1 /*********************************************************************
3 * File : $Source: /cvsroot/ijbswa/current/README,v $
5 * Purpose : README file to give a short intro.
7 * Copyright : Written by and Copyright (C) 2001-2010 the
8 * Privoxy team. http://www.privoxy.org/
10 * Based on the Internet Junkbuster originally written
11 * by and Copyright (C) 1997 Anonymous Coders and
12 * Junkbusters Corporation. http://www.junkbusters.com
14 * This program is free software; you can redistribute it
15 * and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General
16 * Public License as published by the Free Software
17 * Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at
18 * your option) any later version.
20 * This program is distributed in the hope that it will
21 * be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the
22 * implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
23 * PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public
24 * License for more details.
26 * The GNU General Public License should be included with
27 * this file. If not, you can view it at
28 * http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
29 * or write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
30 * 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301,
33 *********************************************************************/
35 This README is included with Privoxy 3.0.16. See http://www.privoxy.org/ for
36 more information. The current code maturity level is "stable".
38 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
40 Privoxy is a non-caching web proxy with advanced filtering capabilities for
41 enhancing privacy, modifying web page data and HTTP headers, controlling
42 access, and removing ads and other obnoxious Internet junk. Privoxy has a
43 flexible configuration and can be customized to suit individual needs and
44 tastes. It has application for both stand-alone systems and multi-user
47 Privoxy is Free Software and licensed under the GNU GPLv2.
49 Privoxy is an associated project of Software in the Public Interest (SPI).
51 Helping hands and donations are welcome:
52 http://www.privoxy.org/faq/general.html#PARTICIPATE
53 http://www.privoxy.org/faq/general.html#DONATE
55 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
59 February 2010, Privoxy 3.0.16 stable is released.
61 This is the first stable release since 3.0.12. It mainly contains bugfixes for
62 the previous betas which introduced IPv6 support, improved keep-alive support
63 and a bunch of minor improvements. See the "ChangeLog", and the "What's New"
64 section and the "Upgrader's Notes" in the User Manual for details.
66 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
70 See the INSTALL file in this directory, for installing from raw source, and the
71 User Manual, for all other installation types.
73 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
77 privoxy [--help] [--version] [--no-daemon] [--pidfile PIDFILE] [--user USER
78 [.GROUP]] [--chroot] [--pre-chroot-nslookup HOSTNAME ][config_file]
80 See the man page or User Manual for an explanation of each option, and other
81 configuration and usage issues.
83 If no config_file is specified on the command line, Privoxy will look for a
84 file named 'config' in the current directory (except Win32 which will look for
85 'config.txt'). If no config_file is found, Privoxy will fail to start.
87 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
91 See: 'config', 'default.action', 'user.action', 'default.filter', and
92 'user.filter'. 'user.action' and 'user.filter' are for personal and local
93 configuration preferences. These are all well commented. Most of the magic is
94 in '*.action' files. 'user.action' should be used for any actions
95 customizations. On Unix-like systems, these files are typically installed in /
96 etc/privoxy. On Windows, then wherever the executable itself is installed.
97 There are many significant changes and advances from earlier versions. The User
98 Manual has an explanation of all configuration options, and examples: http://
99 www.privoxy.org/user-manual/.
101 Be sure to set your browser(s) for HTTP/HTTPS Proxy at <IP>:<Port>, or whatever
102 you specify in the config file under 'listen-address'. DEFAULT is
103 localhost:8118. Note that Privoxy ONLY proxies HTTP (and HTTPS) traffic. Do not
104 try it with FTP or other protocols for the simple reason it does not work.
106 The actions list can be configured via the web interface accessed via http://
107 p.p/, as well other options.
109 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
113 There should be documentation in the 'doc' subdirectory. In particular, see the
114 User Manual there, the FAQ, and those interested in Privoxy development, should
115 look at developer-manual.
117 The source and configuration files are all well commented. The main
118 configuration files are: 'config', 'default.action', and 'default.filter'.
120 Included documentation may vary according to platform and packager. All
121 documentation is posted on http://www.privoxy.org, in case you don't have it,
124 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
126 6. CONTACTING THE DEVELOPERS, BUG REPORTING AND FEATURE REQUESTS
128 We value your feedback. In fact, we rely on it to improve Privoxy and its
129 configuration. However, please note the following hints, so we can provide you
130 with the best support:
132 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
136 For casual users, our support forum at SourceForge is probably best suited:
137 http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=211118
139 All users are of course welcome to discuss their issues on the users mailing
140 list, where the developers also hang around.
142 Please don't sent private support requests to individual Privoxy developers,
143 either use the mailing lists or the support trackers.
145 Note that the Privoxy mailing lists are moderated. Posts from unsubscribed
146 addresses have to be accepted manually by a moderator. This may cause a delay
147 of several days and if you use a subject that doesn't clearly mention Privoxy
148 or one of its features, your message may be accidentally discarded as spam.
150 If you aren't subscribed, you should therefore spend a few seconds to come up
151 with a proper subject. Additionally you should make it clear that you want to
152 get CC'd. Otherwise some responses will be directed to the mailing list only,
153 and you won't see them.
155 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
157 6.2. Reporting Problems
159 "Problems" for our purposes, come in two forms:
161 * Configuration issues, such as ads that slip through, or sites that don't
162 function properly due to one Privoxy "action" or another being turned "on".
164 * "Bugs" in the programming code that makes up Privoxy, such as that might
167 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
169 6.2.1. Reporting Ads or Other Configuration Problems
171 Please send feedback on ads that slipped through, innocent images that were
172 blocked, sites that don't work properly, and other configuration related
173 problem of default.action file, to http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=
174 11118&atid=460288, the Actions File Tracker.
176 New, improved default.action files may occasionally be made available based on
177 your feedback. These will be announced on the ijbswa-announce list and
178 available from our the files section of our project page.
180 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
182 6.2.2. Reporting Bugs
184 Please report all bugs through our bug tracker: http://sourceforge.net/tracker
185 /?group_id=11118&atid=111118.
187 Before doing so, please make sure that the bug has not already been submitted
188 and observe the additional hints at the top of the submit form. If already
189 submitted, please feel free to add any info to the original report that might
190 help to solve the issue.
192 Please try to verify that it is a Privoxy bug, and not a browser or site bug or
193 documented behaviour that just happens to be different than what you expected.
194 If unsure, try toggling off Privoxy, and see if the problem persists.
196 If you are using your own custom configuration, please try the stock configs to
197 see if the problem is configuration related. If you're having problems with a
198 feature that is disabled by default, please ask around on the mailing list if
199 others can reproduce the problem.
201 If you aren't using the latest Privoxy version, the bug may have been found and
202 fixed in the meantime. We would appreciate if you could take the time to
203 upgrade to the latest version (or even the latest CVS snapshot) and verify that
204 your bug still exists.
206 Please be sure to provide the following information:
208 * The exact Privoxy version you are using (if you got the source from CVS,
209 please also provide the source code revisions as shown in http://
210 config.privoxy.org/show-version).
212 * The operating system and versions you run Privoxy on, (e.g. Windows XP
213 SP2), if you are using a Unix flavor, sending the output of "uname -a"
214 should do, in case of GNU/Linux, please also name the distribution.
216 * The name, platform, and version of the browser you were using (e.g.
217 Internet Explorer v5.5 for Mac).
219 * The URL where the problem occurred, or some way for us to duplicate the
220 problem (e.g. http://somesite.example.com/?somethingelse=123).
222 * Whether your version of Privoxy is one supplied by the Privoxy developers
223 via SourceForge, or if you got your copy somewhere else.
225 * Whether you are using Privoxy in tandem with another proxy such as Tor. If
226 so, please temporary disable the other proxy to see if the symptoms change.
228 * Whether you are using a personal firewall product. If so, does Privoxy work
231 * Any other pertinent information to help identify the problem such as config
232 or log file excerpts (yes, you should have log file entries for each action
233 taken). To get a meaningful logfile, please make sure that the logfile
234 directive is being used and the following debug options are enabled:
236 debug 1 # Log the destination for each request Privoxy let through. See also debug 1024.
237 debug 2 # show each connection status
238 debug 4 # show I/O status
239 debug 8 # show header parsing
240 debug 128 # debug redirects
241 debug 256 # debug GIF de-animation
242 debug 512 # Common Log Format
243 debug 1024 # Log the destination for requests Privoxy didn't let through, and the reason why.
244 debug 4096 # Startup banner and warnings.
245 debug 8192 # Non-fatal errors
247 If you are having trouble with a filter, please additionally enable
249 debug 64 # debug regular expression filters
251 Note that Privoxy log files may contain sensitive information so please
252 don't submit any logfiles you didn't read first. You can mask sensitive
253 information as long as it's clear that you removed something.
255 You don't have to tell us your actual name when filing a problem report, but if
256 you don't, please use a nickname so we can differentiate between your messages
257 and the ones entered by other "anonymous" users that may respond to your
258 request if they have the same problem or already found a solution.
260 Please also check the status of your request a few days after submitting it, as
261 we may request additional information. If you use a SF id, you should
262 automatically get a mail when someone responds to your request.
264 The appendix of the Privoxy User Manual also has helpful information on
265 understanding actions, and action debugging.
267 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
269 6.3. Request New Features
271 You are welcome to submit ideas on new features or other proposals for
272 improvement through our feature request tracker at http://sourceforge.net/
273 tracker/?atid=361118&group_id=11118.
275 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
279 For any other issues, feel free to use the mailing lists. Technically
280 interested users and people who wish to contribute to the project are also
281 welcome on the developers list! You can find an overview of all Privoxy-related
282 mailing lists, including list archives, at: http://sourceforge.net/mail/?