear Cache Now</guibutton></quote>.
+
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="newconfig"><title>Can I use my old config files?</title>
<para>
- The syntax, number, and purpose of configuration files has substantially
- changed from <application>Junkbuster</application> and early versions
- of <application>Privoxy</application>. The old files, like <filename>blocklist</filename>
- will not work at all. If you are upgrading from a 2.0.x version, you will
- need to port your configuration data to the new format. Note that even the
- pattern syntax has changed! Even configuration files from the 2.9.x versions
- will need to be adapted, as configuration syntax has been very much in flow
- in the 2.9.x series.
+ The syntax and purpose of configuration files has remained the same
+ throughout the 3.x series. Although each release contains updated,
+ <quote>improved</quote> versions and it is recommended to use the newer
+ configuration files.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ But all configuration files have substantially
+ changed from the <application>Junkbuster</application> days, and early
+ versions of <application>Privoxy 2.x</application>. The old files, like
+ <filename>blocklist</filename> will not work at all.
</para>
<para>
Refer to the <ulink url="../user-manual/whatsnew.html">What's New</ulink>
<para>
<ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html">Actions files</ulink>
are where various <ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#ACTIONS">actions</ulink>
- that <application>Privoxy</application> might take while processing a certain
+ that <application>Privoxy</application> could take while processing a certain
request, are configured. Typically, you would define a set of default actions
that apply to all URLs, then add exceptions to these defaults where needed.
+ There is a wide array of actions available that give the user a high degree
+ of control and flexibility on how to process each and every web page.
</para>
<para>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="srvany">
<title>Can <application>Privoxy</application> run as a service
-on Win2K/NT?</title>
-<para>
-<!--
-New check this hal
--->
- Version 3.0.4 introduces full Windows service functionality.
- On Windows only, the Privoxy program has two new command line arguments
- to install and uninstall Privoxy as a service.
- <variablelist>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Arguments:</term>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- <replaceable class="parameter">--install</replaceable>[:<replaceable class="parameter">service_name</replaceable>]
- </para>
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- <replaceable class="parameter">--uninstall</replaceable>[:<replaceable class="parameter">service_name</replaceable>]
- </para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
- </variablelist>
- </para>
+on Win2K/NT/XP?</title>
<para>
- After invoking Privoxy with <command>--install</command>,
- you will need to bring up the Windows service console to assign the user you
- want Privoxy to run under, and whether or not you want it to run whenever the
- system starts. You can start the Windows services console with the following command:
- <command>services.msc</command> If you do not take the manual step of modifying
- Privoxy's service settings, it will not start. Note too that you will need to
- give Privoxy a user account that actually exists, or it will not be permitted to
- write its log files.
+ Yes. Version 3.0.4 introduces full <application>Windows</application> service
+ functionality. See <ulink url="../user-manual/installation.html#installation-pack-win">
+ the User Manual</ulink> for details on how to install and configure
+ <application>Privoxy</application> as a service.
</para>
<para>
Earlier versions could run as a system service using <command>srvany.exe</command>.
url="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=361118&aid=485617&group_id=11118">http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=361118&aid=485617&group_id=11118</ulink>,
for details, and a sample configuration.
</para>
-<para>
- Version 3.0.1 fixed the problem where the icon and menu where not available
- in the taskbar for this usage.
-</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="otherproxy">
<title>How can I make <application>Privoxy</application> work with other
-proxies like <application>Squid</application> or <application>TOR</application>?</title>
+proxies like <application>Squid</application> or <application>Tor</application>?</title>
<para>
This can be done and is often useful to combine the benefits of
<application>Privoxy</application> with those of a another proxy.
</quote> proxy?</title>
<para>
No, <application>Privoxy</application> currently does not have this ability,
- though it is planned for a future release. Transparent proxies require
+ though it may be added in a future release. Transparent proxies require
special handling of the request headers beyond what
<application>Privoxy</application> is now capable of.
</para>
url="../user-manual/config.html#FORWARDING">forwarding chapter</ulink>
in the <ulink url="../user-manual/index.html">user manual</ulink>. As
a transparent proxy to be used for chaining we recommend Transproxy
- (<ulink url="http://www.transproxy.nlc.net.au/">http://www.transproxy.nlc.net.au/</ulink>).
+ (<ulink url="http://transproxy.sourceforge.net/">http://transproxy.sourceforge.net/</ulink>).
</para>
</sect2>
has to add extra time to browsing.</title>
<para>
How much of an impact depends on many things, including the CPU of the host
- system, how agressive the configuration is, which specific actions are being triggered, etc.
+ system, how agressive the configuration is, which specific actions are being triggered,
+ the size of the page, etc.
</para>
<para>
Overall, it should not slow you down any in real terms, and may actually help
url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#FILTER">filter</ulink></literal> or
<literal><ulink
url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#DEANIMATE-GIFS">deanimate-gifs</ulink></literal>
- actions will cause a perceived slowdown, since the entire document needs to be buffered
- before displaying. On very large documents, there may be some impact. How
- much depends on the page size, the actual definition of the filter(s), etc. See below.
- Most other actions have little to no impact on speed.
+ actions will certainly cause a perceived slowdown, since the entire document
+ needs to be buffered before displaying. And on very large documents, there may be
+ some impact. How much depends on the page size, the actual definition of the
+ filter(s), etc. See below. Most other actions have little to no impact on
+ speed.
</para>
</sect2>
-<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="loadingtimes"><title>I noticed considerable
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="loadingtimes"><title>I notice considerable
delays in page requests compared to the old Junkbuster. What's wrong?</title>
<para>
If you use any <literal><ulink
the feeling is different, because most browsers are able to start rendering
incomplete content, giving the user a feeling of "it works". This effect is
more noticeable on slower dialup connections. Extremely large documents
- may have some impact on the time to load the page. But the overall difference
- should be very minimal. If there is a big impact, then probably some other
- problem is contributing.
+ may have some impact on the time to load the page where there is filtering
+ being done. But overall, the difference should be very minimal. If there is a
+ big impact, then probably some other problem is contributing.
</para>
<para>
Filtering is automatically disabled for inappropriate MIME types. But note
<para>
If you run both the browser and the proxy locally, you cannot hide your IP
address with <application>Privoxy</application> or ultimately any other
- software. The server needs to know your IP address to send the answers back
- to you.
+ software. The server needs to know your IP address so that it knows where to
+ send the responses back.
</para>
<para>
There are many publicly usable "anonymous" proxies out there, which
and that there are no other forward lines, unless you know that you need them. I everything looks good,
refer to
<ulink url="http://wiki.noreply.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorFAQ#head-0e1cc2ac330ede8c6ad1ac0d0db0ac163b0e6143">Tor
- Faq 4.2</
a> to learn how to verify that you are really using <application>Tor</application>.
+ Faq 4.2</
ulink> to learn how to verify that you are really using <application>Tor</application>.
</para>
<para>
Afterwards, please take the time to at least skim through the rest
</para>
</sect2>
-<!-- No longer needed
-<sect2 renderas="sect3">
-<title id="logo">The <application>Privoxy</application> logo that replaces ads is very blocky
-and ugly looking. Can't a better font be used?</title>
-
-<para>
- This is not a font problem. The logo is an image that is created by
- <application>Privoxy</application> 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
- <quote>imageblock</quote> directives: <emphasis>pattern</emphasis>,
- <emphasis>blank</emphasis>, or a URL of your choosing.
-</para>
-<para>
-Given the above problem, we have decided to remove the logo option entirely
-[as of v2.9.13].
-</para>
-</sect2>
--->
-
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
<title id="wasted">I have large empty spaces / a checkerboard pattern now where
ads used to be. Why?</title>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="crunch">
<title>My logs show <application>Privoxy</application> <quote>crunches</quote>
-ads, but also its own CGI pages. What is a <quote>crunch</quote>?</title>
+ads, but also its own internal CGI pages. What is a <quote>crunch</quote>?</title>
<para>
A <quote>crunch</quote> simply means <application>Privoxy</application> intercepted
<emphasis>something</emphasis>, nothing more. Often this is indeed ads or
altered by filtering, will be saved too, for these (probably rare) cases.
</para>
<para>
- Note that versions later than 3.0.2 do NOT filter document types of
+ Note that versions later than 3.0.2 do NOT filter document types reported as
<quote>text/plain</quote>. Prior to this, <application>Privoxy</application>
did filter this document type.
</para>
</para>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> does not do FTP at all, only HTTP
- protocols, so please don't even try.
+ protocols, so please don't try.
</para>
</sect2>
</para>
</sect2>
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="hostsfile">
+<title>Should I continue to use a <quote>HOSTS</quote> file for ad-blocking?</title>
+<para>
+ One time-tested technique to defeat common ads is to trick the local DNS
+ system by giving a phony IP address for the ad generator in the local
+ <filename>HOSTS</filename> file, typically using <literal>127.0.0.1</literal>, aka
+ <literal>localhost</literal>. This effectively blocks the ad.
+</para>
+<para>
+ There is no reason to use this technique in conjunction with
+ <application>Privoxy</application>. <application>Privoxy</application>
+ does essentially the same thing, much more elegantly and with much more
+ flexibility. A large <filename>HOSTS</filename> file, in fact, not only
+ duplicates effort, but may get in the way. It is recommended to remove
+ such entries from your <filename>HOSTS</filename> file. If you think
+ your hosts list is neglected by <application>Privoxy's </application>
+ configuration, consider adding your list to your <filename>user.action</filename> file:
+</para>
+<para>
+ <screen>
+ { +block }
+ www.ad.example1.com
+ ad.example2.com
+ ads.galore.example.com
+ etc.example.com</screen>
+</para>
+</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="seealso">
<title>Where can I find more information about <application>Privoxy</application>
</para>
<para>
- Early <application>Privoxy</application> versions (and also
+ Early <application>Privoxy</application> 2.x versions (and also
<application>Junkbuster</application>) 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,
</para>
<para>
To complicate matters, some systems may have a generic <quote>proxy</quote>
- setting, which will silently enable <emphasis>both</emphasis> HTTP and FTP
- proxying! So it is possible to accidentally enable FTP proxying in these
- cases. And of course, if this happens, <application>Privoxy</application>
- will indeed cause problems since it does not know FTP.
+ setting, which will silently various protocols, including
+ <emphasis>both</emphasis> HTTP and FTP proxying! So it is possible to
+ accidentally enable FTP proxying in these cases. And of course, if this
+ happens, <application>Privoxy</application> will indeed cause problems since
+ it does not know FTP. Newer version will give a sane error message if a FTP
+ connection is attempted.
</para>
<para>
Will <application>Privoxy</application> ever proxy FTP traffic? Unlikely.
Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
$Log: faq.sgml,v $
+Revision 2.14 2006/09/05 13:25:12 david__schmidt
+Add Windows service invocation stuff (duplicated) in FAQ and in user manual under Windows startup. One probably ought to reference the other.
+
Revision 2.13 2006/09/04 19:20:33 fabiankeil
Adjusted anonymity related sections to match reality.
Added a section about using Privoxy with Tor.
projects / privoxy.git / blobdiff