<!entity history SYSTEM "history.sgml">
<!entity copyright SYSTEM "copyright.sgml">
<!entity license SYSTEM "license.sgml">
-<!entity p-version "3.0.7">
-<!entity p-status "UNRELEASED">
-<!entity % p-not-stable "INCLUDE">
-<!entity % p-stable "IGNORE">
+<!entity p-version "3.0.17">
+<!entity p-status "stable">
+<!entity % p-not-stable "IGNORE">
+<!entity % p-stable "INCLUDE">
<!entity % p-text "IGNORE"> <!-- define we are not a text only doc -->
<!entity % p-doc "INCLUDE"> <!-- and we are a formal doc -->
<!entity % p-supp-userman "INCLUDE"> <!-- Include all from supported.sgml -->
<!entity my-copy "©"> <!-- kludge for docbook2man -->
<!entity % p-newstuff "INCLUDE"> <!-- exclude stuff from devel versions -->
+<!entity % seealso-extra "INCLUDE"> <!-- extra stuff from seealso.sgml -->
<!entity my-app "<application>Privoxy</application>">
]>
<!--
This file belongs into
ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/home/groups/i/ij/ijbswa/htdocs/
- $Id: faq.sgml,v 2.29 2007/11/04 15:12:47 hal9 Exp $
+ $Id: faq.sgml,v 2.77 2011/03/03 14:22:12 fabiankeil Exp $
- Copyright (C) 2001-2007 Privoxy Developers http://privoxy.org
+ Copyright (C) 2001-2009 Privoxy Developers http://www.privoxy.org/
See LICENSE.
Based partially on the Internet Junkbuster FAQ originally written by and
<subscript>
<!-- Completely the wrong markup, but very little is allowed -->
<!-- in this part of an article. FIXME -->
- <link linkend="copyright">Copyright</link> &my-copy; 2001-2007 by
+ <link linkend="copyright">Copyright</link> &my-copy; 2001-2010 by
<ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/">Privoxy Developers</ulink>
</subscript>
</pubdate>
-<pubdate>$Id: faq.sgml,v 2.29 2007/11/04 15:12:47 hal9 Exp $</pubdate>
+<pubdate>$Id: faq.sgml,v 2.77 2011/03/03 14:22:12 fabiankeil Exp $</pubdate>
<!--
</para>
]]>
<para>
- This FAQ gives quick answers to frequently asked questions about
+ This FAQ gives quick answers to frequently asked questions about
<ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/">Privoxy</ulink>.
It is not a substitute for the
<ulink url="../user-manual/index.html"><citetitle>Privoxy User Manual</citetitle></ulink>.
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect1 id="general"><title>General Information</title>
-<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="who-uses"><title>Who should use Privoxy?</title>
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="who-uses"><title>Who should give &my-app; a try?</title>
<para>
- Anyone that is interested in security, privacy, or in
+ Anyone who is interested in security, privacy, or in
finer-grained control over their web and Internet experience.
- Everyone is encouraged to try &my-app;.
</para>
</sect2>
me?</title>
<para>
&my-app; is certainly a good choice, especially for those who want more
- control and security. Those that have the ability to fine-tune their installation
- will benefit the most. One of <application>Privoxy's</application>
- strength's is that it is highly configurable giving you the ability to
+ control and security. Those with the willingness to read the documentation
+ and the ability to fine-tune their installation will benefit the most.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ One of <application>Privoxy's</application>
+ strengths is that it is highly configurable giving you the ability to
completely personalize your installation. Being familiar with, or at least
having an interest in learning about <ulink
url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Http">HTTP</ulink> and other networking
- protocols, <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Html">HTML</ulink>,
- <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Protocol">IP (Internet
- Protocol)</ulink>, and
+ protocols, <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Html">HTML</ulink>, and
<ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions"><quote>Regular
Expressions</quote></ulink>
will be a big plus and will help you get the most out of &my-app;.
</para>
<para>
Much of <application>Privoxy's</application> configuration can be done
- with a
<ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_browser">Web browser</ulink>.
+ with a <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_browser">Web browser</ulink>.
But there are areas where configuration is done using a
<ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_editors">text editor</ulink>
- to edit configuration files.
+ to edit configuration files. Also note that the web-based action editor
+ doesn't use authentication and should only be enabled in environments
+ where all clients with access to &my-app; listening port can be trusted.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="proxymoron"><title>What is a <quote>proxy</quote>? How does
Privoxy work? </title>
<para>
- A <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server">web proxy</ulink>
- is a service, based on a software such as
- <application>Privoxy</application>, that clients (i.e. browsers) can use
- instead of connecting directly to web servers on the Internet. The
- clients then ask the proxy to fetch the objects they need (web pages,
- images, movies etc) on their behalf, and when the proxy has done so, it
- hands the results back to the client. It is a <quote>go-between</quote>. See
- the <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server">Wikipedia proxy
- definition</ulink> for more.
+ A <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server">web proxy</ulink>
+ is a service, based on a software such as &my-app;, that clients
+ (i.e. browsers) can use instead of connecting to web servers directly.
+ The clients then ask the proxy to request objects (web pages, images, movies etc)
+ on their behalf and to forward the data to the clients.
+ It is a <quote>go-between</quote>. For details, see
+ <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server">Wikipedia's proxy definition</ulink>.
</para>
<para>
There are many reasons to use web proxies, such as security (firewalling),
to accommodate those needs.
</para>
<para>
- <application>Privoxy</application> is a proxy that is primarily focused on privacy
- protection, ad and junk elimination and freeing the user from restrictions placed on his
- activities. Sitting between your browser(s) and the Internet,
+ &my-app; is a proxy that is primarily focused on
+ privacy enhancement, ad and junk elimination and freeing the user from
+ restrictions placed on his activities. Sitting between your browser(s) and the Internet,
it is in a perfect position to filter outbound personal information that your
browser is leaking, as well as inbound junk. It uses a variety of techniques to do
this, all of which are under your complete control via the various configuration
from the old Junkbuster?</title>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> picks up where
- <application>Junkbuster</application> left off. All the old features remain.
+ <application>Junkbuster</application> left off.
The new <application>Privoxy</application> still blocks ads and banners,
still manages <ulink
url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">cookies</ulink>, and still
- helps protect your privacy. But, these are all greatly enhanced, and many,
- many new features have been added, all in the same vein.
+ helps protect your privacy. But, most of these features have been enhanced,
+ and many new ones have been added, all in the same vein.
</para>
- <para>
- The configuration has changed significantly as well. This is something that
- users will notice right off the bat if upgrading from
- <application>Junkbuster</application> 2.0.x. The <quote>blocklist</quote>
- <quote>cookielist</quote>, <quote>imagelist</quote> and much more has been
- combined into the <quote>actions</quote> files, with a completely different
- syntax. <![%p-newstuff;[ See the <ulink url="../user-manual/whatsnew.html">What's New</ulink>
- page for the latest updates.]]>
-</para>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application>'s new features include:
</para>
<title id="configornot">Will I have to configure Privoxy
before I can use it?</title>
<para>
- No, not really. The default installation should give you a good starting
- point, and block <emphasis>most</emphasis> ads and unwanted content. Many of
- the more advanced features are off by default, and would require you to
- activate them.
+ That depends on your expectations.
+ The default installation should give you a good starting
+ point, and block <emphasis>most</emphasis> ads and unwanted content,
+ but many of the more advanced features are off by default, and require
+ you to activate them.
</para>
<para>
You do have to set up your browser to use
And you will certainly run into situations where there are false positives,
or ads not being blocked that you may not want to see. In these cases, you
would certainly benefit by customizing <application>Privoxy's</application>
- configuration to more closely match your individual situation. And we would
+ configuration to more closely match your individual situation. And we
encourage you to do this. This is where the real power of
<application>Privoxy</application> lies!
</para>
<para>
Modern browsers do indeed have <emphasis>some</emphasis> of the same
functionality as <application>Privoxy</application>. Maybe this is
- adequate for you. But <application>Privoxy</application> is much more
- versatile and powerful, and can do a number of things that browsers just can't.
+ adequate for you. But <application>Privoxy</application> is very
+ versatile and powerful, and can probably do a number of things
+ your browser just can't.
</para>
<para>
In addition, a proxy is good choice if you use multiple browsers, or
have to maintain a similar configuration for possibly many browsers or
users.
</para>
+ <para>
+ Note, however, that it's recommended to leverage both your browser's
+ and <application>Privoxy's</application> privacy enhancing features
+ at the same time. While your browser probably lacks some features
+ &my-app; offers, it should also be able to do some things more
+ reliable, for example restricting and suppressing JavaScript.
+ </para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="whytrust"><title>Why should I trust Privoxy?</title>
<emphasis>everything</emphasis>, and you can control everything. You can
check every line of every configuration file yourself. You can check every
last bit of source code should you desire. And even if you can't read code,
- there should be some comfort in knowing that thousands of other people can,
- and some of them do read it. You can build the software from scratch, if you want,
+ there should be some comfort in knowing that <!-- thousands of -->other people can,
+ and do read it. You can build the software from scratch, if you want,
so that you know the executable is clean, and that it is
<emphasis>yours</emphasis>. In fact, we encourage this level of scrutiny. It
is one reason we use &my-app; ourselves.
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="license"><title>Is there is a license or fee? What about a
warranty? Registration?</title>
<para>
- <application>Privoxy</application> is licensed under the <ulink
+ <application>Privoxy</application> is
free software and licensed under the <ulink
url="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html">GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2</ulink>.
It is free to use, copy, modify or distribute as you wish under the terms of this
license. Please see the <link linkend="copyright">Copyright</link> section for more
<para>
There is <emphasis>no warranty</emphasis> of any kind, expressed, implied or otherwise.
That is something that would cost real money ;-) There is no registration either.
- <application>Privoxy</application> really is <emphasis>free</emphasis>
- in every respect!
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="spyware">
<title>Can Privoxy remove spyware? Adware? Viruses?</title>
<para>
- No, at least not reliable enough to trust it. &my-app; is not designed to be
+ No, at least not reliably enough to trust it. &my-app; is not designed to be
a malware removal tool and the default configuration doesn't even try to
filter out any malware.
</para>
<para>
&my-app; could help prevent contact from (known) sites that use such
tactics with appropriate configuration rules, and thus could conceivably
- prevent contamination from such sites.
+ prevent contamination from such sites. However, keeping such a configuration
+ up to date would require a lot of time and effort that would be better spend
+ on keeping your software itself up to date so it doesn't have known
+ vulnerabilities.
</para>
</sect2>
<para>
But it is probably not necessary to use &my-app; in conjunction with other
ad-blocking products, and this could conceivably cause undesirable results.
- It would be better to choose one software or the other and work a little to
+ It might be better to choose one software or the other and work a little to
tweak its configuration to your liking.
</para>
+<para>
+ Note that this is an advice specific to ad blocking.
+</para>
</sect2>
-<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="jointeam"><title>I would like to help you, what can I do?</title>
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="help-the-developers"><title id="jointeam">I would like to help you, what can I do?</title>
-<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="jointeam-work"><title>Would you like to participate?</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="participate"><title id="jointeam-work">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,
<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.
+ Tracker feedback sections or responding to user questions on the mailing
+ lists.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ So first thing, subscribe to the <ulink
+ url="https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ijbswa-users">Privoxy Users</ulink>
+ or the <ulink url="https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ijbswa-developers">Privoxy
+ Developers</ulink> mailing list, join the discussion, help out other users, provide general
+ feedback or report problems you noticed.
</para>
<para>
+
If you intend to help out with the trackers, you also might want to <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.
+ so we don't confuse you with the other name-less users.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ We also have a <ulink
+ url="../developer-manual/index.html">Developer's Manual</ulink>.
+ While it is partly out of date, it's still worth reading.
+</para>
+<para>
+ Our <ulink url="http://ijbswa.cvs.sourceforge.net/viewvc/ijbswa/current/TODO?view=markup">TODO list</ulink>
+ may be of interest to you as well.
+ Please let us know if you want to work on one of the items listed.
</para>
</sect3>
-<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="jointeam-money"><title>Contribute!</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="donate"><title>Would you like to donate?</title>
<para>
- We, of course, welcome donations and could use money for domain registering,
- buying software to test <application>Privoxy</application> with, and, of course,
- for regular world-wide get-togethers (hahaha). If you enjoy the software and feel
- like helping us with a donation, just <ulink
- url="mailto: ijbswa-developers@lists.sourceforge.net">drop us a note</ulink>.
+ <application>Privoxy</application> is developed by unpaid volunteers
+ and thus our current running costs are pretty low. Nevertheless, we
+ have plans that will cost money in the future. We would like to get
+ this money through donations made by our users.
</para>
-</sect3>
-<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="jointeam-software"><title>Software</title>
<para>
- If you are a vendor of a web-related software like a browser, web server
- or proxy, and would like us to ensure that <application>Privoxy</application>
- runs smoothly with your product, you might consider supplying us with a
- copy or license. We can't, however, guarantee that we will fix all potential
- compatibility issues as a result.
+ <application>Privoxy</application> has therefore become an associated
+ project of <ulink url="http://www.spi-inc.org/about-spi/about-spi">Software
+ in the Public Interest (SPI)</ulink>, which allows us to receive tax-deductible
+ donations in most western countries.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ We intend to use the donations to pay for our domain after transferring
+ it to SPI. Our goal is to make sure there's no single point of failure
+ and the bill gets paid and the site keeps running even if a some of
+ the currently active developers were to suddenly disappear for a while.
</para>
-</sect3>
+<para>
+ We would also like to spend some money on more reliable hosting,
+ on hardware to help make sure <application>Privoxy</application>
+ keeps running on platforms the developers currently can't test on,
+ and on technical books to educate our developers about said platforms
+ or to improve their knowledge in general.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ If you enjoy our software and feel like helping out with a donation,
+ please have a look at
+ <ulink url="http://www.spi-inc.org/donations">SPI's donation page</ulink>
+ to see what the options are.
+</para>
+</sect3>
</sect2>
<quote>browser</quote> or not. Though this may not be the best approach for
dealing with some of the common abuses of HTML in email. See <link
linkend="outlook">How can I configure <application>Privoxy</application>
- with <application>Outlook Express</application>?</link> below for more on
+ with <application>Outlook</application>?</link> below for more on
this.
</para>
<para>
special I have to do now?</title>
<para>
- All browsers
must be told to use <application>Privoxy</application>
+ All browsers
should be told to use <application>Privoxy</application>
as a proxy by specifying the correct proxy address and port number
- in the appropriate configuration area for the browser. See
+ in the appropriate configuration area for the browser. It's possible
+ to combine &my-app; with a packet filter to intercept HTTP requests
+ even if the client isn't explicitly configured to use &my-app;,
+ but where possible, configuring the client is recommended. See
<ulink url="../user-manual/startup.html">the User Manual for more
- details</ulink>. You should also flush your browser's memory and disk cache to get rid of any
- cached junk items, and remove any stored
+ details</ulink>. You should also flush your browser's memory and disk
+ cache to get rid of any cached junk items, and remove any stored
<ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">cookies</ulink>.
</para>
networked computer on a LAN), the proxy will be on <literal>127.0.0.1</literal>
(sometimes referred to as <quote>localhost</quote>,
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 <application>Privoxy</application>
- to run on a different port with the <ulink
- url="../user-manual/config.html#LISTEN-ADDRESS">listen-address</ulink> config option).
+ to itself) and the port will be 8118 (unless you used the <ulink
+ url="../user-manual/config.html#LISTEN-ADDRESS">listen-address</ulink>
+ config option to tell <application>Privoxy</application> to run on
+ a different port).
</para>
<para>
When configuring your browser's proxy settings you typically enter
</para>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> does not currently handle
- any other protocols such as FTP, SMTP, IM, IRC, ICQ, etc. Be sure that
- proxying any of these other protocols is not activated.
+ any other protocols such as FTP, SMTP, IM, IRC, ICQ, etc.
</para>
</sect2>
<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
+ In some <application>Firefox</application> versions it's
<guibutton>Tools</guibutton> --> <guibutton>Options</guibutton> -->
<guibutton>Privacy</guibutton> --> <guibutton>Cache</guibutton> and
then click <quote><guibutton>Clear Cache Now</guibutton></quote>.
-
+ <!-- In my Firefox versions it's the Netscape way. fk 2007-11-19-->
</para>
</sect2>
at <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
(Shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>) and then select
<quote><ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">View &
- change the current configuration</ulink></quote> from the menu.
+ change the current configuration</ulink></quote> from the menu. Note
+ that this feature must be explicitly enabled in the main config file
+ (see <ulink
+ url="../user-manual/config.html#ENABLE-EDIT-ACTIONS">enable-edit-actions</ulink>).
</para>
</sect2>
<title>There are several different <quote>actions</quote> files. What are
the differences?</title>
<para>
- Three actions files
- are being included by the developers, to be used for
- different purposes: These are
- <filename>default.action</filename>, the <quote>main</quote> actions file
- which is actively maintained by the <application>Privoxy</application>
- developers and typically sets the default policies, <filename>user.action</filename>, where users are encouraged
- to make their private customizations, and <filename>standard.action</filename>,
- which is for internal <application>Privoxy</application> use only.
- Please see <ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html">the actions chapter</ulink>
- in the <ulink url="../user-manual/index.html">User Manual</ulink> for a more
- detailed explanation.
-</para>
-
-<para>
- Earlier versions included three different versions of the
- <filename>default.action</filename> file. The new scheme allows for
- greater flexibility of local configuration, and for browser based
- selection of pre-defined <quote>aggressiveness</quote> levels.
+ Please have a look at the <ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html">the actions chapter</ulink>
+ in the <ulink url="../user-manual/index.html">User Manual</ulink> for a detailed explanation.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="getupdates"><title>Where can I get updated Actions Files?</title>
<para>
- Based on your feedback and the continuing development, updates of
- <filename>default.action</filename> will be
-
made available from time to time on the <ulink
+ Based on your feedback and the continuing development, updates of
+ <filename>default.action</filename> will be
+
made available from time to time on the <ulink
url="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11118">files section</ulink> of
our <ulink url="http://sf.net/projects/ijbswa/">project page</ulink>.
</para>
If you wish to receive an email notification whenever we release updates of
<application>Privoxy</application> or the actions file, <ulink
url="http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ijbswa-announce/">subscribe
- to our announce mailing list</ulink>, ijbswa-announce@lists.sourceforge.net.
+ to our announce mailing list</ulink>, ijbswa-announce@lists.sourceforge.net.
</para>
</sect2>
The syntax and purpose of configuration files has remained roughly the
same throughout the 3.x series, but backwards compatibility is not guaranteed.
Also each release contains updated, <quote>improved</quote> versions and it is
- therefore strongly recommended to use the newer configuration files.
+ therefore strongly recommended to install the newer configuration files
+ and merge back your modifications.
</para>
</sect2>
</para>
<para>
If you run <application>Privoxy</application> for multiple untrusted users (e.g. in
- a LAN), you will probably want to make sure that the the web-based
- editor and remote toggle features are <quote>off</quote> by setting <quote><literal><ulink
+ a LAN) or aren't entirely in control of your own browser, you will probably want
+ to make sure that the web-based editor and remote toggle features are
+ <quote>off</quote> by setting <quote><literal><ulink
url="../user-manual/config.html#ENABLE-EDIT-ACTIONS">enable-edit-actions</ulink>
0</literal></quote> and <quote><literal><ulink
url="../user-manual/config.html#ENABLE-REMOTE-TOGGLE">enable-remote-toggle</ulink>
0</literal></quote> in the <ulink url="../user-manual/config.html">main configuration file</ulink>.
</para>
<para>
- Note that in the default configuration, only local users (i.e. those on
- <quote>localhost</quote>) can connect to <application>Privoxy</application>,
- so this is (normally) not a security problem.
+ As of &my-app; 3.0.7 these options are disabled by default.
</para>
</sect2>
<title id="filterfile">What is the <filename>default.filter</filename> file? What is a <quote>filter</quote>?</title>
<para>
The <ulink url="../user-manual/filter-file.html"><filename>default.filter</filename></ulink>
- file is where <emphasis>filters</emphasis> as supplied by the developers are defined.
+ file is where <emphasis>filters</emphasis> as supplied by the developers are defined.
Filters are a special subset of actions that can be used to modify or
- remove, web page content on the fly. Filters apply to <emphasis>anything</emphasis>
- in the page source (and optionally both client and server headers), including
- HTML tags, and JavaScript. Regular expressions are used to accomplish this.
+ remove web page content or headers on the fly. Content filters can
+ be applied to <emphasis>anything</emphasis> in the page source,
+ header filters can be applied to either server or client headers.
+ Regular expressions are used to accomplish this.
+</para>
+<para>
There are a number of pre-defined filters to deal with common annoyances. The
filters are only defined here, to invoke them, you need to use the
<ulink
url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#FILTER"><literal>filter</literal>
- action</ulink> in one of the actions files. Filtering is automatically
- disabled for inappropriate MIME types.
+ action</ulink> in one of the actions files. Content filtering is automatically
+ disabled for inappropriate MIME types, but if you know better than Privoxy
+ what should or should not be filtered you can filter any content you like.
+</para>
+<para>
+ Filters should
+ <emphasis>not</emphasis> be confused with <ulink
+ url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#BLOCK"><literal>blocks</literal></ulink>, which
+ is a completely different action, and is more typically used to block ads and
+ unwanted sites.
</para>
<para>
but you can disable/enable the various pre-defined filters of the included
<filename>default.filter</filename> file with the <ulink
url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">web-based actions file editor</ulink>.
+ Note that the custom actions editor must be explicitly enabled in
+ the main config file (see <ulink
+ url="../user-manual/config.html#ENABLE-EDIT-ACTIONS">enable-edit-actions</ulink>).
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ If you intend to develop your own filters, you might want to have a look at
+ <ulink
+ url="http://www.fabiankeil.de/sourcecode/pft/">Privoxy-Filter-Test</ulink>.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="otherproxy">
-<title>How can I make Privoxy work with other
-proxies like Squid or Tor?</title>
+<title>How can I make Privoxy work with other proxies?</title>
<para>
This can be done and is often useful to combine the benefits of
- <application>Privoxy</application> with those of a another proxy.
+ <application>Privoxy</application> with those of a another proxy,
+ for example to cache content.
See the <ulink
url="../user-manual/config.html#FORWARDING">forwarding chapter</ulink>
in the <ulink url="../user-manual/index.html">User Manual</ulink> which
- describes how to do this, and the <link linkend="TOR">
- How do I use Privoxy together with
- Tor</link> section below.
+ describes how to do this. If you intend to use Privoxy with Tor,
+ please also have a look at
+ <link linkend="TOR">How do I use Privoxy together with Tor</link>.
</para>
</sect2>
<para>
No, its more complicated than that. This only works with special kinds
- of proxies known as <quote>intercepting</quote> proxies (see below).
+ of proxies known as <quote>intercepting</quote> proxies
+ (<link linkend="INTERCEPTING">see below</link>).
</para>
</sect2>
<para>
However, some people say <quote>transparent proxy</quote> when they
mean <quote>intercepting proxy</quote>. If you are one of them,
- please read the <ulink url="#intercepting">next entry</ulink>.
+ please read the <link linkend="INTERCEPTING">next entry</link>.
</para>
</sect2>
</para>
<para>
As the <literal>Host</literal> header is required by HTTP/1.1 and as most
- web sites don't work if it isn't set, this limitation shouldn't be a
- problem.
+ web sites rely on it anyway, this limitation shouldn't be a problem.
</para>
<para>
Please refer to your packet filter's documentation to learn how to
- intercept and redirect traffic into <application>Privoxy</application>. Afterward you just have
- to configure <application>Privoxy</application> to
- <ulink url="../user-manual/config.html#ACCEPT-INTERCEPTED-REQUESTS">accept intercepted requests</ulink>.
+ intercept and redirect traffic into <application>Privoxy</application>.
+ Afterward you just have to configure <application>Privoxy</application> to
+ <ulink url="../user-manual/config.html#ACCEPT-INTERCEPTED-REQUESTS">accept
+ intercepted requests</ulink>.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="outlook">
-<title>How can I configure Privoxy for use with Outlook
- Express?</title>
+<title>How can I configure Privoxy for use with Outlook?</title>
+<para>
+ Versions of <application>Outlook</application> prior to Office 2007, use
+ <application>Internet Explorer</application> components to both render HTML,
+ and fetch any HTTP requests that may be embedded in an HTML email. So however
+ you have <application>Privoxy</application> configured to work with IE, this
+ configuration should automatically be shared, at least with older version of
+ Internet Explorer.
+</para>
<para>
- <application>Outlook Express</application> uses <application>Internet Explorer</application>
- components to both render HTML, and fetch any HTTP requests that may be embedded in an HTML email.
- So however you have <application>Privoxy</application> configured to work
- with IE, this configuration should automatically be shared.
+ Starting with Office 2007, Microsoft is instead using the MS-Word rendering
+ engine with Outlook. It is unknown whether this can be configured to use a
+ proxy.
+ <!-- FIXME HB 2009-02-15 -->
</para>
</sect2>
method that browsers can use to store data between pages, or between browser
sessions. Sometimes there is a good reason for this, and the user's life is a
bit easier as a result. But there is a long history of some websites taking
- advantage of this layer of trust, and using the data they glean from you and
+ advantage of this layer of trust, and using the data they glean from you and
your browsing habits for their own purposes, and maybe to your potential
detriment. Such sites are using you and storing their data on your system.
That is why the privacy conscious watch from whom those cookies come, and why
then subsequently allowing three specific exceptions.
</para>
<para>
- A
more interesting approach is <application>Privoxy's</application>
+ A
nother approach is <application>Privoxy's</application>
<literal>trustfile</literal> concept, which incorporates the notion of
<quote>trusted referrers</quote>. See the <ulink
- url="../user-manual/config.html#TRUSTFILE">User Manual Trust</ulink>
- documentation.
+ url="../user-manual/config.html#TRUSTFILE">Trust documentation</ulink>
+ for details.
</para>
<para>
These are fairly simple approaches and are not completely foolproof. There
are various other configuration options that should be disabled (described
elsewhere here and in <ulink url="../user-manual/">the User Manual</ulink>)
so that users can't modify their own configuration and easily circumvent the
- whitelist.
+ whitelist.
</para>
</sect2>
&my-app; for various purposes and can easily be modified using any text
editor. All the template pages are installed in a sub-directory appropriately
named: <filename>templates</filename>. Knowing something about HTML syntax
- will of course be helpful. You cannot rename any of these files, or create
- completely new templates, that is not possible. But you can change the page
- content to whatever you like. Be forewarned that these files are subject to
- being overwritten during upgrades, so be sure to save any customizations.
+ will of course be helpful.
+</para>
+<para>
+ Be forewarned that the default templates are subject to being overwritten
+ during upgrades. You can, however, create completely new templates,
+ place them in another directory and specify the alternate path in the main
+ <filename>config</filename>. For details, have a look at the <ulink
+ url="../user-manual/config.html#templdir">templdir</ulink> option.
</para>
</sect2>
<title>How can I remove the <quote>Go There Anyway</quote> link from
the <emphasis>BLOCKED</emphasis> page?</title>
<para>
- There is more than one way to do it.
+ There is more than one way to do it (although Perl is not involved).
</para>
<para>
Editing the BLOCKED template page (see above) may dissuade some users, but
this method is easily circumvented. Where you need this level of control, you
- should build &my-app; from source, and enable various features that are
+ might want to build &my-app; from source, and disable various features that are
available as compile-time options. You should
<command>configure</command> the sources as follows:
</para>
current configuration via any connected user's web browser.
</para>
<para>
- Note that all of these features can also be toggled on/off via options in
+ Finally, all of these features can also be toggled on/off via options in
<application>Privoxy's</application> main <ulink
url="../user-manual/config.html#ACCESS-CONTROL">config</ulink> file which
means you don't have to recompile anything.
retrieved and displayed. The actual processing time required by
<application>Privoxy</application> 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 (if ad
- blocking is being used).
+ more than offset by time saved not downloading and rendering ad images and
+ other junk content (if ad blocking is being used).
</para>
<para>
<literal><ulink
url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#DEANIMATE-GIFS">deanimate-gifs</ulink></literal>
actions may cause a perceived slowdown, since the entire document
- needs to be buffered before displaying. And on very large documents, filtering may have
- some measurable 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.
+ needs to be buffered before displaying. And on very large documents,
+ filtering may have some measurable 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>
<para>
Also, when filtering is enabled but zlib support isn't available, compression
is often disabled (see <ulink
url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#PREVENT-COMPRESSION">prevent-compression</ulink>).
- This can have an impact on speed as well. Again, the page size, etc. will
- determine how much of an impact.
+ This can have an impact on speed as well, although it's probably smaller than
+ you might think. Again, the page size, etc. will determine how much of an impact.
</para>
</sect2>
on (those suspicious) people with a more than average preference for privacy.
</para>
<para>
- Your best bet is to chain <application>Privoxy</application>
- with <ulink url="http://tor.eff.org/">Tor</ulink>,
- an <ulink url="http://www.eff.org/">EFF</ulink> supported onion routing system.
+ If you want to hide your IP address from most adversaries,
+ you should consider chaining <application>Privoxy</application>
+ with <ulink url="https://www.torproject.org/">Tor</ulink>.
The configuration details can be found in
<ulink url="#TOR">How do I use <application>Privoxy</application> together
with <application>Tor</application> section</ulink>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
<title id="anonforsure">Can Privoxy guarantee I am anonymous?</title>
<para>
- No. Your chances of remaining anonymous are greatly improved, but unless you
+ No. Your chances of remaining anonymous are improved, but unless you
<ulink url="#TOR">chain <application>Privoxy</application> with <application>Tor</application></ulink>
- or a similar system and know what you're doing when it comes to configuring
- the rest of your system, it would be safest to assume that everything you do
+ or a similar proxy and know what you're doing when it comes to configuring
+ the rest of your system, you should assume that everything you do
on the Web can be traced back to you.
</para>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> can remove various information about you,
- and allows <emphasis>you</emphasis> more freedom to decide which sites
+ and allows <emphasis>you</emphasis> more freedom to decide which sites
you can trust, and what details you want to reveal. But it neither
hides your IP address, nor can it guarantee that the rest of the system
behaves correctly. There are several possibilities how a web sites can find
If you verified that <application>Privoxy</application> and <application>Tor</application>
are working, it is time to connect them. As far as <application>Privoxy</application>
is concerned, <application>Tor</application> is just another proxy that can be reached
- by socks4 or socks4a. Most likely you are interested in <application>Tor</application>
- to increase your anonymity level, therefore you should use socks4a, to make sure DNS requests are
- done through <application>Tor</application> and thus invisible to your local network.
+ by socks4, socks4a and socks5. Most likely you are interested in <application>Tor</application>
+ to increase your anonymity level, therefore you should use socks5, to make sure DNS
+ requests are done through <application>Tor</application> and thus invisible to your
+ local network. Using socks4a would work too, but with socks5 you get more precise error
+ messages.
</para>
<![%p-newstuff;[
</para>
<para>
<screen>
-# forward-socks4a / 127.0.0.1:9050 .
+# forward-socks5 / 127.0.0.1:9050 .
</screen>
</para>
<para>
in your browser, confirm that <application>Privoxy</application> has reloaded its configuration
and that there are no other forward lines, unless you know that you need them. If everything looks good,
refer to
- <ulink url="https://wiki.torproject.org/wiki/TheOnionRouter/TorFAQ#head-0e1cc2ac330ede8c6ad1ac0d0db0ac163b0e6143">Tor
+ <ulink url="https://wiki.torproject.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorFAQ#IsMyConnectionPrivate">Tor
Faq 4.2</ulink> to learn how to verify that you are really using <application>Tor</application>.
</para>
<para>
Afterward, please take the time to at least skim through the rest
of <application>Tor's</application> documentation. Make sure you understand
what <application>Tor</application> does, why it is no replacement for
- application level security, and why you shouldn't use it for unencrypted logins.
+ application level security, and why you probably don't want to
+ use it for unencrypted logins.
</para> ]]>
</sect2>
</para>
<para>
- Also, different browsers use different encodings of Russian and Czech
+ Also, different browsers use different encodings of non-English
characters, certain web servers convert pages on-the-fly according to the
User Agent header. Giving a <quote>User Agent</quote> with the wrong
operating system or browser manufacturer causes some sites in these languages
weather maps of Intellicast have been blocked by their server when no
<quote>Referer</quote> or cookie is provided, is another example. (But you
can forge both headers without giving information away). There are
- many other ways things that can go wrong when trying to fool a web server. The
+ many other ways things can go wrong when trying to fool a web server. The
results of which could inadvertently cause pages to load incorrectly,
partially, or even not at all. And there may be no obvious clues as to just
what went wrong, or why. Nowhere will there be a message that says
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="turnoff">
-<title>How can I temporarily disable Privoxy?</title>
+<title>Can I temporarily disable Privoxy?</title>
<para>
- The easiest way is to access <application>Privoxy</application> with your
- browser by using the remote toggle URL: <ulink
+ &my-app; doesn't have a transparent proxy mode,
+ but you can toggle off blocking and content filtering.
+</para>
+<para>
+ The easiest way to do that is to point your browser
+ to the remote toggle URL: <ulink
url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle">http://config.privoxy.org/toggle</ulink>.
+</para>
+<para>
See the <ulink url="../user-manual/appendix.html#BOOKMARKLETS">Bookmarklets section</ulink>
of the <citetitle>User Manual</citetitle> for an easy way to access this
- feature.
+ feature. Note that this is a feature that may need to be enabled in the main
+ <filename>config</filename> file.
</para>
</sect2>
out of the picture?</title>
<para>
No, this just means all optional filtering and actions are disabled.
- <application>Privoxy</application> is still acting as a proxy, but just not
- doing
any of the things that <application>Privoxy</application> would
+ <application>Privoxy</application> is still acting as a proxy, but just
+ doing
less of the things that <application>Privoxy</application> would
normally be expected to do. It is still a <quote>middle-man</quote> in
the interaction between your browser and web sites. See below to bypass
the proxy.
</para>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> does not do FTP at all, only HTTP
- and HTTPS (SSL) protocols, so please don't try.
+ and HTTPS (SSL) protocols.
</para>
</sect2>
activated the <quote><literal>fun</literal></quote> filter which
is clearly labeled <quote>Text replacements for subversive browsing
fun!</quote> or you are using an older Privoxy version and have implicitly
- activated it by choosing the <quote>Adventuresome</quote> profile in the
- web-based editor. Please upgrade!
+ activated it by choosing the <quote>Advanced</quote> profile in the
+ web-based editor. Please upgrade.
</para>
</sect2>
</para>
</sect2>
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="surprise-privoxy">
+<title>How did you manage to get Privoxy on my computer without my consent?</title>
+
+<para>
+ We didn't. We make Privoxy available for download, but we don't go
+ around installing it on other people's systems behind their back.
+ If you discover Privoxy running on your system and are sure you didn't
+ install it yourself, somebody else did. You may not even be running
+ the real Privoxy, but maybe something else that only pretends to be
+ Privoxy, or maybe something that is based on the real Privoxy,
+ but has been modified.
+</para>
+<para>
+ Lately there have been reports of problems with some kind of
+ Privoxy versions that come preinstalled on some Netbooks.
+ Some of the problems described are inconsistent with the behaviour
+ of official Privoxy versions, which suggests that the preinstalled
+ software may contain vendor modifications that we don't know about
+ and thus can't debug.
+</para>
+<para>
+ Privoxy's <link linkend="copyright">license</link> allows vendor
+ modifications, but the vendor has to comply with the license,
+ which involves informing the user about the changes and to make
+ the changes available under the same license as Privoxy itself.
+</para>
+<para>
+ If you are having trouble with a modified Privoxy version,
+ please try to talk to whoever made the modifications before
+ reporting the problem to us. Please also try to convince
+ whoever made the modifications to talk to us. If you think
+ somebody gave you a modified Privoxy version without complying
+ to the license, please let us know.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
</sect1>
<listitem><para>
<application>Privoxy</application> is not running. Solution: verify
that &my-app; is installed correctly, has not crashed, and is indeed running.
- Turn on <application>Privoxy's</application> logging and look at the logs to see what they say.
+ Turn on <application>Privoxy's</application> logging, and look at the logs to see what they say.
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Or your browser is configured for a different port than what
<application>Privoxy</application> is using. Solution: verify that &my-app;
entirely different from the site URL itself. Most ads are hosted on different
servers than the main site itself. If you right-click on the ad, you should
be able to get all the relevant information you need. Alternately, you can
- find the correct URL by looking at <application>Privoxy's</application> logs.
+ find the correct URL by looking at <application>Privoxy's</application> logs
+ (you may need to enable logging in the main config file if its disabled).
</para>
<para>
Below is a slightly modified real-life log snippet that originates with one
Request: example.betamarker.com/example.html
Request: www.lik-sang.com/Banners/bestsellers/skyscraper.php?likref=BSellers
Request: img.example.com/pb.png
-Request: www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js crunch!
-Request: www.advertising-department.com/ats/switch.ps.php?26856 crunch!
+Request: www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js crunch! (Blocked)
+Request: www.advertising-department.com/ats/switch.ps.php?26856 crunch! (Blocked)
Request: img.example.com/p.gif
-Request: www.popuptraffic.com/assign.php?l=example&mode=behind crunch!
-Request: www.popuptraffic.com/scripts/popup.php?hid=5c3cf&tmpl=PBa.tmpl crunch!
-Request: www.popuptraffic.com/assign.php?l=example crunch!
+Request: www.popuptraffic.com/assign.php?l=example&mode=behind crunch! (Blocked)
+Request: www.popuptraffic.com/scripts/popup.php?hid=5c3cf&tmpl=PBa.tmpl crunch! (Blocked)
+Request: www.popuptraffic.com/assign.php?l=example crunch! (Blocked)
Request: www.lik-sang.com/Banners/best_sellers/best_sellers.css
-Request: www.adtrak.net/adx.js crunch!
+Request: www.adtrak.net/adx.js crunch! (Blocked)
Request: img.example.com/hbg.gif
Request: img.example.com/example.jpg
Request: img.example.com/mt.png
Request: img.example.com/mm.png
Request: img.example.com/mb.png
-Request: www.popuptraffic.com/scripts/popup.php?hid=a71b91fa5&tmpl=Ua.tmp crunch!
+Request: www.popuptraffic.com/scripts/popup.php?hid=a71b91fa5&tmpl=Ua.tmp crunch! (Blocked)
Request: www.example.com/tracker.js
Request: www.lik-sang.com/Banners/best_sellers/lsi_head.gif
-Request: www.adtrak.net/adjs.php?n=020548130&what=zone:61 crunch!
-Request: www.adtrak.net/adjs.php?n=463594413&what=zone:58&source=Ua crunch!
+Request: www.adtrak.net/adjs.php?n=020548130&what=zone:61 crunch! (Blocked)
+Request: www.adtrak.net/adjs.php?n=463594413&what=zone:58&source=Ua crunch! (Blocked)
Request: www.lik-sang.com/Banners/best_sellers/bottomani.swf
-Request: mmm.elitemediagroup.net/install.php?allowpop=no&popupmincook=0&allowsp2=1 crunch!
+Request: mmm.elitemediagroup.net/install.php?allowpop=no&popupmincook=0&allowsp2=1 crunch! (Blocked)
Request: www.example.com/tracker.js?screen=1400x1050&win=962x693
-Request: www.adtrak.net/adlog.php?bannerid=1309&clientid=439&zoneid=61 crunch!
+Request: www.adtrak.net/adlog.php?bannerid=1309&clientid=439&zoneid=61 crunch! (Blocked)
Request: 66.70.21.80/scripts/click.php?hid=5c3cf599a9efd0320d26&si
Request: 66.70.21.80/img/pixel.gif
-Request: www.adtrak.net/adlog.php?bannerid=1309&clientid=439&zoneid=58&source=Ua&block=86400 crunch!
+Request: www.adtrak.net/adlog.php?bannerid=1309&clientid=439&zoneid=58&source=Ua&block=86400 crunch! (Blocked)
Request: 66.70.21.80/scripts/click.php?hid=a71b9f6504b0c5681fa5&si=Ua
]]>
</screen>
<para>
First verify that it is indeed a <application>Privoxy</application> problem,
by toggling off <application>Privoxy</application> through <ulink
- url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle">http://config.privoxy.org/toggle</ulink>,
+ url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle">http://config.privoxy.org/toggle</ulink>
+ (the toggle feature may need to be enabled in the main
+ <filename>config</filename>),
and then shift-reloading the problem page (i.e. holding down the shift key
while clicking reload. Alternatively, flush your browser's disk and memory
caches).
and paste the full URL of the page in question into the prompt. See which
actions are being applied to the URL, and which matches in which actions
files are responsible for that. It might be helpful also to look at your logs
- for this site too, to see what else might be happening. Many sites are
+ for this site too, to see what else might be happening (note: logging may need
+ to be enabled in the main config file). Many sites are
complex and require a number of related pages to help present their content.
Look at what else might be used by the page in question, and what of that
might be <emphasis>required</emphasis>.
</sect2>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 id="osxie" renderas="sect3">
-<title>In Mac OSX, I can't configure Microsoft Internet Explorer to use
+<sect2 id="macosxie" renderas="sect3">
+<title>In Mac OS X, I can't configure Microsoft Internet Explorer to use
Privoxy as the HTTP proxy.</title>
<para>
Microsoft Internet Explorer (in versions like 5.1) respects system-wide
</sect2>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="osxuninstall">
-<title>In Mac OSX, I dragged the Privoxy folder to the trash in order to
- uninstall it. Now the finder tells me I don't have sufficient privileges to
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="macosxuninstall">
+<title>In Mac OS X, I dragged the Privoxy folder to the trash in order to
+ uninstall it. Now the finder tells me I don't have sufficient privileges to
empty the trash.</title>
+ <para>
+ Note: This ONLY applies to privoxy 3.0.6 and earlier.
+ </para>
<para>
Just dragging the <application>Privoxy</application> folder to the trash is
- not enough to delete it.
<application>Privoxy</application> supplies an
+ not enough to delete it. <application>Privoxy</application> supplies an
<application>uninstall.command</application> file that takes care of
- these details.
Open the trash, drag the <application>uninstall.command</application>
- file out of the trash and double-click on it. You will be prompted for
+ these details. Open the trash, drag the <application>uninstall.command</application>
+ file out of the trash and double-click on it. You will be prompted for
confirmation and the administration password.
</para>
<para>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="osximages">
-<title>In Mac OSX Panther (10.3), images often fail to load and/or I
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="macosximages">
+<title>In Mac OS X Panther (10.3), images often fail to load and/or I
experience random delays in page loading. I'm using
<literal>localhost</literal> as my browser's proxy setting.</title>
<para>
- We believe this is due to an IPv6-related bug in OSX, but don't fully
+ We believe this is due to an IPv6-related bug in Mac OS X, but don't fully
understand the issue yet. In any case, changing the proxy setting to
<literal>127.0.0.1</literal> instead of <literal>localhost</literal>
works around the problem.
</sect2>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<!-- XXX: Is this still relevant now that we have gzip support? -->
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="blankpage">
<title>I get a completely blank page at one site. <quote>View Source</quote>
shows only: <markup><![CDATA[<html><body></body></html>]]></markup>. Without
some platforms due to DNS timeouts.
</para>
<para>
- This can be caused by a problem with the local <filename>HOSTS</filename>
+ This can be caused by a problem with the local <filename>hosts</filename>
file. If this file has been changed from the original, try reverting it to
see if that helps. Make sure whatever name(s) are used for the local system,
that they resolve both ways.
</para>
+<para>
+ You should also be able to work around the problem with the
+ <ulink url="../user-manual/config.html#HOSTNAME">hostname option</ulink>.
+</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="inuse">
</para>
<para>
On the other hand, if you use non-Microsoft products, and you occasionally
- notice wierd characters on pages, you might want to try it.
+ notice weird characters on pages, you might want to try it.
</para>
</sect2>
is done by the underlying operating system -- not
<application>Privoxy</application> itself. <application>Privoxy</application>
merely initiates the process and hands it off, and then later reports
- whatever the outcome was. And tries to give a coherent message if there seems
+ whatever the outcome was and tries to give a coherent message if there seems
to be a problem. In some cases, this might otherwise be mitigated by the
browser itself which might try some work-arounds and alternate approaches (e.g
- adding <quote>www.</quote> to the URL). In other cases, if
- <application>Privoxy</application> is being chained with another proxy, this
- could complicate the issue, and cause undue
+ adding <quote>www.</quote> to the URL).
+</para>
+<para>
+ In other cases, if <application>Privoxy</application> is being chained
+ with another proxy, this could complicate the issue, and cause undue
delays and timeouts. In the case of a <quote>socks4a</quote> proxy, the socks
server handles all the DNS. <application>Privoxy</application> would just be
the <quote>messenger</quote> which is reporting whatever problem occurred
</para>
<![%p-newstuff;[
<para>
- In any case, newer versions include various improvements to help
+ In any case, versions newer than 3.0.3 include various improvements to help
<application>Privoxy</application> better handle these cases.
</para>]]>
</sect2>
are in the raw HTML source of the page, and the browser just ignores them. But the
pattern matching in <application>Privoxy's</application> page filtering
mechanism is trying to match against absurdly long strings and this becomes
- very CPU-intensive, taking a long, long time to complete. Until a better
- solution comes along, disable filtering on these pages, particularly the
- <literal>js-annoyances</literal> and <literal>unsolicited-popups</literal>
- filters.
+ very CPU-intensive, taking a long, long time to complete.
+</para>
+<para>
+ Until a better solution comes along, disable filtering on these pages,
+ particularly the <literal>js-annoyances</literal> and
+ <literal>unsolicited-popups</literal> filters. If you run into this problem
+ with a recent &my-app; version, please send a problem report.
</para>
</sect2>
it does not happen. I would suspect some inadvertent interaction of software
components such as anti-virus software, spyware protectors, personal
firewalls or similar components. Try disabling (or uninstalling) these one
- at a time and see if that helps.
+ at a time and see if that helps. Either way, if you are using a
+ recent &my-app; version, please report the problem.
</para>
</sect2>
<ulink
url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#PREVENT-COMPRESSION">prevent-compression</ulink>.
</para>
+<para>
+ As of &my-app; 3.0.9, zlib support is enabled in the default builds.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="ssl-warnings">
+<title>On some HTTPS sites my browser warns me about unauthenticated content,
+ the URL bar doesn't get highlighted and the lock symbol appears to be broken.
+ What's going on?</title>
+<para>
+ Probably the browser is requesting ads through HTTPS and &my-app;
+ is blocking the requests. Privoxy's error messages are delivered
+ unencrypted and while it's obvious for the browser that the HTTPS
+ request is already blocked by the proxy, some warn about unauthenticated
+ content anyway.
+</para>
+<para>
+ To work around the problem you can redirect those requests to an invalid
+ local address instead of blocking them. While the redirects aren't
+ encrypted either, many browsers don't care. They simply follow the
+ redirect, fail to reach a server and display an error message instead
+ of the ad.
+</para>
+<para>
+ To do that, enable logging to figure out which requests get blocked by
+ &my-app; and add the hosts (no path patterns) to a section like this:
+</para>
+<para>
+<screen>
+<![CDATA[
+{+redirect{http://127.0.0.1:0/} -block -limit-connect}
+.ivwbox.de:443/
+]]>
+</screen>
+</para>
+<para>
+ Additionally you have to configure your browser to contact
+ <quote>127.0.0.1:0</quote> directly (instead of through &my-app;).
+</para>
+<para>
+ To add a proxy exception in <application>Mozilla Firefox</application>
+ open the <quote>Preferences</quote>, click the <quote>Settings</quote>
+ button located on the <quote>Network</quote> tab in the <quote>Advanced</quote>
+ section, and add <quote>127.0.0.1:0</quote> in the <quote>No Proxy for:</quote>
+ field.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="se-linux">
+<title>I get selinux error messages. How can I fix this?</title>
+<para>
+ Please report the problem to the creator of your selinux policies.
+</para>
+<para>
+ The problem is that some selinux policy writers aren't familiar
+ with the application they are trying to <quote>secure</quote> and
+ thus create policies that make no sense.
+</para>
+<para>
+ In <application>Privoxy's</application> case the problem usually
+ is that the policy only allows outgoing connections for certain
+ destination ports (e.g. 80 and 443). While this may cover the
+ standard ports, websites occasionally use other ports as well.
+ This isn't a security problem and therefore <application>Privoxy's</application>
+ default configuration doesn't block these requests.
+</para>
+<para>
+ If you really want to block these ports (and don't be able
+ to load websites that don't use standard ports), you should
+ configure Privoxy to block these ports as well, so it doesn't
+ trigger the selinux warnings.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="gentoo-ricers">
+<title>I compiled &my-app; with Gentoo's portage and it appears to be very slow. Why?</title>
+<para>
+ Probably you unintentionally compiled &my-app; without threading support
+ in which case requests have to be serialized and only one can be served
+ at the same time.
+</para>
+<para>
+ Check your <quote>USE</quote> flags and make sure they include
+ <quote>threads</quote>. If they don't, add the flag and rebuild &my-app;.
+</para>
+<para>
+ If you compiled &my-app; with threading support (on POSIX-based systems),
+ the <quote>Conditional #defines</quote> section on <ulink
+ url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>
+ will list <quote>FEATURE_PTHREAD</quote> as <quote>enabled</quote>.
+</para>
</sect2>
51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA
$Log: faq.sgml,v $
+Revision 2.77 2011/03/03 14:22:12 fabiankeil
+Remove duplicated 'the'
+
+Revision 2.76 2010/11/22 10:35:02 fabiankeil
+Mention socks5 in another part of the Tor section.
+
+Revision 2.75 2010/11/13 10:08:00 fabiankeil
+Fix a link to the 'intercepting' entry and add another one
+
+Revision 2.74 2010/11/13 10:07:46 fabiankeil
+Remove the product names in the 'otherproxy' entry's title.
+
+I'm tired of getting the 'otherproxy' entry as first hit
+when searching the index for the Tor FAQ.
+
+Revision 2.73 2010/11/06 12:55:48 fabiankeil
+Set p-version to 3.0.17
+
+Revision 2.72 2010/02/27 12:13:17 fabiankeil
+Fix spelling.
+
+Revision 2.71 2010/02/27 12:12:13 fabiankeil
+Consistently recommending socks5 in the Tor entry and mention its advantage compared to socks4a.
+Reported by David in #2960129.
+
+Revision 2.70 2010/02/20 18:08:31 ler762
+fix typo
+
+Revision 2.69 2010/02/13 17:38:27 fabiankeil
+Update entities for 3.0.16 stable.
+
+Revision 2.68 2010/01/30 19:51:28 fabiankeil
+New FAQ entry: How did you manage to get Privoxy on my computer without my consent?
+
+Also bump copyright.
+
+Revision 2.67 2009/11/15 14:24:12 fabiankeil
+Prepare to generate docs for 3.0.16 UNRELEASED.
+
+Revision 2.66 2009/10/10 05:48:55 fabiankeil
+Prepare for 3.0.15 beta.
+
+Revision 2.65 2009/07/18 16:24:39 fabiankeil
+Bump entities for 3.0.14 beta.
+
+Revision 2.64 2009/07/18 12:18:52 fabiankeil
+Don't describe the action files in the FAQ when we can simply link to the description in the User Manual.
+
+Revision 2.63 2009/06/15 15:08:03 fabiankeil
+Patch #2806626 from Frédéric Crozat to fix a closing tag.
+
+Revision 2.62 2009/06/12 14:30:58 fabiankeil
+Update entities for 3.0.13 beta.
+
+Revision 2.61 2009/06/12 11:52:33 fabiankeil
+Mention the TODO list in the participate entry.
+
+Revision 2.60 2009/04/07 12:25:05 fabiankeil
+In the "I would like to help ..." entry:
+- Change the ids to more general ones as helping out doesn't require
+ joining the team (and joining the team requires significantly helping
+ out first, anyway).
+- Add links to the subscription pages for the main mailing lists.
+
+Revision 2.59 2009/03/28 15:33:41 fabiankeil
+Recommend the use of forward-socks5 when forwarding to Tor.
+The error messages are more detailed than with forward-socks4a.
+
+Revision 2.58 2009/03/21 12:27:44 fabiankeil
+Turn the donation entry title into a question,
+also rephrase the content a bit.
+
+Revision 2.57 2009/03/19 19:07:49 fabiankeil
+First draft of a "Donating" entry. To be polished tomorrow.
+
+Revision 2.56 2009/02/19 17:05:05 fabiankeil
+Explain slowness when build with Gentoo's portage.
+
+Revision 2.55 2009/02/19 02:20:21 hal9
+Make some links in seealso conditional. Man page is now privoxy only links.
+
+Revision 2.54 2009/02/15 20:47:12 hal9
+Fix small typo.
+
+Revision 2.53 2009/02/15 20:46:13 hal9
+Update Outlook HTML rendering engine comments re: Office 2007.
+
+Revision 2.52 2009/02/14 10:27:52 fabiankeil
+Finish last paragraph in the selinux entry which
+I unintentionally committed with the last commit.
+
+Revision 2.51 2009/02/12 16:08:26 fabiankeil
+Declare the code stable.
+
+Revision 2.50 2009/02/11 18:13:36 fabiankeil
+State the obvious.
+
+Revision 2.49 2009/02/10 16:30:20 fabiankeil
+Add a workaround for "unauthenticated content" warnings on HTTPS sites.
+
+Revision 2.48 2009/01/13 16:50:35 fabiankeil
+The standard.action file is gone.
+
+Revision 2.47 2008/11/24 18:29:39 fabiankeil
+Two changes suggested by Roger Dingledine:
+- Use https://www.torproject.org/ in section 4.7, too.
+- Replace the Tor wiki URL in section 4.10 with one
+ with a more useful anchor name.
+
+Revision 2.46 2008/08/30 15:37:35 fabiankeil
+Update entities.
+
+Revision 2.45 2008/08/16 08:51:28 fabiankeil
+Update version-related entities.
+
+Revision 2.44 2008/06/19 01:41:36 hal9
+Add short note about zlib being enabled in 3.0.9
+
+Revision 2.43 2008/06/14 13:21:25 fabiankeil
+Prepare for the upcoming 3.0.9 beta release.
+
+Revision 2.42 2008/06/07 13:11:15 fabiankeil
+- Note that the "100% cpu problem" is worth
+ reporting if it happens with a recent release.
+- Mention the hostname option as a workaround for
+ the "can't get my own hostname" issue.
+- The profile formerly known as "Adventuresome"
+ is called "Advanced" now.
+- Some white-space fixes.
+
+Revision 2.41 2008/06/06 15:32:09 fabiankeil
+- Minor rewordings.
+- Don't claim that all the old Junkbuster features remain.
+ Some of them have been removed or replaced with better ones.
+
+Revision 2.40 2008/02/22 05:54:27 markm68k
+updates for mac os x
+
+Revision 2.39 2008/02/03 21:37:41 hal9
+Apply patch from Mark: s/OSX/OS X/
+
+Revision 2.38 2008/01/19 17:52:39 hal9
+Re-commit to fix various minor issues for new release.
+
+Revision 2.37 2008/01/19 15:03:05 hal9
+Doc sources tagged for 3.0.8 release.
+
+Revision 2.36 2008/01/17 01:49:51 hal9
+Change copyright notice for docs s/2007/2008/. All these will be rebuilt soon
+enough.
+
+Revision 2.35 2007/11/19 17:57:59 fabiankeil
+A bunch of rewordings, minor updates and fixes.
+
+Revision 2.34 2007/11/19 02:38:11 hal9
+Minor revisions and rebuild
+
+Revision 2.33 2007/11/15 03:30:20 hal9
+Results of spell check.
+
+Revision 2.32 2007/11/13 03:03:42 hal9
+Various changes to reflect new features and revised configuration for the
+upcoming release.
+
+Revision 2.31 2007/11/05 02:34:53 hal9
+Various changes in preparation for the upcoming release. Much yet to be done.
+
+Revision 2.30 2007/11/04 15:16:40 hal9
+Fix one silly typo.
+
Revision 2.29 2007/11/04 15:12:47 hal9
Various minor adjustments.
Fixed allow-all-cookies alias name; closes SR #929746
Revision 1.61.2.40 2004/01/30 17:00:33 oes
-Added OSX Panther problem
+Added Mac OS X Panther problem
Revision 1.61.2.39 2004/01/29 22:53:08 hal9
Minor changes for exempting docs of text/plain. Change copyright date.
Add disclaimer about probably being out-of-date
Revision 1.61.2.14 2002/08/07 02:53:43 hal9
-Fix some minor markup errors, and move one OSX Q/A to troubleshooting section.
+Fix some minor markup errors, and move one Mac OS X Q/A to troubleshooting section.
Revision 1.61.2.13 2002/08/06 11:55:32 oes
Added missing close tag
Revision 1.61.2.12 2002/08/06 11:43:46 david__schmidt
-Updated OSX uninstall FAQ... we have an uninstall script now.
+Updated Mac OS X uninstall FAQ... we have an uninstall script now.
Revision 1.61.2.11 2002/08/06 08:54:03 oes
Style police: Fixed formatting details
Revision 1.61.2.10 2002/08/02 14:00:25 david__schmidt
-Made the OSX removal commands far less dangerous
+Made the Mac OS X removal commands far less dangerous
Revision 1.61.2.9 2002/08/02 13:14:45 oes
-Added warning about sudo rm -r for Mac OSX deinstallation; moved this item to install section
+Added warning about sudo rm -r for Mac OS X deinstallation; moved this item to install section
Revision 1.61.2.8 2002/08/02 02:01:42 david__schmidt
-Add FAQ item for MSIE on OSX HTTP proxy confusion
+Add FAQ item for MSIE on Mac OS X HTTP proxy confusion
Revision 1.61.2.7 2002/08/02 01:46:01 david__schmidt
-Added FAQ item for Mac OSX uninstall woes
+Added FAQ item for Mac OS X uninstall woes
Revision 1.61.2.6 2002/07/30 20:04:56 hal9
Fix typo: 'schould'.
projects / privoxy.git / blobdiff