-<!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"
->1. General Information</A
-></H1
-><DIV
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><H3
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><A
-NAME="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"
->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="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Http"
-TARGET="_top"
->HTTP</A
-> and other networking
- protocols, <A
-HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Html"
-TARGET="_top"
->HTML</A
->, and
- <A
-HREF="http://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="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_browser"
-TARGET="_top"
->Web browser</A
->.
- But there are areas where configuration is done using a
- <A
-HREF="http://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"
->1.3. What is a <SPAN
-CLASS="QUOTE"
->"proxy"</SPAN
->? How does
-Privoxy work?</A
-></H3
-><P
-> A <A
-HREF="http://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="http://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"
->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"
->1.5. What is this new version of
-<SPAN
-CLASS="QUOTE"
->"Junkbuster"</SPAN
->?</A
-></H3
-><P
-> A long time ago, 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
->. 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
- (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/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="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 version, 3.0, was released August, 2002.
- </P
-></DIV
-><DIV
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><H3
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><A
-NAME="AEN85"
->1.6. Why <SPAN
-CLASS="QUOTE"
->"Privoxy"</SPAN
->? Why change the name from
-Junkbuster at all?</A
-></H3
-><P
-> Though outdated, <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 our 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 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"
->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.
- The new <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> still blocks ads and banners,
- still manages <A
-HREF="http://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
-><P
-> <P
-></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
-> 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
-></P
-></DIV
-><DIV
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><H3
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><A
-NAME="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="AEN163"
->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="AEN169"
->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"
->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"
->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
- reliable, for example restricting and suppressing JavaScript.
- </P
-></DIV
-><DIV
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><H3
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><A
-NAME="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"
->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 and licensed under the <A
-HREF="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html"
-TARGET="_top"
->GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2</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.
- </P
-></DIV
-><DIV
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><H3
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><A
-NAME="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"
->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"
->1.17. I would like to help you, what can I do?</A
-></H3
-><DIV
-CLASS="SECT3"
-><H4
-CLASS="SECT3"
-><A
-NAME="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.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ijbswa-users"
-TARGET="_top"
->Privoxy Users</A
->
- or the <A
-HREF="https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ijbswa-developers"
-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/account/register.php"
-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="http://ijbswa.cvs.sourceforge.net/viewvc/ijbswa/current/TODO?view=markup"
-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"
->1.17.2. Would you like to donate?</A
-></H4
-><P
-> <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> 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.</P
-><P
-> <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> has therefore become an associated
- project of <A
-HREF="http://www.spi-inc.org/about-spi/about-spi"
-TARGET="_top"
->Software
- in the Public Interest (SPI)</A
->, which allows us to receive tax-deductible
- donations in most western countries.</P
-><P
-> 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.</P
-><P
-> We would also like to spend some money on more reliable hosting,
- on hardware to help make sure <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
->
- 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.</P
-><P
-> If you enjoy our software and feel like helping out with a donation,
- please have a look at
- <A
-HREF="http://www.spi-inc.org/donations"
-TARGET="_top"
->SPI's donation page</A
->
- to see what the options are.</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
-></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
->
+<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01
+Transitional//EN""http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
+<html>
+ <head>
+ <meta name="generator" content="HTML Tidy, see www.w3.org">
+ <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">
+<style type="text/css">
+ body {
+ background-color: #EEEEEE;
+ color: #000000;
+ }
+ :link { color: #0000FF }
+ :visited { color: #840084 }
+ :active { color: #0000FF }
+ hr.c1 {text-align: left}
+</style>
+ </head>
+ <body class="SECT1">
+ <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 width="100%" class="c1">
+ </div>
+ <div class="SECT1">
+ <h1 class="SECT1">
+ <a name="GENERAL">1. General Information</a>
+ </h1>
+ <div class="SECT2">
+ <h3 class="SECT2">
+ <a name="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">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=
+ "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Http" target="_top">HTTP</a> and
+ other networking protocols, <a href=
+ "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Html" target="_top">HTML</a>, and <a
+ href="http://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=
+ "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_browser" target="_top">Web
+ browser</a>. But there are areas where configuration is done using
+ a <a href="http://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">1.3. What is a <span class=
+ "QUOTE">"proxy"</span>? How does Privoxy work?</a>
+ </h3>
+ <p>
+ A <a href="http://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="http://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">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">1.5. What is this new version of <span class=
+ "QUOTE">"Junkbuster"</span>?</a>
+ </h3>
+ <p>
+ A long time ago, 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>. 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 (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/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=
+ "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 version, 3.0, was released August, 2002.
+ </p>
+ </div>
+ <div class="SECT2">
+ <h3 class="SECT2">
+ <a name="AEN85">1.6. Why <span class="QUOTE">"Privoxy"</span>? Why
+ change the name from Junkbuster at all?</a>
+ </h3>
+ <p>
+ Though outdated, <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 our 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 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">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. The new <span
+ class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> still blocks ads and banners,
+ still manages <a href="http://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>
+ <p>
+ </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>
+ 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">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="AEN163">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="AEN169">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">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">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 reliable, for
+ example restricting and suppressing JavaScript.
+ </p>
+ </div>
+ <div class="SECT2">
+ <h3 class="SECT2">
+ <a name="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">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 and
+ licensed under the <a href=
+ "http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html" target=
+ "_top">GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2</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.
+ </p>
+ </div>
+ <div class="SECT2">
+ <h3 class="SECT2">
+ <a name="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">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">1.17. I would like to help you, what
+ can I do?</a>
+ </h3>
+ <div class="SECT3">
+ <h4 class="SECT3">
+ <a name="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.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ijbswa-users"
+ target="_top">Privoxy Users</a> or the <a href=
+ "https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ijbswa-developers"
+ 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/account/register.php" 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=
+ "http://ijbswa.cvs.sourceforge.net/viewvc/ijbswa/current/TODO?view=markup"
+ 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">1.17.2. Would you like to donate?</a>
+ </h4>
+ <p>
+ <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> 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.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> has therefore become an
+ associated project of <a href=
+ "http://www.spi-inc.org/about-spi/about-spi" target=
+ "_top">Software in the Public Interest (SPI)</a>, which allows us
+ to receive tax-deductible donations in most western countries.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ 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.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ We would also like to spend some money on more reliable hosting,
+ on hardware to help make sure <span class=
+ "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> 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.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ If you enjoy our software and feel like helping out with a
+ donation, please have a look at <a href=
+ "http://www.spi-inc.org/donations" target="_top">SPI's donation
+ page</a> to see what the options are.
+ </p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+ <div class="NAVFOOTER">
+ <hr width="100%" class="c1">
+ <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>
+
projects / privoxy.git / blobdiff