Privoxy Frequently Asked Questions
-
By: Privoxy Developers
-$Id: faq.sgml,v 1.43 2002/04/04 21:59:53 hal9 Exp $
-
+$Id: faq.sgml,v 1.51 2002/04/26 17:24:31 swa Exp $
This FAQ gives users and developers alike answers to frequently asked questions
about Privoxy .
tastes. Privoxy has application for both stand-alone systems and multi-user
networks.
-Privoxy is based on the code of the Internet Junkbuster (tm). Junkbuster was
-originally written by JunkBusters Corporation, and was released as free
-open-source software under the GNU GPL. Stefan Waldherr made many improvements,
-and started the SourceForge project to continue development.
-
-Privoxy continues the Junkbuster tradition, but adds many refinements,
-enhancements and new features.
+Privoxy is based on Internet Junkbuster (tm).
You can find the latest version of the document at http://www.privoxy.org/faq/.
Please see the Contact section if you want to contact the developers.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
Table of Contents
-
+
1. General Information
+
1.1. What is this new version of Privoxy?
1.2. Why "Privoxy"? Why a name change at all?
1.3. How does Privoxy differ from the old Junkbuster?
at all?
1.9. Is there is a license or fee? What about a warranty? Registration?
1.10. I would like to help you, what do I do?
+
1.10.1. Money Money Money
1.10.2. You want to work with us?
-
-
-
2. Installation
+
2.1. Which browsers are supported by Privoxy?
2.2. Which operating systems are supported?
2.3. Can I install Privoxy over Junkbuster?
2.6. I just installed Privoxy, and nothing is happening. All the ads are
there. What's wrong?
-
3. Configuration
+
3.1. Can I use my old config files?
3.2. What is an "actions" file?
- 3.3. The "actions" concept confuses me. Please list some of these "actions"
- .
+ 3.3. The "actions" concept confuses me. Please list some of these
+ "actions".
3.4. How are actions files configured? What is the easiest way to do this?
- 3.5. What are the differences between intermediate.action, basic.action,
- etc.?
+ 3.5. There are several different "actions" files. What are the differences?
3.6. Why can I change the configuration with a browser? Does that not raise
security issues?
3.7. What is "default.filter"?
3.10. Why would anybody want to see a checkerboard pattern?
3.11. I see large red banners on some pages that say "Blocked". Why and how
do I get rid of this?
- 3.12. I cannot see all of the "Blocked" page banner. All I see is a bright
- red square.
+ 3.12. I cannot see all of the "Blocked" page banner. Help.
3.13. Can Privoxy run as a service on Win2K/NT?
3.14. How can I make Privoxy work with other proxies like Squid?
-
4. Miscellaneous
+
4.1. How much does Privoxy slow my browsing down? This has to add extra
time to browsing.
4.2. I noticed considerable delays in page requests compared to the old
4.15. How can I temporarily disable Privoxy?
4.16. Where can I find more information about Privoxy and related issues?
-
5. Troubleshooting
+
5.1. I just upgraded and am getting "connection refused" with every web
page?
5.2. I just added a new rule, but the steenkin ad is still getting through.
How?
5.3. One of my favorite sites does not work with Privoxy. What can I do?
- 5.4. Where can I get help? Report bugs? Feature Requests? Etc?
- 5.5. What time is it?
-
7. Contacting the developers, Bug Reporting and Feature Requests
+
+ 7.1. Get Support
+ 7.2. Report bugs
+ 7.3. Request new features
+ 7.4. Report ads or other filter problems
+ 7.5. Other
+
8. Copyright and History
+
8.1. Copyright
8.2. History
-
-
-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
1. General Information
1.1. What is this new version of Privoxy?
-The original Internet Junkbuster™ (tm) is a copyrighted product of
-Junkbusters Corporation. Development of this effort stopped some time ago as of
-version 2.0.2. Stefan Waldherr started the ijbswa project on Sourceforge to
-rekindle development. Other developers subsequently joined with Stefan, and
-have since added many new features, refinements and enhancements. The result of
-this effort is Privoxy.
+The original Internet JunkbusterTM (tm) is a copyrighted product of Junkbusters
+Corporation. Development of this effort stopped some time ago as of version
+2.0.2. Stefan Waldherr started the ijbswa project on Sourceforge to rekindle
+development. Other developers subsequently joined with Stefan, and have since
+added many new features, refinements and enhancements. The result of this
+effort is Privoxy.
Privoxy has evolved from the Junkbuster 2.0.2 code base, and has advanced
significantly at this point.
-Please see the History section for more information on the history of
+Please see the History section for more information on the history of
Junkbuster and Privoxy.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2. Why "Privoxy"? Why a name change at all?
Privoxy is the "Privacy Enhancing Proxy".
-There are potential legal complications from the continued use of the
-Junkbuster name, which is a trademark of Junkbusters Corporation. (There are,
-however, no objections from Junkbusters Corporation to the Privoxy project
-itself, and they, in fact, still share our ideals and goals.)
+There are potential legal complications from the continued use of the
+Junkbuster name, which is a registered trademark of Junkbusters Corporation.
+And thus they "own" the rights to the name. (There are, however, no objections
+from Junkbusters Corporation to the Privoxy project itself, and they, in fact,
+still share our ideals and goals.)
The developers also believed that there are so many changes from the original
code, that it was time to make a clean break from the past and make a name in
their own right, especially now with the pending release of version 3.0.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.3. How does Privoxy differ from the old Junkbuster?
The "blocklist" file does not exist any more. This is replaced by "actions"
files, such as default.actions. This is where most of the per site
configuration is now.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.4. What are some of the new features?
- * Integrated browser based configuration and control utility (http://p.p).
- Browser-based tracing of rule and filter effects.
+ * FIXME: complete the list of features. change the order: most important
+ features to the top of the list. prefix new features with "NEW".
+
+ * Integrated browser based configuration and control utility at http://
+ config.privoxy.org/ (shortcut: http://p.p/). Browser-based tracing of rule
+ and filter effects. Remote toggling.
- * Blocking of annoying pop-up browser windows.
+ * Blocking of annoying pop-up browser windows.
- * HTTP/1.1 compliant (most, but not all 1.1 features are supported).
+ * HTTP/1.1 compliant (but not all optional 1.1 features are supported).
- * Support for Perl Compatible Regular Expressions in the configuration files,
+ * Support for Perl Compatible Regular Expressions in the configuration files,
and generally a more sophisticated and flexible configuration syntax over
previous versions.
- * GIF de-animation.
+ * GIF de-animation.
- * Web page content filtering (removes banners based on size, invisible
- "web-bugs", JavaScript, pop-ups, status bar abuse, etc.)
+ * Web page content filtering (removes banners based on size, invisible
+ "web-bugs", JavaScript and HTML annoyances, pop-ups, etc.)
- * Bypass many click-tracking scripts (avoids script redirection).
+ * Bypass many click-tracking scripts (avoids script redirection).
- * Multi-threaded (POSIX and native threads).
+ * Multi-threaded (POSIX and native threads).
- * Auto-detection and re-reading of config file changes.
+ * Auto-detection and re-reading of config file changes.
- * User-customizable HTML templates (e.g. 404 error page).
+ * User-customizable HTML templates (e.g. 404 error page).
- * Improved cookie management features (e.g. session based cookies).
+ * Improved cookie management features (e.g. session based cookies).
- * Improved signal handling, and a true daemon mode (Unix).
+ * Improved signal handling, and a true daemon mode (Unix).
- * Builds from source on most UNIX-like systems. Packages available for: Linux
- (RedHat, SuSE, or Debian), Windows, Sun Solaris, Mac OSX, OS/2, HP-UX 11
- and AmigaOS.
+ * Every feature now controllable on a per-site or per-location basis,
+ configuration more powerful and versatile over-all.
- * In addition, the configuration is much more powerful and versatile
- over-all.
+ * Many smaller new features added, limitations and bugs removed, and security
+ holes fixed.
-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
1.5. What is a "proxy"? How does Privoxy work?
When you connect to a web site with Privoxy, you are really connecting to your
There are many kinds of proxies. Privoxy best fits the "filtering proxy"
category.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.6. How does Privoxy know what is an ad, and what is not?
Privoxy processes all the raw content of every web page. So it reads everything
on each page. It then compares this to the rules as set up in the configuration
-files, and looks for any matches to these rules. Privoxy makes heavy use of
+files, and looks for any matches to these rules. Privoxy makes heavy use of
"regular expressions". (If you are not familiar with regular expressions, it is
explained briefly in the user manual.) Regular expressions facilitate matching
of one text string against another, using wildcards to build complex patterns.
complex patterns to match as many potential combinations as possible since
there tend to be many, many variations used by advertisers, and new ones are
being introduced all the time.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.7. Can Privoxy make mistakes? This does not sound very scientific.
flexible, and includes tools to help identify these types of situations so they
can be addressed as needed, allowing you to customize your installation. (See
the Troubleshooting section below.)
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.8. My browser does the same things as Privoxy. Why should I use Privoxy at
In addition, a proxy is good choice if you use multiple browsers, or have a LAN
with multiple computers. This way all the configuration is in one place, and
you don't have to maintain a similar configuration for possibly many browsers.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.9. Is there is a license or fee? What about a warranty? Registration?
copyright.
There is no warranty of any kind, expressed, implied or otherwise. That is
-something that would cost real money ;-) There is no registration either.
+something that would cost real money ;-) There is no registration either.
Privoxy really is free in every respect!
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.10. I would like to help you, what do I do?
We, of course, welcome donations and use the money for domain registering,
regular world-wide get-togethers (hahaha). Anyway, we'll soon describe the
process how to donate money to the team.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.10.2. You want to work with us?
Once we have added you to the team, you'll have write access to the CVS
repository, and together we'll find a suitable task for you.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Installation
all browsers. Direct browser support is not necessary since Privoxy runs as a
separate application and just exchanges standard HTML data with your browser,
just like a web server does.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.2. Which operating systems are supported?
-At present, Privoxy is known to run on Win32, Mac OSX, OS/2, AmigaOS, Linux
-(RedHat, Suse, Debian), FreeBSD, and many flavors of Unix. There are source and
-binary releases for these available for download at http://sourceforge.net/
-project/showfiles.php?group_id=11118.
+At present, Privoxy is known to run on Windows(95, 98, ME, 2000, XP), Linux
+(RedHat, Suse, Debian), Mac OSX, OS/2, AmigaOS, FreeBSD, NetBSD, BeOS, and many
+more flavors of Unix.
-But any operating system that runs TCP/IP, can conceivably take advantage of
+But any operating system that runs TCP/IP, can conceivably take advantage of
Privoxy in a networked situation where Privoxy would run as a server on a LAN
gateway. Then only the "gateway" needs to be running one of the above operating
systems.
Source code is freely available, so porting to other operating systems, is
always a possibility.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.3. Can I install Privoxy over Junkbuster?
See the user-manual for platform specific installation instructions.
Note: Some installers may automatically uninstall Junkbuster, if present!
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.4. I just installed Privoxy. Is there anything special I have to do now?
proxy address and port number in the appropriate configuration area for the
browser. See below. Also, you should flush your browser's memory and disk cache
to get rid of any cached items.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.5. What is the proxy address of Privoxy?
If you set up the Privoxy to run on the computer you browse from (rather than
-your ISP's server or some networked computer on a LAN), the proxy will be on
+your ISP's server or some networked computer on a LAN), the proxy will be on
"localhost" (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 Privoxy to run
on a different port with the listen-address config option).
-When configuring your browser's proxy settings you typically enter the word
+When configuring your browser's proxy settings you typically enter the word
"localhost" in the boxes next to "HTTP" and "Secure" (HTTPS) and then the
-number "8118" for "port". This tells your browser to send all web requests to
+number "8118" for "port". This tells your browser to send all web requests to
Privoxy instead of directly to the Internet.
Privoxy can also be used to proxy for a Local Area Network. In this case, your
Privoxy does not currently handle protocols such as FTP, SMTP, IM, IRC, ICQ, or
other Internet protocols.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.6. I just installed Privoxy, and nothing is happening. All the ads are there.
should give you a banner that says "This is Privoxy" and access to Privoxy's
internal configuration. If you see this, then you are good to go. If not, the
browser or Privoxy are not set up correctly.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Configuration
your old data into the new configuration structure. This is probably also a
good recommendation even if upgrading from 2.9.x to 3.x since there were many
minor changes along the way.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.2. What is an "actions" file?
"actions" files are where various actions that Privoxy might take, are
configured. Typically, you would define a set of default actions that apply to
-all URLs, then add exceptions to these defaults.
+all URLs, then add exceptions to these defaults where needed.
Actions can be defined on a per site basis, or for groups of sites. Actions can
also be grouped together and then applied to one or more sites. There are many
blocking cookies as one of our default actions, but need to accept cookies from
a given site, we would define this in our "actions" file.
-Privoxy comes with several default actions files, with varying degrees of
-filtering and blocking, as starting points for your own configuration (see
-below).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.3. The "actions" concept confuses me. Please list some of these "actions".
These are all explained in the user-manual. Please refer to that.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.4. How are actions files configured? What is the easiest way to do this?
The easiest way to do this, is to access Privoxy with your web browser at http:
-//p.p/, and then select "Edit the actions list" from the selection list. You
-can also do this by editing the appropriate file with a text editor.
+//p.p/, and then select "View & change the current configuration" from the
+selection list. You can also do this by editing the appropriate file with a
+text editor.
Please see the user-manual for a detailed explanation of these and other
configuration files, and their various options and syntax.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-3.5. What are the differences between intermediate.action, basic.action, etc.?
-
-Configuring Privoxy is not easy. To help you get started, we provide you with
-three different default configurations. The following table shows you, which
-features are enabled in each configuration.
-
-Table 1. Default Configurations
-+--------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------------+---------------+
-|Feature |default.action|basic.action |intermediate.action|advanced.action|
-+--------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------------+---------------+
-|ad-filtering |? |x |x |x |
-+--------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------------+---------------+
-|blank image |? |x |x |x |
-+--------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------------+---------------+
-|de-animate GIFs |? |x |x |x |
-+--------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------------+---------------+
-|referer forging |? |x |x |x |
-+--------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------------+---------------+
-|jon's |? |x |x |x |
-|+no-cookies-keep | | | | |
-|(i.e. session | | | | |
-|cookies only) | | | | |
-+--------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------------+---------------+
-|no-popup windows |? | |x |x |
-+--------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------------+---------------+
-|fast redirects |? | |x |x |
-+--------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------------+---------------+
-|hide-referrer |? | |x |x |
-+--------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------------+---------------+
-|hide-useragent |? | |x |x |
-+--------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------------+---------------+
-|content-modification|? | | |x |
-+--------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------------+---------------+
-|feature-x |? | | | |
-+--------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------------+---------------+
-|feature-y |? | | | |
-+--------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------------+---------------+
-|feature-z |? | | | |
-+--------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------------+---------------+
+3.5. There are several different "actions" files. What are the differences?
+
+As of Privoxy v2.9.15, three actions files are being included, to be used for
+different purposes. These are default.action, standard.action, and user.action.
+Please see the User Manual for an explanation of each.
+
+Earlier versions included three different versions default.action files. The
+new scheme allows for greater flexibility of local configuration, and for
+browser based configuration.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.6. Why can I change the configuration with a browser? Does that not raise
Note that normally only local users can connect to Privoxy, so this is not
(normally) a security problem.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.7. What is "default.filter"?
-The "default.filter" file is used to "filter" any web page content. By
-"filtering" we mean it can modify, remove, or change anything on the page,
-including HTML tags, and JavaScript. Regular expressions are used to accomplish
-this, and operate on a line by line basis. This is potentially a very powerful
-feature, but requires some expertise.
+The "default.filter" file is where "filters" are defined, which are used to
+"filter" any web page content. By "filtering" we mean it can modify, remove, or
+change anything on the page, including HTML tags, and JavaScript. Regular
+expressions are used to accomplish this, and operate on a line by line basis.
+This is potentially a very powerful feature, but requires some expertise.
If you are familiar with regular expressions, and HTML, you can look at the
provided default.filter with a text editor and see some of things it can be
Presently, there is no GUI editor option for this part of the configuration,
but you can disable/enable various sections of the included default file with
-the "Actions List Editor" from your browser.
+the "View & change the current configuration" from your browser.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.8. How can I set up Privoxy to act as a proxy for my LAN?
and assign it the address of the LAN gateway interface, and port number to use:
listen-address 192.168.1.1:8118
-
Save the file, and restart Privoxy. Configure all browsers on the network then
to use this address and port number.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.9. Instead of ads, now I get a checkerboard pattern. I don't want to see
anything.
This is a configuration option for images that Privoxy is stopping. You have
-the choice of a checkerboard pattern, a transparent 1x1 GIF image (aka "blank"
-), or a custom URL of your choice. Note that to fit this category, the URL must
-match both the "+image" and "+block" actions.
+the choice of a checkerboard pattern, a transparent 1x1 GIF image (aka
+"blank"), or a custom URL of your choice. Note that to fit this category, the
+URL must match both the "+handle-as-image" and "+block" actions.
+
+If you want to see nothing, then change the "+set-image-blocker" action to
+"+image-blocker{blank}". This can be done from the "View & change the current
+configuration" selection at http://p.p/. Or by hand editing the appropriate
+actions file. This will only effect what is defined as "images" though. Also,
+some URLs that generate the bright red "Blocked" banner, can be moved to the
+"+set-image-blocker" section for the same reason, but there are some limits and
+risks to this (see below).
-If you want to see nothing, then change the "+image-blocker" action to
-"+image-blocker{blank}". This can be done from the "Edit Actions List"
-selection at http://p.p/. Or by hand editing the appropriate actions file. This
-will only effect what is defined as "images" though. Also, some URLs that
-generate the bright red "Blocked" banner, can be moved to the "+image-blocker"
-section for the same reason, but there are some limits and risks to this (see
-below).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.10. Why would anybody want to see a checkerboard pattern?
anyone new to Privoxy so that they can see if their favorite pages are
displaying correctly, and Privoxy is not inadvertently removing something
important.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.11. I see large red banners on some pages that say "Blocked". Why and how do
I get rid of this?
-These are URLs that match something in one of Privoxy's block actions (+block).
-It is meant to be a warning so that you know something has been blocked and an
-easy way for you to see why. These are handled differently than what has been
-defined explicitly as "images" (e.g. ad banners). Depending on the URL itself,
-it is sometimes hard for Privoxy to really know whether there is indeed an ad
-image there or not. And there are limitations as to what Privoxy can do to
-"fool" the browser.
+These are URLs that match something in one of Privoxy's block actions ("+block"
+). It is meant to be a warning so that you know something has been blocked and
+an easy way for you to see why. These are handled differently than what has
+been defined explicitly as "images" (e.g. ads that are GIF image files).
+Depending on the URL itself, it is sometimes hard for Privoxy to really know
+whether there is indeed an ad image there or not. And there are limitations as
+to what Privoxy can do to "fool" the browser.
For instance, if the ad is in a frame, then it is embedded in the separate HTML
-page used for the frame. In this case, you cannot just substitute an aribitray
+page used for the frame. In this case, you cannot just substitute an aribitrary
image (like we would for a "blank" image), for an HTML page. The browser is
-expecting an HTML page, and that is what it must have for frames. So this
-situation can be a little trickier to deal with, and Privoxy will use the
-"Blocked" page.
+expecting an HTML page, and that is what it must have for frames. Such
+situations can be a little trickier to deal with, and Privoxy may show the
+"Blocked" page, despite your best efforts.
If you want these to be treated as if they were images, so that they can be
made invisible, you can try moving the offending URL from the "+block" section
what Privoxy uses to display the "Blocked" page.
Another way to deal with this is find why and where Privoxy is blocking the
-frame, and diable this. Then let the "+image-blocker" action handle the ad that
-is embedded in the frame's HTML page.
+frame, and diable this. Then let the "+set-image-blocker" action handle the ad
+that is embedded in the frame's HTML page.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-3.12. I cannot see all of the "Blocked" page banner. All I see is a bright red
-square.
+3.12. I cannot see all of the "Blocked" page banner. Help.
+
+There is not enough available space to fit the entire Blocked page. Try right
+clicking on the visible portion, and select "Show Frame", or equivalent. This
+will usually allow you to see the entire Privoxy "Blocked" page, and from there
+you can see just what is being blocked, and why.
+
+As of Privoxy 2.9.14, the Blocked banner page is re-sizeable, and tries to
+adjust to the allotted space. There may be occassions where there just isn't
+enough room to display much of anything useful though.
-There is not enough space to fit the entire page. Try right clicking on the
-visible, red portion, and select "Show Frame", or equivalent. This will usually
-allow you to see the entire Privoxy "Blocked" page, and from there you can see
-just what is being blocked, and why.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.13. Can Privoxy run as a service on Win2K/NT?
There is a pending feature request for this functionality. See thread: http://
sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=361118&aid=485617&group_id=11118, for
details, and a sample configuration.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.14. How can I make Privoxy work with other proxies like Squid?
This can be done. See the user manual, which describes how to do this.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Miscellaneous
"Filtering" via the filterfile mechanism may cause a perceived slowdown, since
the entire page is buffered before displaying. See below.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.2. I noticed considerable delays in page requests compared to the old
Junkbuster. What's wrong?
-Using the default filtering configuration, I noticed considerable delays in
-page requests compared to the old Junkbuster. Loading pages with large contents
-seemed to take forever, then suddenly delivering all the content at once.
-
-The whole content must be loaded in order to filter, and nothing is is sent to
-the browser during this time. The loading time does not really change in real
-numbers, but the feeling is different, because most browsers are able to start
-rendering incomplete content, giving the user a feeling of "it works".
+The entire page content must be loaded into memory in order for the filtering
+mechanism to work, and nothing is sent to the browser during this time. The
+loading time does not really change in real numbers, but the feeling is
+different, because most browsers are able to start rendering incomplete
+content, giving the user a feeling of "it works".
To modify the content of a page (i.e. make frames resizeable again, etc.) and
not just replace ads, Privoxy needs to download the entire page first, do its
content magic and then send the page to the browser.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.3. What is the "http://p.p/"?
Since Privoxy sits between your web browser and the Internet, it can be
programmed to handle certain pages specially.
-With recent versions of Privoxy (version 2.9.x), you can get some information
-about Privoxy and change some settings by going to http://p.p/ or,
+With recent versions of Privoxy (version 2.9.x and greater), you can get some
+information about Privoxy and change some settings by going to http://p.p/ or,
equivalently, http://config.privoxy.org/ (Note that p.p is far easier to type
but may not work in some configurations. With the name change to Privoxy, this
-is changed from the previous http://i.j.b/ or earlier 2.9.x versions).
+is changed from the previous http://i.j.b/ and earlier 2.9.x versions).
These pages are not forwarded to a server on the Internet - instead they are
handled by a special web server which is built in to Privoxy.
If you are not running Privoxy, then http://p.p/ will fail, and http://
-config.privoxy.org/ will return a web page telling you you're not running
+config.privoxy.org/ will return a web page telling you you're not running
Privoxy.
If you have version 2.0.2, then the equivalent is http://example.com/
show-proxy-args (but you get far less information, and you should really
-consider upgrading to 2.9.13).
+consider upgrading to 2.9.14).
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.4. Do you still maintain the blocklists?
-No. The format of the blocklists has changed significantly in versions 2.9.x
-and later. Once we have released the new stable version, v3.0, there will again
-be blocklists that you can update automatically.
+No, not by this name. The format of the blocklists has changed significantly in
+versions 2.9.x and later. This functionality is done by the "actions" file now.
+See next question ...
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.5. How can I submit new ads?
-As of now, please discontinue to submit new ad blocking infos. Once we have
-released the new version, there will again be a form on the website, which you
-can use to contribute new ads.
+Please see the Contact section.
+
+This process does not work with earlier versions of Privoxy or Junkbuster.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.6. How can I hide my IP address?
You cannot hide your IP address with Privoxy or any other software, since the
-server needs to know your IP address to send the answer to you.
+server needs to know your IP address to send the answers back to you.
Fortunately there are many publicly usable anonymous proxies out there, which
solve the problem by providing a further level of indirection between you and
You can find a list of anonymous public proxies at multiproxy.org and many more
through Google.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.7. Can Privoxy guarantee I am anonymous?
that might occur. The professionally paranoid prefer browsers available as
source code, because anticipating their behavior is easier. Trust the source,
Luke!
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.8. Might some things break because header information is being altered?
If you have problems with a site, you will have to adjust your configuration
accordingly. Cookies are probably the most likely adjustment that may be
required, but by no means the only one.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.9. Can Privoxy act as a "caching" proxy to speed up web browsing?
No, it does not have this ability at all. You want something like Squid for
this. And, yes, before you ask, Privoxy can co-exist with other kinds of
proxies like Squid.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.10. What about as a firewall? Can Privoxy protect me?
Not in the way you mean, or in the way a true firewall can, or a proxy that has
this specific capability. Privoxy can help protect your privacy, but not really
protect you from intrusion attempts.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.11. The Privoxy logo that replaces ads is very blocky and ugly looking. Can't
Given the above problem, we have decided to remove the logo option entirely [as
of v2.9.13].
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.12. I have large empty spaces now where ads used to be. Why?
use the overall size of the ad to help organize the page layout and position
the various components of the page where they were intended to be. It is best
left this way.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.13. How can Privoxy filter Secure (HTTPS) URLs?
This is a limitation since HTTPS transactions are encrypted SSL sessions
between your browser and the secure site, and are meant to be reliably secure
and private. This means that all cookies and HTTP header information are also
-encrypted from the time they leave your browser, to the site, and vice versa.
+encrypted from the time they leave your browser, to the site, and vice versa.
Privoxy does not try to unencrypt this information, so it just passes through
as is. Privoxy can still catch images and ads that are embedded in the SSL
stream though.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.14. Privoxy runs as a "server". How secure is it? Do I need to take any
special precautions?
-There are no known exploits that might effect Privoxy. On Unix-like systems,
+There are no known exploits that might effect Privoxy. On Unix-like systems,
Privoxy can run as a non-privileged user, which is how we recommend it be run.
Also, by default Privoxy only listens to requests from "localhost". The server
aspect of Privoxy is not itself directly exposed to the Internet in this
browser proxy configuration. In this way, Privoxy will not listen on any
external ports. Of course, a firewall is always good too. Better safe than
sorry.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.15. How can I temporarily disable Privoxy?
The easiest way is to access Privoxy with your browser by using the special
URL: http://p.p/ and select "Toggle Privoxy on or off" from that page.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.16. Where can I find more information about Privoxy and related issues?
http://p.p/, access Privoxy from your browser. Alternately, http://
config.privoxy.org may work in some situations where the first does not.
+http://p.p/, and select "Privoxy - Submit Filter Feedback" to submit "misses"
+to the developers.
+
http://www.junkbusters.com/ht/en/cookies.html
http://www.waldherr.org/junkbuster/
http://www.squid-cache.org/
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Troubleshooting
which uses port 8000. If you haven't, you need to change your browser to the
new port number, or alternately change Privoxy's "listen-address" setting in
the config file used to start Privoxy.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.2. I just added a new rule, but the steenkin ad is still getting through.
If this doesn't help, you probably have an error in the rule you applied. Try
pasting the full URL of the offending ad into http://config.privoxy.org/
show-url-info and see if any actions match your new rule.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.3. One of my favorite sites does not work with Privoxy. What can I do?
First verify that it is indeed a Privoxy problem, by disabling Privoxy
filtering and blocking. Go to http://p.p/ and click on "Toggle Privoxy On or
Off", then disable it. Now try that page again. It's probably a good idea to
-flush the browser cache as well.
+flush the browser cache as well with Shift+Reload to flush caches.
If still a problem, go to "Show which actions apply to a URL and why" from
http://p.p/ and paste the full URL of the page in question into the prompt. See
which actions are being applied to the URL. Now, armed with this information,
-go to "Edit the actions list". Here you should see various sections that have
-various Privoxy features disabled for specific sites. Most disabled "actions"
-will have a "-" (minus sign) in front of them. Some aliases are used just to
-disable other actions, e.g. "shop" and "fragile", and won't necessarily use a
-"+" or "-" sign. Add your problem page URL to one of these sections that looks
-like it is disabling the feature that is causing the problem. Rember to flush
-your browser's caches when making such changes! As a last resort, try "fragile"
-which disables most actions. Now re-try the page. There might be some trial and
-error involved. This is discussed in a little more detail in the user-manual
-appendix.
+go to "View & change the current configuration". Here you should see various
+sections that have various Privoxy features disabled for specific sites. Most
+disabled "actions" will have a "-" (minus sign) in front of them. Some aliases
+are used just to disable other actions, e.g. "shop" and "fragile", and won't
+necessarily use a "+" or "-" sign. Add your problem page URL to one of these
+sections that looks like it is disabling the feature that is causing the
+problem. Rember to flush your browser's caches when making such changes! As a
+last resort, try "fragile" which disables most actions. Now re-try the page.
+There might be some trial and error involved. This is discussed in more detail
+in the user-manual appendix.
Alternately, if you are comfortable with a text editor, you can accomplish the
same thing by editing the appropriate "actions" file.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7. Contacting the developers, Bug Reporting and Feature Requests
+
+We value your feedback. However, to provide you with the best support, please
+note the following sections.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-5.4. Where can I get help? Report bugs? Feature Requests? Etc?
+7.1. Get Support
+
+To get support, use the Sourceforge Support Forum:
+
+ http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=211118
-Feedback is encouraged, whether good, bad or ugly. Please see the contact page
-in the user-manual for details.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-5.5. What time is it?
+7.2. Report bugs
+
+To submit bugs, use the Sourceforge Bug Forum:
+
+ http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=111118.
+
+Make sure that the bug has not already been submitted. Please try to verify
+that it is a Privoxy bug, and not a browser or site bug first. If you are using
+your own custom configuration, please try the stock configs to see if the
+problem is a configuration related bug. And if not using the latest development
+snapshot, please try the latest one. Or even better, CVS sources. Please be
+sure to include the Privoxy version, platform, browser, any pertinent log data,
+any other relevant details (please be specific) and, if possible, some way to
+reproduce the bug.
-Time for you to go!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-7. Contacting the developers, Bug Reporting and Feature Requests
+7.3. Request new features
-We value your feedback. However, to provide you with the best support, please
-note:
+To submit ideas on new features, use the Sourceforge feature request forum:
- * Use the Sourceforge Support Forum to get help:
-
- http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=211118
-
-
- * Submit bugs only through our Sourceforge Bug Forum:
-
- http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=111118.
-
-
- Make sure that the bug has not already been submitted. Please try to verify
- that it is a Privoxy bug, and not a browser or site bug first. If you are
- using your own custom configuration, please try the stock configs to see if
- the problem is a configuration related bug. And if not using the latest
- development snapshot, please try the latest one. Or even better, CVS
- sources. Please be sure to include the Privoxy/Junkbuster version,
- platform, browser, any pertinent log data, any other relevant details
- (please be specific) and, if possible, some way to reproduce the bug.
-
- * Submit feature requests only through our Sourceforge feature request
- forum:
-
- http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=361118&group_id=11118&func=browse.
-
-
- * We will soon have an automated way to submit advertisements, incorrectly
- blocked images, popups and the like. Check back.
-
-
- * For any other issues, feel free to use the mailing lists:
-
- http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=11118.
-
-
- Anyone interested in actively participating in development and related
- discussions can also join the appropriate mailing list. Archives are
- available too.
-
+ http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=361118&group_id=11118&func=browse.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4. Report ads or other filter problems
+
+You can also send feedback on websites that Privoxy has problems with. Please
+bookmark the following link: "Privoxy - Submit Filter Feedback". Once you surf
+to a page with problems, use the bookmark to send us feedback. We will look
+into the issue as soon as possible.
+
+New, improved default.action files will occasionally be made available based on
+your feedback. These will be announced on the ijbswa-announce list.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.5. Other
+
+For any other issues, feel free to use the mailing lists:
+
+ http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=11118.
+
+Anyone interested in actively participating in development and related
+discussions can also join the appropriate mailing list. Archives are available,
+too. See the page on Sourceforge.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
8. Copyright and History
8.1. Copyright
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple
Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.2. History
Privoxy is evolved, and derived from, the Internet Junkbuster, with many
improvments and enhancements over the original.
-Junkbuster was originally written by Anonymous Coders and Junkbuster's
+Junkbuster was originally written by Anonymous Coders and Junkbusters
Corporation, and was released as free open-source software under the GNU GPL.
Stefan Waldherr made many improvements, and started the SourceForge project
Privoxy to rekindle development. There are now several active developers
contributing. The last stable release of Junkbuster was v2.0.2, which has now
grown whiskers ;-).
+
projects / privoxy.git / blobdiff