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><H3
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
-NAME="NEWJB"
->1.1. What is this new version of <SPAN
+NAME="WHO-USES"
+>1.1. Who should give <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
->?</A
+> 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
-> The original <SPAN
+> <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="TRADEMARK"
->Internet
- Junkbuster</SPAN
->™</SPAN
-> (tm) is a copyrighted product of <A
-HREF="http://www.junkbusters.com"
+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"
->Junkbusters Corporation</A
+>Web browser</A
>.
- Development of this effort stopped some time ago as of version 2.0.2. Stefan
-
Waldherr started the ijbswa project on <A
-HREF="http://sourceforge.net/projects/ijbswa/"
+ But there are areas where configuration is done using a
+ <A
+HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_editors"
TARGET="_top"
->Sourceforge</A
-> 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 <SPAN
+>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
-> has evolved from the
- <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Junkbuster 2.0.2</SPAN
-> code base, and has advanced
- significantly at this point.
+> 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
>
- Please see the <A
-HREF="copyright.html"
->History section</A
-> for more
- information on the history of <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Junkbuster</SPAN
-> and
- <SPAN
+ 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
><H3
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
-NAME="AEN42"
->1.2. Why <SPAN
+NAME="AEN85"
+>1.6. Why <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"Privoxy"</SPAN
->? Why a name change at all?</A
+>? Why change the name from
+Junkbuster at all?</A
></H3
><P
-> <SPAN
+> Though outdated, <A
+HREF="http://junkbusters.com/"
+TARGET="_top"
+>Junkbusters Corporation</A
+>
+ continues to offer their original version of the <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> is the
+>Internet
+ Junkbuster</SPAN
+>, so publishing our
<SPAN
-CLASS="QUOTE"
->"<I
-CLASS="EMPHASIS"
->Privacy Enhancing Proxy</I
->"</SPAN
->.</P
+CLASS="APPLICATION"
+> Junkbuster</SPAN
+>-derived software under the same name
+ led to confusion.</P
><P
-> There are potential legal complications from the continued use of the
+> 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"
+HREF="http://junkbusters.com/"
TARGET="_top"
>Junkbusters Corporation</A
>.
- And thus they <SPAN
-CLASS="QUOTE"
->"own"</SPAN
-> the rights to the name.
- (There are, however, no objections from Junkbusters Corporation to the
+ 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
+ share our ideals and goals.</P
><P
-> The developers also believed that there are so many changes from the original
+> 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, especially now with the pending
- release of version 3.0.</P
+ 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"
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="DIFFERS"
->1.3. How does <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> differ
-from the old <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Junkbuster?</SPAN
-></A
+>1.7. How does Privoxy differ
+from the old Junkbuster?</A
></H3
><P
-> <SPAN
+> <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
> picks up where
- <SPAN
+ <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Junkbuster</SPAN
-> left off. All the old features remain.
- The new <SPAN
+> left off.
+ 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.
+ 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
-> The configuration has changed significantly as well. This is something that
- users will notice right off the bat if you are upgrading from
- <SPAN
+> <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Junkbuster</SPAN
-> 2.0.x. The <SPAN
-CLASS="QUOTE"
->"blocklist"</SPAN
->
- file does not exist any more. This is replaced by <SPAN
-CLASS="QUOTE"
->"actions"</SPAN
->
- files, such as <TT
-CLASS="FILENAME"
->default.actions</TT
->. This is where most of
- the per site configuration is now.
- </P
-></DIV
-><DIV
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><H3
-CLASS="SECT2"
-><A
-NAME="FEATURES"
->1.4. What are some of the new features?</A
-></H3
+>Privoxy</SPAN
+>'s new features include:</P
><P
> <P
></P
><UL
><LI
><P
-> FIXME: complete the list of features. change the order: most important
- features to the top of the list. prefix new features with "NEW".
+> Supports "Connection: keep-alive". Outgoing connections can
+ be kept alive independently from the client.
</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.
+> Supports IPv6, provided the operating system does so too,
+ and the configure script detects it.
</P
></LI
><LI
><P
-> Blocking of annoying pop-up browser windows.
+> Supports tagging which allows to change the behaviour
+ based on client and server headers.
</P
></LI
><LI
><P
-> HTTP/1.1 compliant (but not all optional 1.1 features are supported).
+> Can be run as an "intercepting" proxy, which obviates the need to
+ configure browsers individually.
</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.
+> 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
-> GIF de-animation.
+> 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,
+> Web page filtering (text replacements, removes banners based on size,
invisible <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"web-bugs"</SPAN
->, JavaScript and HTML annoyances, pop-ups, etc.)
+> and HTML annoyances, etc.)
</P
></LI
><LI
><P
-> Bypass many click-tracking scripts (avoids script redirection).
+> 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
-> Multi-threaded (POSIX and native threads).
+> Support for Perl Compatible Regular Expressions in the configuration files, and
+ a more sophisticated and flexible configuration syntax.
</P
></LI
><LI
><P
-> Auto-detection and re-reading of config file changes.
+> GIF de-animation.
</P
></LI
><LI
><P
-> User-customizable HTML templates (e.g. 404 error page).
+> Bypass many click-tracking scripts (avoids script redirection).
</P
></LI
><LI
><P
-> Improved cookie management features (e.g. session based cookies).
+> User-customizable HTML templates for most proxy-generated pages (e.g. "blocked" page).
</P
></LI
><LI
><P
-> Improved signal handling, and a true daemon mode (Unix).
+> Auto-detection and re-reading of config file changes.
</P
></LI
><LI
><P
-> Every feature now controllable on a per-site or per-location basis, configuration
- more powerful and versatile over-all.
+> 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, and security holes fixed.
+> Many smaller new features added, limitations and bugs removed.
</P
></LI
></UL
><H3
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
-NAME="PROXYMORON"
->1.5. What is a <SPAN
-CLASS="QUOTE"
->"proxy"</SPAN
->? How does
-<SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> work?</A
+NAME="WHATSANAD"
+>1.8. How does Privoxy know what is
+an ad, and what is not?</A
></H3
><P
-> When you connect to a web site with <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
->,
- you are really connecting to your locally running version of
- <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
->. <SPAN
+> <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
->
- intercepts your requests for the web page, and relays that to the
- <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"
->"real"</SPAN
-> web site. The web site sends the HTTP data stream
- back to <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
->, where
- <SPAN
+>"banners"</SPAN
+>!)
+ and the host (blocking the big banner hosting services like doublecklick.net
+ already helps a lot). <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
-> can work its magic before it
- relays this data back to your web browser.
- </P
+> 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
-> Since <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> sits between you and the
- WWW, it is in a position to intercept and completely manage all web traffic and
- HTTP content before it gets to your browser.
- <SPAN
+> 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
-> uses various programming methods to do
- this, all of which is under your control via the various configuration
- files and options.
- </P
+>
+ 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
-> There are many kinds of proxies. <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> best
- fits the <SPAN
-CLASS="QUOTE"
->"filtering proxy"</SPAN
-> category.
- </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="AEN122"
->1.6. How does <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> know what is
-an ad, and what is not?</A
+NAME="AEN163"
+>1.9. Can Privoxy make mistakes?
+This does not sound very scientific.</A
></H3
><P
-> <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> 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. <SPAN
+> 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
-> makes heavy use of
+> 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="QUOTE"
->"regular expressions"</SPAN
->. (If you are not familiar with regular
- expressions, it is explained briefly in <A
-HREF="../user-manual/appendix.html"
-TARGET="_top"
->the user manual</A
->.) Regular
- expressions facilitate matching of one text string against another, using
- wildcards to build complex patterns. So <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
->
- will typically look for URLs and other content that match certain key words
- and expressions as defined in the configuration files. For instance a URL
- that contains <SPAN
-CLASS="QUOTE"
->"/banners"</SPAN
->, has a high probability of containing
- ad banners, and thus would be a prime candidate to have a matching rule.</P
+> (see the <A
+HREF="installation.html#FIRSTSTEP"
+>Installation section below</A
+>). </P
><P
-> So <SPAN
+> 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
-> will look for these kinds of obvious
- looking culprits. And also, will use lists of known organizations that
- specialize in ads. Again, using 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.</P
+> lies!</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H3
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
-NAME="AEN134"
->1.7. Can <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> make mistakes?
-This does not sound very scientific.</A
+NAME="LAN"
+>1.11. Can Privoxy run as a server on a network?</A
></H3
><P
-> Actually, it's a black art ;-) And yes, it is always possible to have a broad rule
- accidentally block 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
+>
+ Yes, <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#AEN555"
->See the Troubleshooting section below</A
->.)</P
+> 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"
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="BROWSERS2"
->1.8. My browser does the same things as
-<SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
->. Why should I use
-<SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> at all?</A
+>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 <I
+> Modern browsers do indeed have <SPAN
+CLASS="emphasis"
+><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>some</I
+></SPAN
> of the same
functionality as <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
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.
+> 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. This way all the configuration
- is in one place, and you don't have to maintain a similar configuration
- for possibly many browsers.
-
+ 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"
><A
NAME="LICENSE"
->1.9. Is there is a license or fee? What about a
+>1.14. Is there is a license or fee? What about a
warranty? Registration?</A
></H3
><P
> <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
-> is licensed under the GNU General Public
- License (GPL). It is free to use, copy, modify or distribute as you wish
- under the terms of this license. Please see the Copyright section for more
- information on the license and copyright.
-
- </P
+> 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 no warranty 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 <I
+> There is <SPAN
+CLASS="emphasis"
+><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
->free</I
->
- in every respect!
-
+>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
><H3
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
-NAME="JOINTEAM"
->1.10. I would like to help you, what do I do?</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="JOINTEAM-MONEY"
->1.10.1. Money Money Money</A
+NAME="PARTICIPATE"
+>1.17.1. Would you like to participate?</A
></H4
><P
-> 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.</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="JOINTEAM-WORK"
->1.10.2. You want to work with us?</A
+NAME="DONATE"
+>1.17.2. Would you like to donate?</A
></H4
><P
-> Well, helping the team is always a good idea. We welcome new developers,
- RPM gurus or documentation makers. Simply get an account on sourceforge.net
- and mail your id to the developer mailing list. Then read the
- section Quickstart in the <A
-HREF="../developer-manual/quickstart.html"
+> <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"
-> Developer's Manual</A
->.</P
+>Software
+ in the Public Interest (SPI)</A
+>, which allows us to receive tax-deductible
+ donations in most western countries.</P
><P
-> 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.</P
+> We intend to use the donations to pay for our domain after transfering
+ 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
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