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-><DIV
-CLASS="SECT1"
-><H1
-CLASS="SECT1"
-><A
-NAME="GENERAL">1. General Information</H1
-><DIV
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><H3
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><A
-NAME="NEWJB">1.1. What is this new version of <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
->?</H3
-><P
-> In the beginning, there was the
- <A
-HREF="http://www.junkbusters.com/ijb.html"
-TARGET="_top"
-><SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Internet Junkbuster</SPAN
-></A
->,
- by Anonymous Coders and <A
-HREF="http://www.junkbusters.com/"
-TARGET="_top"
->Junkbusters
- Corporation</A
->. It saved many users a lot of pain in the early days of
- web advertising and user tracking.</P
-><P
-> But the web, its protocols and standards, and with it, the techniques for
- forcing users to consume ads, give up autonomy over their browsing, and
- for spying on them, kept evolving. Unfortunately, the <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Internet
- Junkbuster</SPAN
-> did not. Version 2.0.2, published in 1998, was
- (and is) the last official
- <A
-HREF="http://www.junkbusters.com/ijbdist.html#release"
-TARGET="_top"
->release</A
->
- available from <A
-HREF="http://www.junkbusters.com"
-TARGET="_top"
->Junkbusters Corporation</A
->.
- Fortunately, it had been released under the GNU
- <A
-HREF="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html"
-TARGET="_top"
-> GPL</A
->, which allowed further
- development by others.</P
-><P
-> So Stefan Waldherr started maintaining an
- <A
-HREF="http://www.waldherr.org/junkbuster/"
-TARGET="_top"
->improved version of the
- software</A
->, to which eventually a number of people contributed patches.
- It could already replace banners with a transparent image, and had a first
- version of pop-up killing, but it was still very closely based on the
- original, with all its limitations, such as the lack of HTTP/1.1 support,
- flexible per-site configuration, or content modification. The last release
- from this effort was version 2.0.2-10, published in 2000.</P
-><P
-> Then, some
- <A
-HREF="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/copyright.html#AUTHORS"
-TARGET="_top"
->developers</A
->
- picked up the thread, and started turning the software inside out, upside down,
- and then reassembled it, adding many
- <A
-HREF="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/introduction.html#FEATURES"
-TARGET="_top"
->new
- features</A
-> along the way.</P
-><P
-> The result of this is <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
->, whose first
- stable release, 3.0, was released August, 2002.
- </P
-></DIV
-><DIV
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><H3
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><A
-NAME="AEN45">1.2. Why <SPAN
-CLASS="QUOTE"
->"Privoxy"</SPAN
->? Why a name change at all?</H3
-><P
-> <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> is the
- <SPAN
-CLASS="QUOTE"
->"<SPAN
-CLASS="emphasis"
-><I
-CLASS="EMPHASIS"
->Privacy Enhancing Proxy</I
-></SPAN
->"</SPAN
->. Also, its content
- modification and junk suppression allow you to browse your
- <SPAN
-CLASS="QUOTE"
->"<SPAN
-CLASS="emphasis"
-><I
-CLASS="EMPHASIS"
->private</I
-></SPAN
-> edition"</SPAN
-> of the web.</P
-><P
-> <A
-HREF="http://junkbusters.com/"
-TARGET="_top"
->Junkbusters Corporation</A
->
- continues to offer their original version of the <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Internet
- Junkbuster</SPAN
->, so publishing our
- <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
-> Junkbuster</SPAN
->-derived software under the same name
- led to confusion.</P
-><P
-> There are also potential legal complications from the continued use of the
- <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Junkbuster</SPAN
-> name, which is a registered trademark of
- <A
-HREF="http://junkbusters.com/"
-TARGET="_top"
->Junkbusters Corporation</A
->.
- There are, however, no objections from Junkbusters Corporation to the
- <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> project itself, and they, in fact, still
- share our ideals and goals.</P
-><P
-> 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.</P
-></DIV
-><DIV
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><H3
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><A
-NAME="DIFFERS">1.3. How does <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> differ
-from the old <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Junkbuster?</SPAN
-></H3
-><P
-> <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> picks up where
- <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Junkbuster</SPAN
-> left off. All the old features remain.
- The new <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> still blocks ads and banners,
- still manages cookies, and still helps protect your privacy. But, these are
- all enhanced, and many new features have been added, all in the same vein.
- </P
-><P
-> The configuration has changed significantly as well. This is something that
- users will notice right off the bat if upgrading from
- <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Junkbuster</SPAN
-> 2.0.x. The <SPAN
-CLASS="QUOTE"
->"blocklist"</SPAN
->
- <SPAN
-CLASS="QUOTE"
->"cookielist"</SPAN
->, <SPAN
-CLASS="QUOTE"
->"imagelist"</SPAN
-> and much more has been
- combined into the <SPAN
-CLASS="QUOTE"
->"actions"</SPAN
-> files, with a completely different
- syntax. See the <A
-HREF="../user-manual/upgradersnote.html"
-TARGET="_top"
->note to
- upgraders</A
-> for details.</P
-><P
-> <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
->'s new features include:</P
-><P
-> <P
-></P
-><UL
-><LI
-><P
-> Integrated browser based configuration and control utility at <A
-HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/"
-TARGET="_top"
->http://config.privoxy.org/</A
->
- (shortcut: <A
-HREF="http://p.p/"
-TARGET="_top"
->http://p.p/</A
->). Browser-based
- tracing of rule and filter effects. Remote toggling.
- </P
-></LI
-><LI
-><P
-> Web page content filtering (removes banners based on size,
- invisible <SPAN
-CLASS="QUOTE"
->"web-bugs"</SPAN
->, JavaScript and HTML annoyances, pop-up windows, etc.)
- </P
-></LI
-><LI
-><P
-> Modularized configuration that allows for standard settings and
- user settings to reside in separate files, so that installing updated
- actions files won't overwrite individual user settings.
- </P
-></LI
-><LI
-><P
-> HTTP/1.1 compliant (but not all optional 1.1 features are supported).
- </P
-></LI
-><LI
-><P
-> Support for Perl Compatible Regular Expressions in the configuration files, and
- generally a more sophisticated and flexible configuration syntax over
- previous versions.
- </P
-></LI
-><LI
-><P
-> Improved cookie management features (e.g. session based cookies).
- </P
-></LI
-><LI
-><P
-> GIF de-animation.
- </P
-></LI
-><LI
-><P
-> Bypass many click-tracking scripts (avoids script redirection).
- </P
-></LI
-><LI
-><P
-> Multi-threaded (POSIX and native threads).
- </P
-></LI
-><LI
-><P
-> User-customizable HTML templates for all proxy-generated pages (e.g. "blocked" page).
- </P
-></LI
-><LI
-><P
-> Auto-detection and re-reading of config file changes.
- </P
-></LI
-><LI
-><P
-> Improved signal handling, and a true daemon mode (Unix).
- </P
-></LI
-><LI
-><P
-> Every feature now controllable on a per-site or per-location basis, configuration
- more powerful and versatile over-all.
- </P
-></LI
-><LI
-><P
-> Many smaller new features added, limitations and bugs removed, and security holes fixed.
- </P
-></LI
-></UL
-></P
-></DIV
-><DIV
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><H3
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><A
-NAME="PROXYMORON">1.4. What is a <SPAN
-CLASS="QUOTE"
->"proxy"</SPAN
->? How does
-<SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> work?</H3
-><P
-> A web proxy is a service, based on a software such as <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
->,
- that clients (i.e. browsers) can use instead of connecting directly to the 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.
- </P
-><P
-> There are many reasons to use web proxies, such as security (firewalling),
- efficiency (caching) and others, and there are just as many different proxies
- to accommodate those needs.
- </P
-><P
-> <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> is a proxy that is solely focused on privacy
- protection and junk elimination. 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 control via the various configuration
- files and options.
- </P
-></DIV
-><DIV
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><H3
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><A
-NAME="WHATSANAD">1.5. How does <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> know what is
-an ad, and what is not?</H3
-><P
-> <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
->'s approach to blocking ads is twofold:</P
-><P
-> First, there are certain patterns in the <SPAN
-CLASS="emphasis"
-><I
-CLASS="EMPHASIS"
->locations</I
-></SPAN
-> (URLs)
- of banner images. This applies to both the path (you wouldn't guess how many
- web sites serve their banners from a directory called <SPAN
-CLASS="QUOTE"
->"banners"</SPAN
->!)
- and the host (blocking the big banner hosting services like doublecklick.net
- already helps a lot). <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> takes advantage of this
- fact by using <A
-HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#AF-PATTERNS"
-TARGET="_top"
->URL
- patterns</A
-> to sort out and block the requests for banners.</P
-><P
-> Second, banners tend to come in certain <SPAN
-CLASS="emphasis"
-><I
-CLASS="EMPHASIS"
->sizes</I
-></SPAN
->. But you
- can't tell the size of an image by its URL without downloading it, and if you
- do, it's too late to save bandwidth. Therefore, <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
->
- also inspects the HTML sources of web pages while they are loaded, and replaces
- references to images with standard banner sizes by dummy references, so that
- your browser doesn't request them anymore in the first place.</P
-><P
-> Both of this involves a certain amount of guesswork and is, of course, freely
- configurable.</P
-></DIV
-><DIV
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><H3
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><A
-NAME="AEN136">1.6. Can <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> make mistakes?
-This does not sound very scientific.</H3
-><P
-> Actually, it's a black art ;-) And yes, it is always possible to have a broad
- rule accidentally block or change something by mistake. There is a good chance
- you may run into such a situation at some point. It is tricky writing rules to
- cover every conceivable possibility, and not occasionally get false positives.</P
-><P
-> But this should not be a big concern since the
- <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> configuration is very flexible, and
- includes tools to help identify these types of situations so they can be
- addressed as needed, allowing you to customize your installation.
- (<A
-HREF="trouble.html#BADSITE"
->See the Troubleshooting section below</A
->.)</P
-></DIV
-><DIV
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><H3
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><A
-NAME="BROWSERS2">1.7. My browser does the same things as
-<SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
->. Why should I use
-<SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> at all?</H3
-><P
-> Modern browsers do indeed have <SPAN
-CLASS="emphasis"
-><I
-CLASS="EMPHASIS"
->some</I
-></SPAN
-> of the same
- functionality as <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
->. Maybe this is
- adequate for you. But <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> is much more
- versatile and powerful, and can do a number of things that browsers just can't.
- </P
-><P
-> 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.
- </P
-></DIV
-><DIV
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><H3
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><A
-NAME="LICENSE">1.8. Is there is a license or fee? What about a
-warranty? Registration?</H3
-><P
-> <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> is licensed under the <A
-HREF="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html"
-TARGET="_top"
->GNU General Public License (GPL)</A
->.
- It is free to use, copy, modify or distribute as you wish under the terms of this
- license. Please see the <A
-HREF="copyright.html"
->Copyright</A
-> section for more
- information on the license and copyright. Or the <TT
-CLASS="FILENAME"
->LICENSE</TT
-> file
- that should be included.
- </P
-><P
-> There is <SPAN
-CLASS="emphasis"
-><I
-CLASS="EMPHASIS"
->no warranty</I
-></SPAN
-> of any kind, expressed, implied or otherwise.
- That is something that would cost real money ;-) There is no registration either.
- <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> really is <SPAN
-CLASS="emphasis"
-><I
-CLASS="EMPHASIS"
->free</I
-></SPAN
->
- in every respect!
- </P
-></DIV
-><DIV
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><H3
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><A
-NAME="JOINTEAM">1.9. I would like to help you, what do I do?</H3
-><DIV
-CLASS="SECT3"
-><H4
-CLASS="SECT3"
-><A
-NAME="JOINTEAM-MONEY">1.9.1. Money Money Money</H4
-><P
-> We, of course, welcome donations and could use money for domain registering,
- buying software to test <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> 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 <A
-HREF="mailto:developers@privoxy.org"
-TARGET="_top"
->drop us a note</A
->.</P
-></DIV
-><DIV
-CLASS="SECT3"
-><H4
-CLASS="SECT3"
-><A
-NAME="JOINTEAM-SOFTWARE">1.9.2. Software</H4
-><P
-> If you are a vendor of a web-related software like a browser, web server
- or proxy, and would like us to ensure that <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
->
- 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.</P
-></DIV
-><DIV
-CLASS="SECT3"
-><H4
-CLASS="SECT3"
-><A
-NAME="JOINTEAM-WORK">1.9.3. You want to work with us?</H4
-><P
-> Well, helping the team is always a good idea. We welcome new developers,
- packaging gurus or documentation writers. Simply <A
-HREF="https://sourceforge.net/account/register.php"
-TARGET="_top"
->get an account on SourceForge.net</A
->
- and mail your id to the <A
-HREF="mailto:developers@privoxy.org"
-TARGET="_top"
->developers
- mailing list</A
->. Then read the <A
-HREF="../developer-manual/index.html"
-TARGET="_top"
->Developer's Manual</A
->.</P
-><P
-> Once we have added you to the team, you'll have write access to the <A
-HREF="http://sourceforge.net/cvs/?group_id=11118"
-TARGET="_top"
->CVS repository</A
->, and
- together we'll find a suitable task for you.</P
-></DIV
-></DIV
-></DIV
-><DIV
-CLASS="NAVFOOTER"
-><HR
-ALIGN="LEFT"
-WIDTH="100%"><TABLE
-SUMMARY="Footer navigation table"
-WIDTH="100%"
-BORDER="0"
-CELLPADDING="0"
-CELLSPACING="0"
-><TR
-><TD
-WIDTH="33%"
-ALIGN="left"
-VALIGN="top"
-><A
-HREF="index.html"
-ACCESSKEY="P"
->Prev</A
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-WIDTH="34%"
-ALIGN="center"
-VALIGN="top"
-><A
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->Home</A
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-><TD
-WIDTH="34%"
-ALIGN="center"
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-WIDTH="33%"
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->Installation</TD
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-></DIV
-></BODY
-></HTML
->
\ No newline at end of file
+<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
+"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
+<html>
+<head>
+ <title>General Information</title>
+ <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Modular DocBook HTML Stylesheet Version 1.79">
+ <link rel="HOME" title="Privoxy Frequently Asked Questions" href="index.html">
+ <link rel="PREVIOUS" title="Privoxy Frequently Asked Questions" href="index.html">
+ <link rel="NEXT" title="Installation" href="installation.html">
+ <link rel="STYLESHEET" type="text/css" href="../p_doc.css">
+ <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
+</head>
+<body class="SECT1" bgcolor="#EEEEEE" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" vlink="#840084" alink="#0000FF">
+ <div class="NAVHEADER">
+ <table summary="Header navigation table" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
+ <tr>
+ <th colspan="3" align="center">Privoxy Frequently Asked Questions</th>
+ </tr>
+ <tr>
+ <td width="10%" align="left" valign="bottom"><a href="index.html" accesskey="P">Prev</a></td>
+ <td width="80%" align="center" valign="bottom"></td>
+ <td width="10%" align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="installation.html" accesskey="N">Next</a></td>
+ </tr>
+ </table>
+ <hr align="left" width="100%">
+ </div>
+ <div class="SECT1">
+ <h1 class="SECT1"><a name="GENERAL" id="GENERAL">1. General Information</a></h1>
+ <div class="SECT2">
+ <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="WHO-USES" id="WHO-USES">1.1. Who should give <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>
+ a try?</a></h3>
+ <p>Anyone who is interested in security, privacy, or in finer-grained control over their web and Internet
+ experience.</p>
+ </div>
+ <div class="SECT2">
+ <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="BESTCHOICE" id="BESTCHOICE">1.2. Is Privoxy the best choice for me?</a></h3>
+ <p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is certainly a good choice, especially for those who want more
+ control and security. Those with the willingness to read the documentation and the ability to fine-tune their
+ installation will benefit the most.</p>
+ <p>One of <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy's</span> 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 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Http" target="_top">HTTP</a> and other networking
+ protocols, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Html" target="_top">HTML</a>, and <a href=
+ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions" target="_top"><span class="QUOTE">"Regular
+ Expressions"</span></a> will be a big plus and will help you get the most out of <span class=
+ "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>. A new installation just includes a very basic configuration. The user should take
+ this as a starting point only, and enhance it as he or she sees fit. In fact, the user is encouraged, and
+ expected to, fine-tune the configuration.</p>
+ <p>Much of <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy's</span> configuration can be done with a <a href=
+ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_browser" target="_top">Web browser</a>. But there are areas where
+ configuration is done using a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_editors" target="_top">text editor</a>
+ 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 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>
+ listening port can be trusted.</p>
+ </div>
+ <div class="SECT2">
+ <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="PROXYMORON" id="PROXYMORON">1.3. What is a <span class="QUOTE">"proxy"</span>? How
+ does Privoxy work?</a></h3>
+ <p>A <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server" target="_top">web proxy</a> is a service, based on a
+ software such as <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>, 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 <span class="QUOTE">"go-between"</span>. For
+ details, see <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server" target="_top">Wikipedia's proxy
+ definition</a>.</p>
+ <p>There are many reasons to use web proxies, such as security (firewalling), efficiency (caching) and others,
+ and there are any number of proxies to accommodate those needs.</p>
+ <p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> 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 files and options. Being a proxy also makes it easier to share
+ configurations among multiple browsers and/or users.</p>
+ </div>
+ <div class="SECT2">
+ <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="OTHERSTUFF" id="OTHERSTUFF">1.4. Does Privoxy do anything more than ad
+ blocking?</a></h3>
+ <p>Yes, ad blocking is but one possible use. There are many, many ways <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>
+ can be used to sanitize and customize web browsing.</p>
+ </div>
+ <div class="SECT2">
+ <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="NEWJB" id="NEWJB">1.5. What is this new version of <span class=
+ "QUOTE">"Junkbuster"</span>?</a></h3>
+ <p>A long time ago, there was the <span class="APPLICATION">Internet Junkbuster</span>, by Anonymous Coders and
+ Junkbusters Corporation. This saved many users a lot of pain in the early days of web advertising and user
+ tracking.</p>
+ <p>But the web, its protocols and standards, and with it, the techniques for forcing ads on users, give up
+ autonomy over their browsing, and for tracking them, keeps evolving. Unfortunately, the <span class=
+ "APPLICATION">Internet Junkbuster</span> did not. Version 2.0.2, published in 1998, was the last official
+ release, available from Junkbusters Corporation. Fortunately, it had been released under the GNU <a href=
+ "https://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html" target="_top">GPL</a>, which allowed further development
+ by others.</p>
+ <p>So Stefan Waldherr started maintaining an improved version of the software, to which eventually a number of
+ people contributed patches. It could already replace banners with a transparent image, and had a first version of
+ pop-up killing, but it was still very closely based on the original, with all its limitations, such as the lack
+ of HTTP/1.1 support, flexible per-site configuration, or content modification. The last release from this effort
+ was version 2.0.2-10, published in 2000.</p>
+ <p>Then, some <a href="https://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/copyright.html#AUTHORS" target="_top">developers</a>
+ picked up the thread, and started turning the software inside out, upside down, and then reassembled it, adding
+ many <a href="https://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/introduction.html#FEATURES" target="_top">new features</a>
+ along the way.</p>
+ <p>The result of this is <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>, whose first stable version, 3.0, was released
+ August, 2002.</p>
+ <p>As of 2012 the Junkbusters Corporation's website (http://www.junkbusters.com/) has been shut down, but Privoxy
+ is still actively maintained.</p>
+ </div>
+ <div class="SECT2">
+ <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="WHYPRIVOXY" id="WHYPRIVOXY">1.6. Why <span class="QUOTE">"Privoxy"</span>? Why change
+ the name from Junkbuster at all?</a></h3>
+ <p>Though outdated, Junkbusters Corporation continued to offer their original version of the <span class=
+ "APPLICATION">Internet Junkbuster</span> for a while, so publishing our <span class=
+ "APPLICATION">Junkbuster</span>-derived software under the same name would have led to confusion.</p>
+ <p>There were also potential legal reasons not to use the <span class="APPLICATION">Junkbuster</span> name, as it
+ was (and maybe still is) a registered trademark of Junkbusters Corporation. There were, however, no objections
+ from Junkbusters Corporation to the <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> project itself, and they, in fact,
+ shared our ideals and goals.</p>
+ <p>The Privoxy developers also believed that there were so many improvements over the original code, that it was
+ time to make a clean break from the past and make a name in their own right.</p>
+ <p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is the <span class="QUOTE">"<span class="emphasis"><i class=
+ "EMPHASIS">Privacy Enhancing Proxy</i></span>"</span>. Also, its content modification and junk suppression gives
+ <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">you</i></span>, the user, more control, more freedom, and allows you
+ to browse your personal and <span class="QUOTE">"<span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">private</i></span>
+ edition"</span> of the web.</p>
+ </div>
+ <div class="SECT2">
+ <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="DIFFERS" id="DIFFERS">1.7. How does Privoxy differ from the old Junkbuster?</a></h3>
+ <p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> picks up where <span class="APPLICATION">Junkbuster</span> left off.
+ <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> still blocks ads and banners, still manages <a href=
+ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie" target="_top">cookies</a>, and still helps protect your privacy.
+ But, most of these features have been enhanced, and many new ones have been added, all in the same vein.</p>
+ <p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>'s new features include:</p>
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <p>Supports "Connection: keep-alive". Outgoing connections can be kept alive independently from the
+ client.</p>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <p>Supports IPv6, provided the operating system does so too, and the configure script detects it.</p>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <p>Supports tagging which allows to change the behaviour based on client and server headers.</p>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <p>Supports https inspection which allows to filter https requests and responses.</p>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <p>Can be run as an "intercepting" proxy, which obviates the need to configure browsers individually.</p>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <p>Sophisticated actions and filters for manipulating both server and client headers.</p>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <p>Can be chained with other proxies.</p>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <p>Integrated browser-based configuration and control utility at <a href="http://config.privoxy.org/" target=
+ "_top">http://config.privoxy.org/</a> (shortcut: <a href="http://p.p/" target="_top">http://p.p/</a>).
+ Browser-based tracing of rule and filter effects. Remote toggling.</p>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <p>Web page filtering (text replacements, removes banners based on size, invisible <span class=
+ "QUOTE">"web-bugs"</span> and HTML annoyances, etc.)</p>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <p>Modularized configuration that allows for standard settings and user settings to reside in separate files,
+ so that installing updated actions files won't overwrite individual user settings.</p>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <p>Support for Perl Compatible Regular Expressions in the configuration files, and a more sophisticated and
+ flexible configuration syntax.</p>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <p>GIF de-animation.</p>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <p>Bypass many click-tracking scripts (avoids script redirection).</p>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <p>User-customizable HTML templates for most proxy-generated pages (e.g. "blocked" page).</p>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <p>Auto-detection and re-reading of config file changes.</p>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <p>Most features are controllable on a per-site or per-location basis.</p>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <p>Many smaller new features added, limitations and bugs removed.</p>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+ </div>
+ <div class="SECT2">
+ <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="WHATSANAD" id="WHATSANAD">1.8. How does Privoxy know what is an ad, and what is
+ not?</a></h3>
+ <p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>'s approach to blocking ads is twofold:</p>
+ <p>First, there are certain patterns in the <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">locations</i></span>
+ (URLs) of banner images. This applies to both the path (you wouldn't guess how many web sites serve their banners
+ from a directory called <span class="QUOTE">"banners"</span>!) and the host (blocking the big banner hosting
+ services like doublecklick.net already helps a lot). <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> takes advantage of
+ this fact by using <a href="../user-manual/actions-file.html#AF-PATTERNS" target="_top">URL patterns</a> to sort
+ out and block the requests for things that sound like they would be ads or banners.</p>
+ <p>Second, banners tend to come in certain <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">sizes</i></span>. But you
+ can't tell the size of an image by its URL without downloading it, and if you do, it's too late to save
+ bandwidth. Therefore, <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> also inspects the HTML sources of web pages while
+ they are loaded, and replaces references to images with standard banner sizes by dummy references, so that your
+ browser doesn't request them anymore in the first place.</p>
+ <p>Both of this involves a certain amount of guesswork and is, of course, freely and readily configurable.</p>
+ </div>
+ <div class="SECT2">
+ <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="MISTAKES" id="MISTAKES">1.9. Can Privoxy make mistakes? This does not sound very
+ scientific.</a></h3>
+ <p>Actually, it's a black art ;-) And yes, it is always possible to have a broad rule accidentally block or
+ change something by mistake. You will almost surely run into such situations at some point. It is tricky writing
+ rules to cover every conceivable possibility, and not occasionally get false positives.</p>
+ <p>But this should not be a big concern since the <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> configuration is very
+ flexible, and includes tools to help identify these types of situations so they can be addressed as needed,
+ allowing you to customize your installation. (<a href="trouble.html#BADSITE">See the Troubleshooting section
+ below</a>.)</p>
+ </div>
+ <div class="SECT2">
+ <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="CONFIGORNOT" id="CONFIGORNOT">1.10. Will I have to configure Privoxy before I can use
+ it?</a></h3>
+ <p>That depends on your expectations. The default installation should give you a good starting point, and block
+ <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">most</i></span> ads and unwanted content, but many of the more
+ advanced features are off by default, and require you to activate them.</p>
+ <p>You do have to set up your browser to use <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> (see the <a href=
+ "installation.html#FIRSTSTEP">Installation section below</a>).</p>
+ <p>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 <span class=
+ "APPLICATION">Privoxy's</span> configuration to more closely match your individual situation. And we encourage
+ you to do this. This is where the real power of <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> lies!</p>
+ </div>
+ <div class="SECT2">
+ <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="LAN" id="LAN">1.11. Can Privoxy run as a server on a network?</a></h3>
+ <p>Yes, <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> runs as a server already, and can easily be configured to
+ <span class="QUOTE">"serve"</span> more than one client. See <a href="configuration.html#LANCONFIG">How can I set
+ up Privoxy to act as a proxy for my LAN</a> below.</p>
+ </div>
+ <div class="SECT2">
+ <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="BROWSERS2" id="BROWSERS2">1.12. My browser does the same things as Privoxy. Why should
+ I use Privoxy at all?</a></h3>
+ <p>Modern browsers do indeed have <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">some</i></span> of the same
+ functionality as <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>. Maybe this is adequate for you. But <span class=
+ "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is very versatile and powerful, and can probably do a number of things your browser
+ just can't.</p>
+ <p>In addition, a proxy is good choice if you use multiple browsers, or have a LAN with multiple computers since
+ <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> can run as a server application. This way all the configuration is in
+ one place, and you don't have to maintain a similar configuration for possibly many browsers or users.</p>
+ <p>Note, however, that it's recommended to leverage both your browser's and <span class=
+ "APPLICATION">Privoxy's</span> privacy enhancing features at the same time. While your browser probably lacks
+ some features <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> offers, it should also be able to do some things more
+ reliably, for example restricting and suppressing JavaScript.</p>
+ </div>
+ <div class="SECT2">
+ <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="WHYTRUST" id="WHYTRUST">1.13. Why should I trust Privoxy?</a></h3>
+ <p>The most important reason is because you have access to <span class="emphasis"><i class=
+ "EMPHASIS">everything</i></span>, 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 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 <span class="emphasis"><i class=
+ "EMPHASIS">yours</i></span>. In fact, we encourage this level of scrutiny. It is one reason we use <span class=
+ "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> ourselves.</p>
+ </div>
+ <div class="SECT2">
+ <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="LICENSE" id="LICENSE">1.14. Is there is a license or fee? What about a warranty?
+ Registration?</a></h3>
+ <p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is free software. It is free to use, copy, modify or distribute as
+ you wish under the terms of its license. Please see the <a href="copyright.html">Copyright</a> section for more
+ information on the license and copyright.</p>
+ <p>There is <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">no warranty</i></span> of any kind, expressed, implied or
+ otherwise. That is something that would cost real money ;-) There is no registration either.</p>
+ </div>
+ <div class="SECT2">
+ <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="SPYWARE" id="SPYWARE">1.15. Can Privoxy remove spyware? Adware? Viruses?</a></h3>
+ <p>No, at least not reliably enough to trust it. <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is not designed to be a
+ malware removal tool and the default configuration doesn't even try to filter out any malware.</p>
+ <p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> could help prevent contact from (known) sites that use such tactics
+ with appropriate configuration rules, and thus could conceivably 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.</p>
+ </div>
+ <div class="SECT2">
+ <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="OTHERADS" id="OTHERADS">1.16. Can I use Privoxy with other ad-blocking
+ software?</a></h3>
+ <p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> should work fine with other proxies and other software in
+ general.</p>
+ <p>But it is probably not necessary to use <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> in conjunction with other
+ ad-blocking products, and this could conceivably cause undesirable results. It might be better to choose one
+ software or the other and work a little to tweak its configuration to your liking.</p>
+ <p>Note that this is an advice specific to ad blocking.</p>
+ </div>
+ <div class="SECT2">
+ <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="HELP-THE-DEVELOPERS" id="HELP-THE-DEVELOPERS">1.17. I would like to help you, what can
+ I do?</a></h3>
+ <div class="SECT3">
+ <h4 class="SECT3"><a name="PARTICIPATE" id="PARTICIPATE">1.17.1. Would you like to participate?</a></h4>
+ <p>Well, we <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">always</i></span> need help. There is something for
+ everybody who wants to help us. We welcome new developers, packagers, testers, documentation writers or really
+ anyone with a desire to help in any way. You <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">DO NOT</i></span> need
+ to be a <span class="QUOTE">"programmer"</span>. 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 or responding to user questions on the mailing lists.</p>
+ <p>So first thing, subscribe to the <a href="https://lists.privoxy.org/mailman/listinfo/privoxy-users" target=
+ "_top">Privoxy Users</a> or the <a href="https://lists.privoxy.org/mailman/listinfo/privoxy-devel" target=
+ "_top">Privoxy Developers</a> mailing list, join the discussion, help out other users, provide general feedback
+ or report problems you noticed.</p>
+ <p>If you intend to help out with the trackers, you also might want to <a href=
+ "https://sourceforge.net/user/registration" target="_top">get an account on SourceForge.net</a> so we don't
+ confuse you with the other name-less users.</p>
+ <p>We also have a <a href="../developer-manual/index.html" target="_top">Developer's Manual</a>. While it is
+ partly out of date, it's still worth reading.</p>
+ <p>Our <a href="https://www.privoxy.org/gitweb/?p=privoxy.git;a=blob_plain;f=TODO;hb=HEAD" target="_top">TODO
+ list</a> may be of interest to you as well. Please let us know if you want to work on one of the items
+ listed.</p>
+ </div>
+ <div class="SECT3">
+ <h4 class="SECT3"><a name="DONATE" id="DONATE">1.17.2. Would you like to donate?</a></h4>
+ <p>Donations are welcome. Our <a href=
+ "https://www.privoxy.org/gitweb/?p=privoxy.git;a=blob_plain;f=TODO;hb=HEAD" target="_top">TODO list</a> is
+ rather long and being able to pay one (or more) developers to work on Privoxy would make a huge difference,
+ even if it was only for a couple of weeks. Donations may also be used for Privoxy-related travel expenses (for
+ example to attend conferences), for hardware used for Privoxy development and for hosting expenses etc.</p>
+ <p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is an associated project of <a href="https://www.spi-inc.org/"
+ target="_top">Software in the Public Interest (SPI)</a>, which allows us to receive tax-deductible donations in
+ the United States. You can <a href="https://www.spi-inc.org/projects/privoxy/" target="_top">donate via
+ Paypal</a> and <a href="https://co.clickandpledge.com/advanced/default.aspx?wid=34115" target="_top">Click
+ & Pledge</a>. For details, please have a look at <a href="https://www.spi-inc.org/donations" target=
+ "_top">SPI's general donation page</a>.</p>
+ <p>If you have any questions regarding donations please mail to either the public user mailing list or, if it's
+ a private matter, to <a href="mailto:fk@fabiankeil.de" target="_top">Fabian Keil</a> (Privoxy's SPI liaison)
+ directly.</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+ <div class="SECT2">
+ <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="SPONSOR" id="SPONSOR">1.18. How can I become a sponsor and get my logo or link on
+ privoxy.org?</a></h2>
+ <p>We are currently offering the following sponsor levels as an experiment:</p>
+ <div class="VARIABLELIST">
+ <dl>
+ <dt>Gold (12000 USD/year)</dt>
+ <dd>
+ <p>Logo or text link shown at the bottom of the <a href="https://www.privoxy.org/" target="_top">Privoxy
+ homepage</a>. Logo, link and self description on the <a href="https://www.privoxy.org/sponsors/" target=
+ "_top">sponsor page</a>.</p>
+ </dd>
+ <dt>Silver (1200 USD/year)</dt>
+ <dd>
+ <p>Logo or text link shown at the bottom of the <a href="https://www.privoxy.org/" target="_top">Privoxy
+ homepage</a>. Logo, link and self description on the <a href="https://www.privoxy.org/sponsors/" target=
+ "_top">sponsor page</a>.</p>
+ </dd>
+ <dt>Bronze (600 USD/year)</dt>
+ <dd>
+ <p>Logo and link on the <a href="https://www.privoxy.org/sponsors/" target="_top">sponsor page</a>.</p>
+ </dd>
+ </dl>
+ </div>
+ <p>The logo sizes depend on the sponsor level. Logos are served from our server, no requests are made to the
+ sponsor website unless the links are being used. Note that Privoxy comes with a <a href=
+ "https://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/actions-file.html#HIDE-REFERRER" target="_top">hide-referrer</a> action so
+ Privoxy users following links to sponsor websites may not necessarily send requests with a Referer header
+ set.</p>
+ <p>Link targets are without path (<span class="QUOTE">"https://www.example.org/"</span> not <span class=
+ "QUOTE">"https://www.example.org/seo/keyword/spam/"</span>).</p>
+ <p>The details may change over time but changes will only affect new sponsors (or existing sponsors that
+ explicitly agreed to the changes).</p>
+ <p>Thanks to <a href="https://www.spi-inc.org/" target="_top">Software in the Public Interest (SPI)</a>
+ <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> sponsors can get a proper invoice.</p>
+ <p>If you want to become a sponsor, please contact <a href="mailto:fk@fabiankeil.de" target="_top">Fabian
+ Keil</a> and include the link target in the mail. New sponsors are only accepted if no <a href=
+ "../user-manual/copyright.html#AUTHORS" target="_top">Privoxy team</a> member objects.</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+ <div class="NAVFOOTER">
+ <hr align="left" width="100%">
+ <table summary="Footer navigation table" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
+ <tr>
+ <td width="33%" align="left" valign="top"><a href="index.html" accesskey="P">Prev</a></td>
+ <td width="34%" align="center" valign="top"><a href="index.html" accesskey="H">Home</a></td>
+ <td width="33%" align="right" valign="top"><a href="installation.html" accesskey="N">Next</a></td>
+ </tr>
+ <tr>
+ <td width="33%" align="left" valign="top">Privoxy Frequently Asked Questions</td>
+ <td width="34%" align="center" valign="top"> </td>
+ <td width="33%" align="right" valign="top">Installation</td>
+ </tr>
+ </table>
+ </div>
+</body>
+</html>
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