Introduction
Privoxy is a web proxy with advanced filtering - capabilities for protecting privacy, filtering web page content, managing - cookies, controlling access, and removing ads, banners, pop-ups and other - obnoxious Internet junk. Privoxy has a very - flexible configuration and can be customized to suit individual needs and - tastes. Privoxy has application for both - stand-alone systems and multi-user networks.
Privoxy is based on Internet - Junkbuster (tm).
Support and Service via Sourceforge
We value your feedback. In fact, we rely on it to improve - Privoxy and its configuration. - However, please note the following hints, so we can - provide you with the best support:
Get Support
For casual users, our support forum at - SourceForge - is probably best suited: - http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=211118
All users are of course welcome to discuss their issues on the users - mailing list, where the developers also hang around.
Report Bugs
Please report all bugs only through our - bug tracker: - http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=111118.
Before doing so, please make sure that the bug has not already been submitted - and observe the aditional hints at the top of the submit - form.
- Please try to verify that it is a Privoxy bug, - and not a browser or site bug first. If unsure, - try toggling - off Privoxy, and see if the problem persists. - The appendix - of the user manual also has helpful information - on action debugging. If you are using your own custom configuration, please try - the stock configs to see if the problem is configuration related.
If not using the latest version, chances are that the bug has been found - and fixed in the meantime. We would appreciate if you could take the time - to upgrade - to the latest version (or even the latest CVS snapshot) and verify - your bug, but this is not required for reporting.
Request New Features
You are welcome to submit ideas on new features or other proposals - for improvement through our feature request tracker at - http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=361118&group_id=11118.
Report Ads or Other Actions-Related Problems
Please send feedback on ads that slipped through, innocent images that were blocked, - and any other problems relating to the default.action file through - our actions feedback mechanism located at - http://www.privoxy.org/actions/. - On this page, you will also find a bookmark which will take you back there from - any troubled site and even pre-fill the form!
New, improved default.action files will occasionally be made - available based on your feedback. These will be announced on the ijbswa-announce - list and available from our project page.
Other
For any other issues, feel free to use the mailing lists. Technically interested users -and people who wish to contribute to the project are also welcome on the developers list! -You can find an overview of all Prixoxy-related mailing lists, -including list archives, at: -http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=11118.
License
Copyright © 2001, 2002 by Privoxy Developers <developers@privoxy.org>
Some source code is based on code Copyright © 1997 by Anonymous Coders - and Junkbusters, Inc. and licensed under the GNU General Public - License.
Privoxy is free software; you can - redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the - GNU General Public - License, version 2, as published by the Free Software Foundation.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT - ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or - FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the - GNU General Public License for - - more details, which is available from the Free Software Foundation, Inc, 59 - Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License - along with this program; if not, write to the
Free Software
- Foundation, Inc. 59 Temple Place - Suite 330
- Boston, MA 02111-1307
- USA
History
In the beginning, there was the - Internet Junkbuster, - by Anonymous Coders and Junkbusters - Corporation. It saved many users a lot of pain in the early days of - web advertising and user tracking.
But the web, its protocols and standards, and with it, the techniques for - forcing users to consume ads, give up autonomy over their browsing, and - for spying on them, kept evolving. Unfortunately, the Internet - Junkbuster did not. Version 2.0.2, published in 1998, was - (and is) the last official - release - available from Junkbusters Corporation. - Fortunately, it had been released under the GNU - GPL, which allowed further - development by others.
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.
Then, some - developers - picked up the thread, and started turning the software inside out, upside down, - and then reassembled it, adding many - new - features along the way.
The result of this is Privoxy, whose first - stable release, 3.0, is due in May 2002.