X-Git-Url: http://www.privoxy.org/gitweb/?p=privoxy.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=doc%2Fsource%2Ffaq.sgml;h=d4b82509c7080c16148bef84747aff45350f0cd0;hp=eb54e65b36b0a8d8be1c2859dc67bdfcea4632f0;hb=ce8394362aab5c570a7ce14cd5a762e7c6dc9bf0;hpb=6158f9938c1593ac6ddab6b04b2d33db150e5531 diff --git a/doc/source/faq.sgml b/doc/source/faq.sgml index eb54e65b..d4b82509 100644 --- a/doc/source/faq.sgml +++ b/doc/source/faq.sgml @@ -26,9 +26,9 @@ This file belongs into ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/home/groups/i/ij/ijbswa/htdocs/ - $Id: faq.sgml,v 2.33 2007/11/15 03:30:20 hal9 Exp $ + $Id: faq.sgml,v 2.34 2007/11/19 02:38:11 hal9 Exp $ - Copyright (C) 2001-2007 Privoxy Developers http://privoxy.org + Copyright (C) 2001-2007 Privoxy Developers http://www.privoxy.org/ See LICENSE. Based partially on the Internet Junkbuster FAQ originally written by and @@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ -$Id: faq.sgml,v 2.33 2007/11/15 03:30:20 hal9 Exp $ +$Id: faq.sgml,v 2.34 2007/11/19 02:38:11 hal9 Exp $ General Information -Who should use Privoxy? +Who should give &my-app; a try? - Anyone that is interested in security, privacy, or in + Anyone who is interested in security, privacy, or in finer-grained control over their web and Internet experience. - Everyone is encouraged to try &my-app;. @@ -161,15 +160,16 @@ Hal. me? &my-app; is certainly a good choice, especially for those who want more - control and security. Those that have the ability to fine-tune their installation - will benefit the most. One of Privoxy's - strength's is that it is highly configurable giving you the ability to + control and security. Those with the willingness to read the documentation + and the ability to fine-tune their installation will benefit the most. + + + One of Privoxy's + 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 HTTP and other networking - protocols, HTML, - IP (Internet - Protocol), and + protocols, HTML, and Regular Expressions will be a big plus and will help you get the most out of &my-app;. @@ -183,7 +183,9 @@ me? with a Web browser. But there are areas where configuration is done using a text editor - to edit configuration files. + 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 &my-app; listening port can be trusted. @@ -275,8 +277,8 @@ from the old Junkbuster? The new Privoxy still blocks ads and banners, still manages cookies, and still - helps protect your privacy. But, these have all been greatly enhanced, and many, - many new features have been added, all in the same vein. + helps protect your privacy. But, most of these features have been enhanced, + and many new ones have been added, all in the same vein. Privoxy's new features include: @@ -342,10 +344,11 @@ This does not sound very scientific. Will I have to configure Privoxy before I can use it? - No, not really. The default installation should give you a good starting - point, and block most ads and unwanted content. Many of - the more advanced features are off by default, and would require you to - activate them. + That depends on your expectations. + The default installation should give you a good starting + point, and block most ads and unwanted content, + but many of the more advanced features are off by default, and require + you to activate them. You do have to set up your browser to use @@ -356,7 +359,7 @@ This does not sound very scientific. 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 Privoxy's - configuration to more closely match your individual situation. And we would + configuration to more closely match your individual situation. And we encourage you to do this. This is where the real power of Privoxy lies! @@ -377,8 +380,9 @@ Privoxy. Why should I use Privoxy at all? Modern browsers do indeed have some of the same functionality as Privoxy. Maybe this is - adequate for you. But Privoxy is much more - versatile and powerful, and can do a number of things that browsers just can't. + adequate for you. But Privoxy is very + versatile and powerful, and can probably do a number of things + your browser just can't. In addition, a proxy is good choice if you use multiple browsers, or @@ -387,6 +391,13 @@ Privoxy. Why should I use Privoxy at all? have to maintain a similar configuration for possibly many browsers or users. + + Note, however, that it's recommended to leverage both your browser's + and Privoxy's privacy enhancing features + at the same time. While your browser probably lacks some features + &my-app; offers, it should also be able to do some things more + reliable, for example restricting and suppressing JavaScript. + Why should I trust Privoxy? @@ -406,7 +417,7 @@ Privoxy. Why should I use Privoxy at all? Is there is a license or fee? What about a warranty? Registration? - Privoxy is licensed under the Privoxy is free software and licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2. 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 @@ -416,8 +427,6 @@ warranty? Registration? There is no warranty of any kind, expressed, implied or otherwise. That is something that would cost real money ;-) There is no registration either. - Privoxy really is free - in every respect! @@ -432,7 +441,10 @@ warranty? Registration? &my-app; could help prevent contact from (known) sites that use such tactics with appropriate configuration rules, and thus could conceivably - prevent contamination from such sites. + 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. @@ -445,9 +457,12 @@ warranty? Registration? But it is probably not necessary to use &my-app; in conjunction with other ad-blocking products, and this could conceivably cause undesirable results. - It would be better to choose one software or the other and work a little to + It might be better to choose one software or the other and work a little to tweak its configuration to your liking. + + Note that this is an advice specific to ad blocking. + I would like to help you, what can I do? @@ -471,6 +486,11 @@ warranty? Registration? url="../developer-manual/index.html">Developer's Manual, at least the pertinent sections. + + You can also start helping out without SourceForge.net account, + simply by showing up on the mailing list, helping out other users, + providing general feedback or reporting problems you noticed. + Contribute! @@ -479,7 +499,8 @@ warranty? Registration? buying software to test Privoxy with, and, of course, for regular world-wide get-togethers (hahaha). If you enjoy the software and feel like helping us with a donation, just drop us a note. + url="mailto: ijbswa-developers@lists.sourceforge.net">drop us a note + and get your name on the list of contributors. @@ -571,12 +592,15 @@ Include supported.sgml here: special I have to do now? - All browsers must be told to use Privoxy + All browsers should be told to use Privoxy as a proxy by specifying the correct proxy address and port number - in the appropriate configuration area for the browser. See + in the appropriate configuration area for the browser. It's possible + to combine &my-app; with a packet filter to intercept HTTP requests + even if the client isn't explicitly configured to use &my-app;, + but where possible, configuring the client is recommended. See the User Manual for more - details. You should also flush your browser's memory and disk cache to get rid of any - cached junk items, and remove any stored + details. You should also flush your browser's memory and disk + cache to get rid of any cached junk items, and remove any stored cookies. @@ -590,9 +614,10 @@ special I have to do now? networked computer on a LAN), the proxy will be on 127.0.0.1 (sometimes referred to as localhost, which is the special name used by every computer on the Internet to refer - to itself) and the port will be 8118 (unless you have Privoxy - to run on a different port with the listen-address config option). + to itself) and the port will be 8118 (unless you used the listen-address + config option to tell Privoxy to run on + a different port). When configuring your browser's proxy settings you typically enter @@ -613,8 +638,7 @@ special I have to do now? Privoxy does not currently handle - any other protocols such as FTP, SMTP, IM, IRC, ICQ, etc. Be sure that - proxying any of these other protocols is not activated. + any other protocols such as FTP, SMTP, IM, IRC, ICQ, etc. @@ -677,11 +701,11 @@ Privoxy is running and being used. Advanced --> Cache and then click both Clear Memory Cache and Clear Disk Cache. - And, Firefox users would click + In some Firefox versions it's Tools --> Options --> Privacy --> Cache and then click Clear Cache Now. - + @@ -804,7 +828,8 @@ the differences? The syntax and purpose of configuration files has remained roughly the same throughout the 3.x series, but backwards compatibility is not guaranteed. Also each release contains updated, improved versions and it is - therefore strongly recommended to use the newer configuration files. + therefore strongly recommended to install the newer configuration files + and merge back your modifications. @@ -913,17 +938,16 @@ with a browser? Does that not raise security issues? If you run Privoxy for multiple untrusted users (e.g. in - a LAN), you will probably want to make sure that the the web-based - editor and remote toggle features are off by setting off by setting enable-edit-actions 0 and enable-remote-toggle 0 in the main configuration file. - Note that in the default configuration, only local users (i.e. those on - localhost) can connect to Privoxy, - so this is (normally) not a security problem. + As of &my-app; 3.0.7 these options are disabled by default. @@ -932,17 +956,24 @@ with a browser? Does that not raise security issues? What is the <filename>default.filter</filename> file? What is a <quote>filter</quote>? The default.filter - file is where filters as supplied by the developers are defined. + file is where filters as supplied by the developers are defined. Filters are a special subset of actions that can be used to modify or - remove, web page content on the fly. Filters apply to anything - in the page source (and optionally both client and server headers), including - HTML tags, and JavaScript. Regular expressions are used to accomplish this. + remove web page content or headers on the fly. Content filters can + be applied to anything in the page source, + header filters can be applied to either server or client headers. + Regular expressions are used to accomplish this. + + There are a number of pre-defined filters to deal with common annoyances. The filters are only defined here, to invoke them, you need to use the filter - action in one of the actions files. Filtering is automatically - disabled for inappropriate MIME types. Filters should + action in one of the actions files. Content filtering is automatically + disabled for inappropriate MIME types, but if you now better than Privoxy + what should or should not be filtered you can filter any content you like. + + + Filters should not be confused with blocks, which is a completely different action, and is more typically used to block ads and @@ -966,12 +997,16 @@ with a browser? Does that not raise security issues? There is no GUI editor option for this part of the configuration, but you can disable/enable the various pre-defined filters of the included default.filter file with the web-based actions file editor - Note - that the custom actions editor must be explicitly enabled in the main config file - (see web-based actions file editor. + Note that the custom actions editor must be explicitly enabled in + the main config file (see enable-edit-actions). + + + If you intend to develop your own filters, you might want to have a look at + Privoxy-Filter-Test. @@ -1174,14 +1209,14 @@ and thus avoid individual browser configuration? As the Host header is required by HTTP/1.1 and as most - web sites don't work if it isn't set, this limitation shouldn't be a - problem. + web sites rely on it anyway, this limitation shouldn't be a problem. Please refer to your packet filter's documentation to learn how to - intercept and redirect traffic into Privoxy. Afterward you just have - to configure Privoxy to - accept intercepted requests. + intercept and redirect traffic into Privoxy. + Afterward you just have to configure Privoxy to + accept + intercepted requests. @@ -1334,18 +1369,18 @@ and thus avoid individual browser configuration? then subsequently allowing three specific exceptions. - A more interesting approach is Privoxy's + Another approach is Privoxy's trustfile concept, which incorporates the notion of trusted referrers. See the User Manual Trust - documentation. + url="../user-manual/config.html#TRUSTFILE">Trust documentation + for details. These are fairly simple approaches and are not completely foolproof. There are various other configuration options that should be disabled (described elsewhere here and in the User Manual) so that users can't modify their own configuration and easily circumvent the - whitelist. + whitelist. @@ -1406,10 +1441,13 @@ and thus avoid individual browser configuration? &my-app; for various purposes and can easily be modified using any text editor. All the template pages are installed in a sub-directory appropriately named: templates. Knowing something about HTML syntax - will of course be helpful. Be forewarned that the default templates are - subject to being overwritten during upgrades. You can, however, create - completely new templates by specifying an alternate path for them in the main - config, see the + + Be forewarned that the default templates are subject to being overwritten + during upgrades. You can, however, create completely new templates, + place them in another directory and specify the alternate path in the main + config. For details, have a look at the templdir option. @@ -1418,12 +1456,12 @@ and thus avoid individual browser configuration? How can I remove the <quote>Go There Anyway</quote> link from the <emphasis>BLOCKED</emphasis> page? - There is more than one way to do it. + There is more than one way to do it (although Perl is not involved). Editing the BLOCKED template page (see above) may dissuade some users, but this method is easily circumvented. Where you need this level of control, you - should build &my-app; from source, and enable various features that are + might want to build &my-app; from source, and disable various features that are available as compile-time options. You should configure the sources as follows: @@ -1437,7 +1475,7 @@ the BLOCKED page? current configuration via any connected user's web browser. - Note that all of these features can also be toggled on/off via options in + Finally, all of these features can also be toggled on/off via options in Privoxy's main config file which means you don't have to recompile anything. @@ -1477,17 +1515,17 @@ has to add extra time to browsing. deanimate-gifs actions may cause a perceived slowdown, since the entire document - needs to be buffered before displaying. And on very large documents, filtering may have - some measurable impact. How much depends on the page size, the actual - definition of the filter(s), etc. See below. Most other actions have little - to no impact on speed. + needs to be buffered before displaying. And on very large documents, + filtering may have some measurable impact. How much depends on the page size, + the actual definition of the filter(s), etc. See below. Most other actions + have little to no impact on speed. Also, when filtering is enabled but zlib support isn't available, compression is often disabled (see prevent-compression). - This can have an impact on speed as well. Again, the page size, etc. will - determine how much of an impact. + This can have an impact on speed as well, although it's probably smaller than + you might think. Again, the page size, etc. will determine how much of an impact. @@ -1617,9 +1655,9 @@ us help you. Your efforts are not wasted, and we do appreciate them. on (those suspicious) people with a more than average preference for privacy. - Your best bet is to chain Privoxy - with Tor, - an EFF supported onion routing system. + If you want to hide your IP address from most adversaries, + you should consider chaining Privoxy + with Tor. The configuration details can be found in How do I use Privoxy together with Tor section @@ -1630,10 +1668,10 @@ us help you. Your efforts are not wasted, and we do appreciate them. Can Privoxy guarantee I am anonymous? - No. Your chances of remaining anonymous are greatly improved, but unless you + No. Your chances of remaining anonymous are improved, but unless you chain Privoxy with Tor - or a similar system and know what you're doing when it comes to configuring - the rest of your system, it would be safest to assume that everything you do + or a similar proxy and know what you're doing when it comes to configuring + the rest of your system, you should assume that everything you do on the Web can be traced back to you. @@ -1771,7 +1809,8 @@ us help you. Your efforts are not wasted, and we do appreciate them. Afterward, please take the time to at least skim through the rest of Tor's documentation. Make sure you understand what Tor does, why it is no replacement for - application level security, and why you shouldn't use it for unencrypted logins. + application level security, and why you probably don't want to + use it for unencrypted logins. ]]> @@ -1793,7 +1832,7 @@ content is being altered? - Also, different browsers use different encodings of Russian and Czech + Also, different browsers use different encodings of non-English characters, certain web servers convert pages on-the-fly according to the User Agent header. Giving a User Agent with the wrong operating system or browser manufacturer causes some sites in these languages @@ -1803,7 +1842,7 @@ content is being altered? weather maps of Intellicast have been blocked by their server when no Referer or cookie is provided, is another example. (But you can forge both headers without giving information away). There are - many other ways things that can go wrong when trying to fool a web server. The + many other ways things can go wrong when trying to fool a web server. The results of which could inadvertently cause pages to load incorrectly, partially, or even not at all. And there may be no obvious clues as to just what went wrong, or why. Nowhere will there be a message that says @@ -1937,11 +1976,17 @@ secure is it? Do I need to take any special precautions? -How can I temporarily disable Privoxy? +Can I temporarily disable Privoxy? - The easiest way is to access Privoxy with your - browser by using the remote toggle URL: + + The easiest way to do that is to point your browser + to the remote toggle URL: http://config.privoxy.org/toggle. + + See the Bookmarklets section of the User Manual for an easy way to access this feature. Note that this is a feature that may need to be enabled in the main @@ -1955,8 +2000,8 @@ secure is it? Do I need to take any special precautions? out of the picture? No, this just means all optional filtering and actions are disabled. - Privoxy is still acting as a proxy, but just not - doing any of the things that Privoxy would + Privoxy is still acting as a proxy, but just + doing less of the things that Privoxy would normally be expected to do. It is still a middle-man in the interaction between your browser and web sites. See below to bypass the proxy. @@ -2118,7 +2163,7 @@ and related issues? is clearly labeled Text replacements for subversive browsing fun! or you are using an older Privoxy version and have implicitly activated it by choosing the Adventuresome profile in the - web-based editor. Please upgrade! + web-based editor. Please upgrade. @@ -2625,9 +2670,11 @@ Why? whatever the outcome was. And tries to give a coherent message if there seems to be a problem. In some cases, this might otherwise be mitigated by the browser itself which might try some work-arounds and alternate approaches (e.g - adding www. to the URL). In other cases, if - Privoxy is being chained with another proxy, this - could complicate the issue, and cause undue + adding www. to the URL). + + + In other cases, if Privoxy is being chained + with another proxy, this could complicate the issue, and cause undue delays and timeouts. In the case of a socks4a proxy, the socks server handles all the DNS. Privoxy would just be the messenger which is reporting whatever problem occurred @@ -2635,7 +2682,7 @@ Why? - In any case, newer versions include various improvements to help + In any case, versions newer than 3.0.3 include various improvements to help Privoxy better handle these cases. ]]> @@ -2761,6 +2808,9 @@ browsing has slowed to a crawl. What gives? 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA $Log: faq.sgml,v $ +Revision 2.34 2007/11/19 02:38:11 hal9 +Minor revisions and rebuild + Revision 2.33 2007/11/15 03:30:20 hal9 Results of spell check.