X-Git-Url: http://www.privoxy.org/gitweb/?p=privoxy.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=doc%2Fsource%2Ffaq.sgml;h=b566aa96f3b3b3ac2f2eaac6097ab9336c53f213;hp=4823b2a0453cee9d47f5af9fff2ff9adb5d5e6c9;hb=692d7f4b0177fd97ff221ee3982155a50f68263c;hpb=c4bfb7924faad4ebc1eebe72ee6dfa1863f0459d diff --git a/doc/source/faq.sgml b/doc/source/faq.sgml index 4823b2a0..b566aa96 100644 --- a/doc/source/faq.sgml +++ b/doc/source/faq.sgml @@ -4,6 +4,16 @@ + + + + + + + + + + ]> -
+
Privoxy Frequently Asked Questions -$Id: faq.sgml,v 1.37 2002/04/01 16:24:07 hal9 Exp $ +$Id: faq.sgml,v 1.45 2002/04/08 22:59:26 hal9 Exp $ @@ -57,20 +82,18 @@ ]]> This FAQ gives users and developers alike answers to frequently asked - questions about Privoxy. + questions about Privoxy + . - + &p-intro; + You can find the latest version of the document at http://www.privoxy.org/faq/. - Please see the Contact section in the user-manual if - you want to contact the developers. + Please see the Contact section if you want to contact the developers. @@ -79,10 +102,8 @@ - - - + @@ -90,27 +111,27 @@ -1. General Information +General Information -What is this new version of <application>Privoxy</application>? +What is this new version of <application>Privoxy</application>? - The original Internet Junkbuster (tm) is a - copyrighted product of Junkbusters - Corporation. Development of this effort stopped some time ago as of - version 2.0.2. Stefan Waldherr started the ijbswa project on Sourceforge to rekindle - development. Other developers subsequently joined with Stefan, and have - since added many new features, refinements and enhancements. The result + The original Internet + Junkbuster (tm) is a copyrighted product of Junkbusters Corporation. + Development of this effort stopped some time ago as of version 2.0.2. Stefan + Waldherr started the ijbswa project on Sourceforge to + rekindle development. Other developers subsequently joined with Stefan, and + have since added many new features, refinements and enhancements. The result of this effort is Privoxy. - Privoxy started with the - Junkbuster 2.0.2 code base, but has advanced + Privoxy has evolved from the + Junkbuster 2.0.2 code base, and has advanced significantly at this point. - Please see the user-manual for more + Please see the History section for more information on the history of Junkbuster and Privoxy. @@ -118,32 +139,32 @@ - + Why <quote>Privoxy</quote>? Why a name change at all? Privoxy is the Privacy Enhancing Proxy. - There are possible legal complications from the continued use of the - Junkbuster name, which is a trademark of + There are potential legal complications from the continued use of the + Junkbuster name, which is a registered trademark of Junkbusters Corporation. + And thus they own the rights to the name. (There are, however, no objections from Junkbusters Corporation to the Privoxy project itself, and they, in fact, still share our ideals and goals.) - The developers also believed that there so many changes from the original + 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. - + a name in their own right. -How does <application>Privoxy</application> differ +<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="differs"><title>How does <application>Privoxy</application> differ from the old <application>Junkbuster?</application> Privoxy picks up where @@ -154,23 +175,22 @@ from the old Junkbuster? The configuration has changed significantly as well. This is something that - users will notice right off the bat. The blocklist file does - not exist any more. This is replaced by actions files, such - as default.actions. This is where most of the per site - configuration is now. - + users will notice right off the bat if you are upgrading from + Junkbuster 2.0.x. The blocklist + file does not exist any more. This is replaced by actions + files, such as default.actions. This is where most of + the per site configuration is now. -What are some of the new features? - -&newfeatures; +What are some of the new features? + + &newfeatures; + -What is a <quote>proxy</quote>? How does +<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="proxymoron"><title>What is a <quote>proxy</quote>? How does <application>Privoxy</application> work? When you connect to a web site with Privoxy, @@ -200,7 +220,7 @@ Include newfeatures.sgml - + How does <application>Privoxy</application> know what is an ad, and what is not? @@ -227,7 +247,7 @@ an ad, and what is not? - + Can <application>Privoxy</application> make mistakes? This does not sound very scientific. @@ -242,13 +262,13 @@ This does not sound very scientific. Privoxy 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. - (See the appendix below.) + (See the Troubleshooting section below.) -My browser does the same things as +<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="browsers2"><title>My browser does the same things as <application>Privoxy</application>. Why should I use <application>Privoxy</application> at all? @@ -268,15 +288,13 @@ This does not sound very scientific. -Is there is a license or fee? What about a +<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="license"><title>Is there is a license or fee? What about a warranty? Registration? - Privoxy 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 -user-manual for - more information on the license and copyright. + Privoxy 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. @@ -289,9 +307,9 @@ warranty? Registration? -I would like to help you, what do I do? +I would like to help you, what do I do? -Money Money Money +Money Money Money We, of course, welcome donations and use the money for domain registering, regular world-wide get-togethers (hahaha). Anyway, we'll soon describe the @@ -299,12 +317,12 @@ warranty? Registration? -You want to work with us? +You want to work with us? 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 + section Quickstart in the Developer's Manual. @@ -320,9 +338,9 @@ warranty? Registration? -2. Installation +Installation - + Which browsers are supported by <application>Privoxy</application>? Any browser that can be configured to use a proxy, which @@ -333,7 +351,7 @@ warranty? Registration? - + Which operating systems are supported? -3. Configuration +Configuration -Can I use my old config files? +Can I use my old config files? - There are major changes to Junkbuster, - Privoxy, configuration from version 2.0.x to + There are major changes to Junkbuster/ + Privoxy configuration from version 2.0.x to 2.9.x and later. Most of the older files will not work at all. This is especially true of blocklist. If this is the case, you will need to re-enter your old data into the new configuration structure. @@ -448,7 +465,7 @@ All the ads are there. What's wrong? - + What is an <quote>actions</quote> file? @@ -477,8 +494,8 @@ All the ads are there. What's wrong? - -The <quote>actions</quote>concept confuses me. Please list +<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="actionss"> +<title>The <quote>actions</quote> concept confuses me. Please list some of these <quote>actions</quote>. These are all explained in the @@ -488,7 +505,7 @@ some of these actions. - + How are actions files configured? What is the easiest way to do this? @@ -514,26 +531,26 @@ way to do this? - What are the differences between +<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="configfiles"> <title>What are the differences between intermediate.action, basic.action, etc.? Configuring Privoxy is not easy. To help you get @@ -680,33 +697,34 @@ following table shows you, which features are enabled in each configuration. - Why can I change the configuration with a +<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="browseconfig"> <title>Why can I change the configuration with a browser? Does that not raise security issues? What I don't understand, is how I can browser edit the config file as a -regular user, while the whole /etc/privoxy hierarchy belongs to the user -"privoxy", with only 644 perms. +regular user, while the whole /etc/privoxy hierarchy +belongs to the user privoxy, with only 644 permissions. When you use the browser-based editor, Privoxy itself is writing to the config files. Because -Privoxy is running as the user "privoxy", it can +Privoxy is running as the user privoxy, it can update the config files. -If you don't like this, setting "enable-edit-actions 0" in the config file -will disable the browser-based editor. If you're that paranoid, you should -also consider setting "enable-remote-toggle 0" to prevent browser-based -enabling/disabling of Privoxy. +If you don't like this, setting enable-edit-actions 0 in the +config file will disable the browser-based editor. If you're that paranoid, +you should also consider setting enable-remote-toggle 0 to prevent +browser-based enabling/disabling of Privoxy. -Note that normally only local users can connect to Privoxy, so this is not -(normally) a security problem. +Note that normally only local users can connect to +Privoxy, so this is not (normally) a security +problem. - + What is <quote>default.filter</quote>? The default.filter file is used to filter any @@ -731,7 +749,7 @@ Note that normally only local users can connect to Privoxy - + How can I set up <application>Privoxy</application> to act as a proxy for my LAN? @@ -758,7 +776,7 @@ Note that normally only local users can connect to Privoxy - + Instead of ads, now I get a checkerboard pattern. I don't want to see anything. This is a configuration option for images that @@ -783,7 +801,7 @@ Note that normally only local users can connect to Privoxy - + Why would anybody want to see a checkerboard pattern? This can be helpful for troubleshooting problems. It might also be good @@ -795,7 +813,7 @@ Note that normally only local users can connect to Privoxy - + I see large red banners on some pages that say <quote>Blocked</quote>. Why and how do I get rid of this? @@ -848,7 +866,7 @@ Note that normally only local users can connect to Privoxy - + I cannot see all of the <quote>Blocked</quote> page banner. All I see is a bright red square. @@ -859,7 +877,26 @@ see is a bright red square. - + +Can <application>Privoxy</application> run as a service +on Win2K/NT? + + Yes, it can run as a system service using srvany.exe. + The only catch is that this will effectively disable the + Privoxy icon in the taskbar. You can have + one or the other, but not both at this time :( + + + There is a pending feature request for this functionality. See + thread: http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=361118&aid=485617&group_id=11118, + for details, and a sample configuration. + + + + + + How can I make <application>Privoxy</application> work with other proxies like <application>Squid</application>? @@ -875,9 +912,9 @@ proxies like Squid? -4. Miscellaneous +Miscellaneous - + How much does <application>Privoxy</application> slow my browsing down? This has to add extra time to browsing. @@ -899,7 +936,7 @@ has to add extra time to browsing. -I noticed considerable +<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="loadingtimes"><title>I noticed considerable delays in page requests compared to the old Junkbuster. What's wrong? Using the default filtering configuration, I noticed considerable delays in @@ -921,79 +958,81 @@ entire page first, do its content magic and then send the page to the browser. -What is the "http://p.p/"? +What is the "http://p.p/"? Since Privoxy sits between your web browser and the Internet, it can be programmed to handle certain pages specially. -With recent versions of Privoxy (version 2.9.x), you can get some -information about Privoxy and change some settings by going to -http://p.p/ or, equivalently, http://config.privoxy.org/ -(Note that p.p is far easier to type but may not work in some -configurations. With the name change to Privoxy, -this is changed from the previous http://i.j.b/ or earlier 2.9.x versions). + With recent versions of Privoxy (version 2.9.x and + greater), you can get some information about + Privoxy and change some settings by going to + http://p.p/ or, equivalently, http://config.privoxy.org/ (Note + that p.p is far easier to type but may not work in some configurations. With + the name change to Privoxy, this is changed from + the previous http://i.j.b/ and earlier 2.9.x versions). -These pages are not forwarded to a server on the Internet -- instead they are handled by a special web server which is built in to -Privoxy. + These pages are not forwarded to a server on the + Internet - instead they are handled by a special web server which is built in to + Privoxy. -If you are not running Privoxy, then http://p.p/ will fail, and http://config.privoxy.org/ will -return a web page telling you you're not running -Privoxy. + If you are not running Privoxy, then http://p.p/ will fail, and http://config.privoxy.org/ will + return a web page telling you you're not running + Privoxy. -If you have version 2.0.2, then the equivalent is -http://example.com/show-proxy-args (but you get far less information, and you -should really consider upgrading to 2.9.x). + If you have version 2.0.2, then the equivalent is + http://example.com/show-proxy-args (but you get far less information, and + you should really consider upgrading to &p-version;). -Do you still maintain the blocklists? +Do you still maintain the blocklists? - No. The format of the blocklists has changed significantly in the versions - 2.9.x. Once we have released the new stable version, v3.0, there will - again be blocklists that you can update automatically. + No, not by this name. The format of the blocklists has changed + significantly in versions 2.9.x and later. This functionality + is done by the actions file now. See next question ... -How can I submit new ads? +How can I submit new ads? + + Beginning with Privoxy v2.9.14, missed ads and + banners and other actions file problems, can be submitted by accessing + actions file feedback system + from http://p.p/ + There will soon be an easy way to update your actions file as well. + - As of now, please discontinue to submit new ad blocking infos. Once we - have released the new version, there will again be a form on the website, - which you can use to contribute new ads. + This does not work with earlier versions of Privoxy + or Junkbuster. -How can I hide my IP address? +How can I hide my IP address? You cannot hide your IP address with Privoxy or any other software, since -the server needs to know your IP address to send the answer to you. +the server needs to know your IP address to send the answers back to you. Fortunately there are many publicly usable anonymous proxies out there, which @@ -1014,7 +1053,7 @@ more through Google. - + @@ -1022,7 +1061,7 @@ more through Google. - + Can <application>Privoxy</application> guarantee I am anonymous? No. Your chances of remaining anonymous are greatly improved, but unless you @@ -1032,8 +1071,8 @@ more through Google. Privoxy can remove various information about you, and allows you more freedom to decide which sites - you can trust. But it's still possible that web sites can find out who you - are. Here's one way this can happen. + you can trust, and what details you want to reveal. But it's still possible + that web sites can find out who you are. Here's one way this can happen. A few browsers disclose the user's email address in certain situations, such @@ -1053,7 +1092,7 @@ more through Google. - + Might some things break because header information is being altered? @@ -1087,13 +1126,12 @@ being altered? If you have problems with a site, you will have to adjust your configuration accordingly. Cookies are probably the most likely adjustment that may be required, but by no means the only one. - - + Can <application>Privoxy</application> act as a <quote>caching</quote> proxy to speed up web browsing? @@ -1104,7 +1142,7 @@ speed up web browsing? - + What about as a firewall? Can <application>Privoxy</application> protect me? Not in the way you mean, or in the way a true firewall can, or a proxy that @@ -1114,7 +1152,7 @@ speed up web browsing? - + @@ -1134,7 +1172,7 @@ Given the above problem, we have decided to remove the logo option entirely - + I have large empty spaces now where ads used to be. Why? @@ -1147,7 +1185,7 @@ Why? - + How can <application>Privoxy</application> filter Secure (HTTPS) URLs? This is a limitation since HTTPS transactions are encrypted SSL sessions @@ -1163,7 +1201,7 @@ Why? - + <application>Privoxy</application> runs as a <quote>server</quote>. How secure is it? Do I need to take any special precautions? @@ -1186,7 +1224,7 @@ secure is it? Do I need to take any special precautions? - + How can I temporarily disable <application>Privoxy</application>? The easiest way is to access Privoxy with your @@ -1196,15 +1234,12 @@ secure is it? Do I need to take any special precautions? - + Where can I find more information about <application>Privoxy</application> and related issues? - - - + &seealso; + - -5. Troubleshooting + +Troubleshooting - + I just upgraded and am getting <quote>connection refused</quote> with every web page? @@ -1245,7 +1280,7 @@ with every web page? - + I just added a new rule, but the steenkin ad is still getting through. How? @@ -1265,7 +1300,7 @@ still getting through. How? - + One of my favorite sites does not work with <application>Privoxy</application>. What can I do? @@ -1284,13 +1319,16 @@ What can I do? being applied to the URL. Now, armed with this information, go to Edit the actions list. Here you should see various sections that have various Privoxy features disabled for specific - sites. Disabled actions will have a - (minus - sign) in front of them. Add your problem page URL to one of these sections - that looks like it is disabling the feature that is causing the - problem. Re-try the page. There might be some trial and error involved. This - is discussed in a little more detail in the - user-manual - appendix. + sites. Most disabled actions will have a - (minus + sign) in front of them. Some aliases are used just to disable other actions, + e.g. shop and fragile, and won't necessarily + use a + or - sign. Add your problem page + URL to one of these sections that looks like it is disabling the feature that + is causing the problem. Rember to flush your browser's caches when making + such changes! As a last resort, try fragile which + disables most actions. Now re-try the page. There might be some trial and + error involved. This is discussed in a little more detail in the user-manual appendix. @@ -1301,7 +1339,7 @@ What can I do? - + Where can I get help? Report bugs? Feature Requests? Etc? Feedback is encouraged, whether good, bad or ugly. Please see the contact @@ -1312,7 +1350,7 @@ What can I do? - + What time is it? Time for you to go! @@ -1334,18 +1372,43 @@ FIXME: Commented out until we have something to put here. HB 03/18/02. --> - - + Contacting the developers, Bug Reporting and Feature Requests + + &contacting; + + + + + Copyright and History + +Copyright + + ©right; + + -This is referenced in the doc header already. HB 03/25/02 +History + + &history; + + -Contact the developers -Please see the user manual for information on how to contact the developers. - + + + + + + + + -