1/*********************************************************************
2 *
3 * File : README
4 *
5 * Purpose : Give a short intro about Privoxy.
6 *
7 * Copyright : Written by and Copyright (C) 2001-2021 the
8 * Privoxy team. https://www.privoxy.org/
9 *
10 * Based on the Internet Junkbuster originally written
11 * by and Copyright (C) 1997 Anonymous Coders and
12 * Junkbusters Corporation. http://www.junkbusters.com
13 *
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.
19 *
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.
25 *
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,
31 * USA
32 *
33 *********************************************************************/
34
35This README is included with Privoxy 3.0.33. See https://www.privoxy.org/ for
36more information. The current code maturity level is "stable".
37
38-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
39
40Privoxy is a non-caching web proxy with advanced filtering capabilities for
41enhancing privacy, modifying web page data and HTTP headers, controlling
42access, and removing ads and other obnoxious Internet junk. Privoxy has a
43flexible configuration and can be customized to suit individual needs and
44tastes. It has application for both stand-alone systems and multi-user
45networks.
46
47Privoxy is Free Software and licensed under the GNU GPLv2 or later.
48
49Privoxy is an associated project of Software in the Public Interest (SPI).
50
51Helping hands and donations are welcome:
52
53 * https://www.privoxy.org/participate
54
55 * https://www.privoxy.org/donate
56
57-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
58
591. CHANGES
60
61For a list of changes in this release, please have a look at the "ChangeLog",
62the "What's New" section or the "Upgrader's Notes" in the User Manual.
63
64-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
65
662. INSTALL
67
68See the INSTALL file in this directory, for installing from raw source, and the
69User Manual, for all other installation types.
70
71-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
72
733. RUN
74
75privoxy [--help] [--version] [--no-daemon] [--pidfile PIDFILE] [--user USER
76[.GROUP]] [--chroot] [--pre-chroot-nslookup HOSTNAME ][config_file]
77
78See the man page or User Manual for an explanation of each option, and other
79configuration and usage issues.
80
81If no config_file is specified on the command line, Privoxy will look for a
82file named 'config' in the current directory (except Win32 which will look for
83'config.txt'). If no config_file is found, Privoxy will fail to start.
84
85-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
86
874. CONFIGURATION
88
89See: 'config', 'default.action', 'user.action', 'default.filter', and
90'user.filter'. 'user.action' and 'user.filter' are for personal and local
91configuration preferences. These are all well commented. Most of the magic is
92in '*.action' files. 'user.action' should be used for any actions
93customizations. On Unix-like systems, these files are typically installed in /
94etc/privoxy. On Windows, then wherever the executable itself is installed.
95There are many significant changes and advances from earlier versions. The User
96Manual has an explanation of all configuration options, and examples: https://
97www.privoxy.org/user-manual/.
98
99Be sure to set your browser(s) for HTTP/HTTPS Proxy at <IP>:<Port>, or whatever
100you specify in the config file under 'listen-address'. DEFAULT is
101127.0.0.1:8118. Note that Privoxy ONLY proxies HTTP (and HTTPS) traffic. Do not
102try it with FTP or other protocols for the simple reason it does not work.
103
104The actions list can be configured via the web interface accessed via http://
105p.p/, as well other options.
106
107-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
108
1095. DOCUMENTATION
110
111There should be documentation in the 'doc' subdirectory. In particular, see the
112User Manual there, the FAQ, and those interested in Privoxy development, should
113look at developer-manual.
114
115The source and configuration files are all well commented. The main
116configuration files are: 'config', 'default.action', and 'default.filter'.
117
118Included documentation may vary according to platform and packager. All
119documentation is posted on https://www.privoxy.org, in case you don't have it,
120or can't find it.
121
122-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
123
1246. CONTACTING THE DEVELOPERS, BUG REPORTING AND FEATURE REQUESTS
125
126We value your feedback. In fact, we rely on it to improve Privoxy and its
127configuration. However, please note the following hints, so we can provide you
128with the best support.
129
130-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
131
1326.1. Please provide sufficient information
133
134A lot of support requests don't contain enough information and can't be solved
135without a lot of back and forth which causes unnecessary delays. Reading this
136section should help to prevent that.
137
138Before contacting us to report a problem, please try to verify that it is a
139Privoxy problem, and not a browser or site problem or documented behaviour that
140just happens to be different than what you expected. If unsure, try toggling
141off Privoxy, and see if the problem persists.
142
143If you are using your own custom configuration, please try the default
144configuration to see if the problem is configuration related. If you're having
145problems with a feature that is disabled by default, please ask around on the
146mailing list if others can reproduce the problem.
147
148If you aren't using the latest Privoxy version, the problem may have been found
149and fixed in the meantime. We would appreciate if you could take the time to
150upgrade to the latest version and verify that the problem still exists.
151
152Please be sure to provide the following information when reporting problems or
153requesting support:
154
155 * The exact Privoxy version you are using.
156
157 * The operating system and versions you run Privoxy on, e.g. Windows XP SP2.
158
159 * The name, platform, and version of the browser you were using (e.g.
160 Internet Explorer v5.5 for Mac).
161
162 * The URL where the problem occurred, or some way for us to duplicate the
163 problem (e.g. http://somesite.example.com/?somethingelse=123).
164
165 * Whether your version of Privoxy is one supplied by the Privoxy developers,
166 or if you got your copy somewhere else.
167
168 * Whether you are using Privoxy together with another proxy such as Tor. If
169 so, please temporary disable the other proxy to see if the symptoms change.
170
171 * Whether you are using a personal firewall product. If so, does Privoxy work
172 without it?
173
174 * Any other pertinent information to help identify the problem such as config
175 or log file excerpts (yes, you should have log file entries for each action
176 taken). To get a meaningful logfile, please make sure that the logfile
177 directive is being used and the following debug options are enabled (all of
178 them):
179
180 debug 1 # Log the destination for each request. See also debug 1024.
181 # See also debug 1024.
182 debug 2 # show each connection status
183 debug 4 # show tagging-related messages
184 debug 8 # show header parsing
185 debug 128 # debug redirects
186 debug 256 # debug GIF de-animation
187 debug 512 # Common Log Format
188 debug 1024 # Log the destination for requests Privoxy didn't let through,
189 # and the reason why.
190 debug 4096 # Startup banner and warnings.
191 debug 8192 # Non-fatal errors
192 debug 65536 # Log applying actions
193
194 If you are having trouble with a filter, please additionally enable
195
196 debug 64 # debug regular expression filters
197
198 If you suspect that Privoxy interprets the request or the response
199 incorrectly, please enable additionally
200
201 debug 32768 # log all data read from the network
202
203 It's easy for us to ignore log messages that aren't relevant but missing
204 log messages may make it impossible to investigate a problem. If you aren't
205 sure which of the debug directives are relevant, please just enable all of
206 them and let us worry about it.
207
208 Note that Privoxy log files may contain sensitive information so please
209 don't submit any logfiles you didn't read first. You can mask sensitive
210 information as long as it's clear that you removed something.
211
212 Please clear the browser cache before reproducing the problem.
213
214You don't have to tell us your actual name when filing a problem report, but if
215you don't, please use a nickname so we can differentiate between your messages
216and the ones entered by other "anonymous" users that may respond to your
217request if they have the same problem or already found a solution. Note that
218due to spam the trackers may not always allow to post without being logged into
219SourceForge. If that's the case, you are still free to create a login that
220isn't directly linked to your name, though.
221
222Please also check the status of your request a few days after submitting it, as
223we may request additional information. If you use a SF id, you should
224automatically get a mail when someone responds to your request. Please don't
225bother to add an email address when using the tracker. If you prefer to
226communicate through email, just use one of the mailing lists directly.
227
228The appendix of the Privoxy User Manual also has helpful information on
229understanding actions, and action debugging.
230
231-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
232
2336.2. Get Support
234
235All users are welcome to discuss their issues on the users mailing list, where
236the developers also hang around.
237
238Please don't send private support requests to individual Privoxy developers,
239either use the mailing lists or the support trackers.
240
241If you have to contact a Privoxy developer directly for other reasons, please
242send a real mail and do not bother with SourceForge's messaging system. Answers
243to SourceForge messages are usually bounced by SourceForge's mail server in
244which case the developer wasted time writing a response you don't get. From
245your point of view it will look like your message has been completely ignored,
246so this is frustrating for all parties involved.
247
248Note that the Privoxy mailing lists are moderated. Posts from unsubscribed
249addresses have to be accepted manually by a moderator. This may cause a delay
250of several days and if you use a subject that doesn't clearly mention Privoxy
251or one of its features, your message may be accidentally discarded as spam.
252
253If you aren't subscribed, you should therefore spend a few seconds to come up
254with a proper subject. Additionally you should make it clear that you want to
255get CC'd. Otherwise some responses will be directed to the mailing list only,
256and you won't see them.
257
258-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
259
2606.3. Reporting Problems
261
262"Problems" for our purposes, come in two forms:
263
264 * Configuration issues, such as ads that slip through, or sites that don't
265 function properly due to one Privoxy "action" or another being turned "on".
266
267 * "Bugs" in the programming code that makes up Privoxy, such as that might
268 cause a crash. Documentation issues, for example spelling errors and
269 unclear descriptions, are bugs, too.
270
271-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
272
2736.3.1. Reporting Ads or Other Configuration Problems
274
275Please send feedback on ads that slipped through, innocent images that were
276blocked, sites that don't work properly, and other configuration related
277problem of default.action file, to https://sourceforge.net/p/ijbswa/
278actionsfile-feedback/, the Actions File Tracker.
279
280-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
281
2826.3.2. Reporting Bugs
283
284Before reporting bugs, please make sure that the bug has not already been
285submitted and observe the additional hints at the top of the submit form. If
286already submitted, please feel free to add any info to the original report that
287might help to solve the issue.
288
289-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
290
2916.4. Reporting security problems
292
293If you discovered a security problem or merely suspect that a bug might be a
294security issue, please mail Fabian Keil <fk@fabiankeil.de> (OpenPGP
295fingerprint: 4F36 C17F 3816 9136 54A1 E850 6918 2291 8BA2 371C).
296
297Usually you should get a response within a day, otherwise it's likely that
298either your mail or the response didn't make it. If that happens, please mail
299to the developer list to request a status update.
300
301-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
302
3036.5. Mailing Lists
304
305If you prefer to communicate through email, instead of using a web interface,
306feel free to use one of the mailing lists. To discuss issues that haven't been
307completely diagnosed yet, please use the Privoxy users list. Technically
308interested users and people who wish to contribute to the project are always
309welcome on the developers list. You can find an overview of all Privoxy-related
310mailing lists, including list archives, at: https://lists.privoxy.org/mailman/
311listinfo. The lists hosted on privoxy.org have been created in 2016, the
312previously-used lists hosted at SourceForge are deprecated but the archives may
313still be useful: https://sourceforge.net/p/ijbswa/mailman/.
314
315-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
316
3176.6. SourceForge support trackers
318
319The SourceForge support trackers may be used as well, but have various
320technical problems that are unlikely to be fixed anytime soon. If you don't get
321a timely response, please try the mailing list as well.
322
323