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<!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V3.1//EN"[
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<!entity % dummy "IGNORE">
<!entity supported SYSTEM "supported.sgml">
<!entity newfeatures SYSTEM "newfeatures.sgml">
<!entity p-intro SYSTEM "privoxy.sgml">
<!entity seealso SYSTEM "seealso.sgml">
<!entity contacting SYSTEM "contacting.sgml">
<!entity history SYSTEM "history.sgml">
<!entity copyright SYSTEM "copyright.sgml">
<!entity license SYSTEM "license.sgml">
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<!entity p-version "3.0.11">
<!entity p-status "stable">
<!entity % p-not-stable "IGNORE">
<!entity % p-stable "INCLUDE">
<!entity % p-text "IGNORE"> <!-- define we are not a text only doc -->
<!entity % p-doc "INCLUDE"> <!-- and we are a formal doc -->
<!entity % p-supp-userman "INCLUDE"> <!-- Include all from supported.sgml -->
<!entity my-copy "&copy;"> <!-- kludge for docbook2man -->
<!entity % p-newstuff "INCLUDE"> <!-- exclude stuff from devel versions -->
<!entity % seealso-extra "INCLUDE"> <!-- extra stuff from seealso.sgml -->
<!entity my-app "<application>Privoxy</application>">
]>
<!--
File : $Source: /cvsroot/ijbswa/current/doc/source/faq.sgml,v $
Purpose : FAQ
This file belongs into
ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/home/groups/i/ij/ijbswa/htdocs/
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$Id: faq.sgml,v 2.58 2009/03/21 12:27:44 fabiankeil Exp $
Copyright (C) 2001-2009 Privoxy Developers http://www.privoxy.org/
See LICENSE.
Based partially on the Internet Junkbuster FAQ originally written by and
Copyright (C) 1997 Anonymous Coders and Junkbusters Corporation.
http://www.junkbusters.com/
<Qandaset defaultlabel='qanda'>
<QandAEntry>
<question>
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<para>
How are you?
</para>
</question>
<answer>
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<para>
Fine.
</para>
</answer>
</QandAEntry>
</QandASet>
========================================================================
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NOTE: Please read developer-manual/documentation.html before touching
this file!
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Please we keep the info in this file as version independent as possible
so we only have to maintain one FAQ. Where significant changes are
made to Privoxy configuration, please note the change in such a way that
it makes sense to both users of older and newer versions.
========================================================================
-->
<article id="index" class="faq">
<artheader>
<title>Privoxy Frequently Asked Questions</title>
<pubdate>
<subscript>
<!-- Completely the wrong markup, but very little is allowed -->
<!-- in this part of an article. FIXME -->
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<link linkend="copyright">Copyright</link> &my-copy; 2001-2009 by
<ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/">Privoxy Developers</ulink>
</subscript>
</pubdate>
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<pubdate>$Id: faq.sgml,v 2.58 2009/03/21 12:27:44 fabiankeil Exp $</pubdate>
<!--
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Note: this should generate a separate page, and a live link to it.
But it doesn't for some mysterious reason. Please leave commented
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unless it can be fixed proper. For the time being, the copyright
statement will be in copyright.smgl.
Hal.
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<legalnotice id="legalnotice">
<para>
text goes here ........
</para>
</legalnotice>
-->
<!--
<authorgroup>
<author>
<affiliation>
<orgname>By: Privoxy Developers</orgname>
</affiliation>
</author>
</authorgroup>
-->
<abstract>
<![%dummy;[
<para>
<comment>
This is here to keep vim syntax file from breaking :/
If I knew enough to fix it, I would.
PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE! HB: hal@foobox.net
</comment>
</para>
]]>
<para>
This FAQ gives quick answers to frequently asked questions about
<ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/">Privoxy</ulink>.
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It is not a substitute for the
<ulink url="../user-manual/index.html"><citetitle>Privoxy User Manual</citetitle></ulink>.
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<!--
This works, at least in some situtations:
Test: <ulink url="privoxy-user-manual.pdf"><citetitle>User Manual</citetitle></ulink>.
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-->
</para>
<!-- Include privoxy.sgml boilerplate: -->
<para>What is Privoxy?</para> &p-intro;
<!-- end boilerplate -->
<para>
Please note that this document is a work in progress. This copy represents
the state at the release of version &p-version;.
You can find the latest version of the document at <ulink
url="http://www.privoxy.org/faq/">http://www.privoxy.org/faq/</ulink>.
Please see the <link linkend="contact">Contact section</link> if you want to
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contact the developers.
</para>
<!-- <para> -->
<!-- Feel free to send a note to the developers at <email>ijbswa-developers@lists.sourceforge.net</email>. -->
<!-- </para> -->
</abstract>
</artheader>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect1 id="general"><title>General Information</title>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="who-uses"><title>Who should give &my-app; a try?</title>
<para>
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Anyone who is interested in security, privacy, or in
finer-grained control over their web and Internet experience.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="bestchoice"><title>Is Privoxy the best choice for
me?</title>
<para>
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&my-app; is certainly a good choice, especially for those who want more
control and security. Those with the willingness to read the documentation
and the ability to fine-tune their installation will benefit the most.
</para>
<para>
One of <application>Privoxy's</application>
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 <ulink
url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Http">HTTP</ulink> and other networking
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protocols, <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Html">HTML</ulink>, and
<ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions"><quote>Regular
Expressions</quote></ulink>
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will be a big plus and will help you get the most out of &my-app;.
A new installation just includes a very basic configuration. The user
should take this as a starting point only, and enhance it as he or she
sees fit. In fact, the user is encouraged, and expected to, fine-tune the
configuration.
</para>
<para>
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Much of <application>Privoxy's</application> configuration can be done
with a <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_browser">Web browser</ulink>.
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But there are areas where configuration is done using a
<ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_editors">text editor</ulink>
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.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="proxymoron"><title>What is a <quote>proxy</quote>? How does
Privoxy work? </title>
<para>
A <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server">web proxy</ulink>
is a service, based on a software such as &my-app;, that clients
(i.e. browsers) can use instead of connecting to web servers directly.
The clients then ask the proxy to request objects (web pages, images, movies etc)
on their behalf and to forward the data to the clients.
It is a <quote>go-between</quote>. For details, see
<ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server">Wikipedia's proxy definition</ulink>.
</para>
<para>
There are many reasons to use web proxies, such as security (firewalling),
efficiency (caching) and others, and there are any number of proxies
to accommodate those needs.
</para>
<para>
&my-app; is a proxy that is primarily focused on
privacy enhancement, ad and junk elimination and freeing the user from
restrictions placed on his activities. Sitting between your browser(s) and the Internet,
it is in a perfect position to filter outbound personal information that your
browser is leaking, as well as inbound junk. It uses a variety of techniques to do
this, all of which are under your complete control via the various configuration
files and options. Being a proxy also makes it easier to share
configurations among multiple browsers and/or users.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="otherstuff">
<title>Does Privoxy do anything more than ad blocking?</title>
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<para>
Yes, ad blocking is but one possible use. There are many, many ways &my-app;
can be used to sanitize and customize web browsing.
</para>
</sect2>
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<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="newjb"><title>What is this new version of
<quote><citetitle>Junkbuster</citetitle></quote>?</title>
<!-- Include history.sgml -->
&history;
<!-- end -->
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
<title id="whyprivoxy">Why <quote>Privoxy</quote>? Why change the name from
Junkbuster at all?</title>
<para>
Though outdated, <ulink url="http://junkbusters.com/">Junkbusters Corporation</ulink>
continues to offer their original version of the <application>Internet
Junkbuster</application>, so publishing our
<application> Junkbuster</application>-derived software under the same name
led to confusion.
</para>
<para>
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There are also potential legal complications from our use of the
<application>Junkbuster</application> name, which is a registered trademark of
<ulink url="http://junkbusters.com/">Junkbusters Corporation</ulink>.
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There are, however, no objections from Junkbusters Corporation to the
<application>Privoxy</application> project itself, and they, in fact, still
share our ideals and goals.
</para>
<para>
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The developers also believed that there are so many improvements over the original
code, that it was time to make a clean break from the past and make
a name in their own right.
</para>
<para>
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<application>Privoxy</application> is the
<quote><emphasis>Privacy Enhancing Proxy</emphasis></quote>. Also, its content
modification and junk suppression gives <emphasis>you</emphasis>, the user, more
control, more freedom, and allows you to browse your personal and
<quote><emphasis>private</emphasis> edition</quote> of the web.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="differs"><title>How does Privoxy differ
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from the old Junkbuster?</title>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> picks up where
<application>Junkbuster</application> left off.
The new <application>Privoxy</application> still blocks ads and banners,
still manages <ulink
url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">cookies</ulink>, and still
helps protect your privacy. But, most of these features have been enhanced,
and many new ones have been added, all in the same vein.
</para>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application>'s new features include:
</para>
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<!-- Include newfeatures.sgml: -->
&newfeatures;
<!-- end include -->
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="whatsanad">
<title id="knows">How does Privoxy know what is
an ad, and what is not?</title>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application>'s approach to blocking ads is twofold:
</para>
<para>
First, there are certain patterns in the <emphasis>locations</emphasis> (URLs)
of banner images. This applies to both the path (you wouldn't guess how many
web sites serve their banners from a directory called <quote>banners</quote>!)
and the host (blocking the big banner hosting services like doublecklick.net
already helps a lot). <application>Privoxy</application> takes advantage of this
fact by using <ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#AF-PATTERNS">URL
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patterns</ulink> to sort out and block the requests for things that sound
like they would be ads or banners.
</para>
<para>
Second, banners tend to come in certain <emphasis>sizes</emphasis>. But you
can't tell the size of an image by its URL without downloading it, and if you
do, it's too late to save bandwidth. Therefore, <application>Privoxy</application>
also inspects the HTML sources of web pages while they are loaded, and replaces
references to images with standard banner sizes by dummy references, so that
your browser doesn't request them anymore in the first place.
</para>
<para>
Both of this involves a certain amount of guesswork and is, of course, freely
and readily configurable.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
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<title id="mistakes">Can Privoxy make mistakes?
This does not sound very scientific.</title>
<para>
Actually, it's a black art ;-) And yes, it is always possible to have a broad
rule accidentally block or change something by mistake. You will almost surely
run into such situations at some point. It is tricky writing rules to
cover every conceivable possibility, and not occasionally get false positives.
</para>
<para>
But this should not be a big concern since the
<application>Privoxy</application> 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.
(<link linkend="badsite">See the Troubleshooting section below</link>.)
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
<title id="configornot">Will I have to configure Privoxy
before I can use it?</title>
<para>
That depends on your expectations.
The default installation should give you a good starting
point, and block <emphasis>most</emphasis> ads and unwanted content,
but many of the more advanced features are off by default, and require
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you to activate them.
</para>
<para>
You do have to set up your browser to use
<application>Privoxy</application> (see the <link
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linkend="firststep">Installation section below</link>).
</para>
<para>
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 <application>Privoxy's</application>
configuration to more closely match your individual situation. And we
encourage you to do this. This is where the real power of
<application>Privoxy</application> lies!
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="lan">
<title>Can Privoxy run as a server on a network?</title>
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<para>
Yes, &my-app; runs as a server already, and can easily be configured to
<quote>serve</quote> more than one client. See <link linkend="lanconfig">
How can I set up Privoxy to act as a proxy for my LAN</link> below.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="browsers2"><title>My browser does the same things as
Privoxy. Why should I use Privoxy at all?</title>
<para>
Modern browsers do indeed have <emphasis>some</emphasis> of the same
functionality as <application>Privoxy</application>. Maybe this is
adequate for you. But <application>Privoxy</application> is very
versatile and powerful, and can probably do a number of things
your browser just can't.
</para>
<para>
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In addition, a proxy is good choice if you use multiple browsers, or
have a LAN with multiple computers since &my-app; can run as a server
application. This way all the configuration is in one place, and you don't
have to maintain a similar configuration for possibly many browsers or
users.
</para>
<para>
Note, however, that it's recommended to leverage both your browser's
and <application>Privoxy's</application> 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.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="whytrust"><title>Why should I trust Privoxy?</title>
<para>
The most important reason is because you have access to
<emphasis>everything</emphasis>, and you can control everything. You can
check every line of every configuration file yourself. You can check every
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last bit of source code should you desire. And even if you can't read code,
there should be some comfort in knowing that <!-- thousands of -->other people can,
and do read it. You can build the software from scratch, if you want,
so that you know the executable is clean, and that it is
<emphasis>yours</emphasis>. In fact, we encourage this level of scrutiny. It
is one reason we use &my-app; ourselves.
</para>
</sect2>
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<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="license"><title>Is there is a license or fee? What about a
warranty? Registration?</title>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> is free software and licensed under the <ulink
url="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html">GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2</ulink>.
It is free to use, copy, modify or distribute as you wish under the terms of this
license. Please see the <link linkend="copyright">Copyright</link> section for more
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information on the license and copyright. Or the <filename>LICENSE</filename> file
that should be included.
</para>
<para>
There is <emphasis>no warranty</emphasis> of any kind, expressed, implied or otherwise.
That is something that would cost real money ;-) There is no registration either.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="spyware">
<title>Can Privoxy remove spyware? Adware? Viruses?</title>
<para>
No, at least not reliably enough to trust it. &my-app; is not designed to be
a malware removal tool and the default configuration doesn't even try to
filter out any malware.
</para>
<para>
&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. 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.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="otherads">
<title>Can I use Privoxy with other ad-blocking software?</title>
<para>
&my-app; should work fine with other proxies and other software in general.
</para>
<para>
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 might be better to choose one software or the other and work a little to
tweak its configuration to your liking.
</para>
<para>
Note that this is an advice specific to ad blocking.
</para>
</sect2>
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<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="jointeam"><title>I would like to help you, what can I do?</title>
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<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="jointeam-work"><title>Would you like to participate?</title>
<para>
Well, we <emphasis>always</emphasis> need help. There is something for
everybody who wants to help us. We welcome new developers, packagers,
testers, documentation writers or really anyone with a desire to help in
any way. You <emphasis>DO NOT</emphasis> need to be a
<quote>programmer</quote>. There are many other tasks available. In fact,
the programmers often can't spend as much time programming because of some
of the other, more mundane things that need to be done, like checking the
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Tracker feedback sections.
</para>
<para>
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So first thing, <ulink
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url="https://sourceforge.net/account/register.php">get an account on SourceForge.net</ulink>
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and mail your id to the <ulink url="mailto:ijbswa-developers@lists.sourceforge.net">developers
mailing list</ulink>. Then, please read the <ulink
url="../developer-manual/index.html">Developer's Manual</ulink>, at least
the pertinent sections.
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</para>
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<para>
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.
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="donate"><title>Would you like to donate?</title>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> is developed by unpaid volunteers
and thus our current running costs are pretty low. Nevertheless, we
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have plans that will cost money in the future. We would like to get
this money through donations made by our users.
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</para>
<para>
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<application>Privoxy</application> has therefore become an associated
project of <ulink url="http://www.spi-inc.org/about-spi/about-spi">Software
in the Public Interest (SPI)</ulink>, which allows us to receive tax-deductible
donations in most western countries.
</para>
<para>
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We intend to use the donations to pay for our domain after transfering
it to SPI. Our goal is to make sure there's no single point of failure
and the bill gets paid and the site keeps running even if a some of
the currently active developers were to suddenly disappear for a while.
</para>
<para>
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We would also like to spend some money on more reliable hosting,
on hardware to help make sure <application>Privoxy</application>
keeps running on platforms the developers currently can't test on,
and on technical books to educate our developers about said platforms
or to improve their knowledge in general.
</para>
<para>
If you enjoy our software and feel like helping out with a donation,
please have a look at
<ulink url="http://www.spi-inc.org/donations">SPI's donation page</ulink>
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to see what the options are.
<para>
</sect3>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect1 id="installation"><title>Installation</title>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="whichbrowsers">
<title>Which browsers are supported by Privoxy?</title>
<para>
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Any browser that can be configured to use a proxy, which
should be virtually all browsers, including
<application>Firefox</application>, <application>Internet
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Explorer</application>, <application>Opera</application>, and
<application>Safari</application> among others.
Direct browser support is not an absolute requirement since
<application>Privoxy</application> runs as a separate application and talks
to the browser in the standardized HTTP protocol, just like a web server
does.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="whichos">
<title>Which operating systems are supported?</title>
<!--
Include supported.sgml here:
-->
&supported;
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="email-client">
<title>Can I use Privoxy with my email client?</title>
<para>
As long as there is some way to set a HTTP proxy for the client, then yes,
any application can be used, whether it is strictly speaking a
<quote>browser</quote> or not. Though this may not be the best approach for
dealing with some of the common abuses of HTML in email. See <link
linkend="outlook">How can I configure <application>Privoxy</application>
with <application>Outlook</application>?</link> below for more on
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this.
</para>
<para>
Be aware that HTML email presents a number of unique security and privacy
related issues, that can require advanced skills to overcome. The developers
recommend using email clients that can be configured to convert HTML to plain
text for these reasons.
</para>
</sect2>
<!-- Nobody is going to still be doing this!
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<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="newinstall"><title>Can I install
Privoxy over Junkbuster?</title>
<para>
We recommend you un-install <application>Junkbuster</application>
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first to minimize conflicts and confusion. You may want to
save your old configuration files for future reference. The configuration
files and syntax have substantially changed, so you will need to manually
port your old patterns. See the <ulink url="../user-manual/upgradersnote.html">note
to upgraders</ulink> and <ulink url="../user-manual/installation.html">installation
chapter</ulink> in the <ulink url="../user-manual/index.html">User Manual</ulink>
for details.
</para>
<para>
Note: Some installers may automatically un-install
<application>Junkbuster</application>, if present!
</para>
</sect2>
-->
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="firststep">
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<title>I just installed Privoxy. Is there anything
special I have to do now?</title>
<para>
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All browsers should be told to use <application>Privoxy</application>
as a proxy by specifying the correct proxy address and port number
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;,
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but where possible, configuring the client is recommended. See
<ulink url="../user-manual/startup.html">the User Manual for more
details</ulink>. You should also flush your browser's memory and disk
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cache to get rid of any cached junk items, and remove any stored
<ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">cookies</ulink>.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="localhost"><title>What is the proxy address of Privoxy?</title>
<para>
If you set up the <application>Privoxy</application> to run on
the computer you browse from (rather than your ISP's server or some
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networked computer on a LAN), the proxy will be on <literal>127.0.0.1</literal>
(sometimes referred to as <quote>localhost</quote>,
which is the special name used by every computer on the Internet to refer
to itself) and the port will be 8118 (unless you used the <ulink
url="../user-manual/config.html#LISTEN-ADDRESS">listen-address</ulink>
config option to tell <application>Privoxy</application> to run on
a different port).
</para>
<para>
When configuring your browser's proxy settings you typically enter
the word <quote>localhost</quote> or the IP address <quote>127.0.0.1</quote>
in the boxes next to <quote>HTTP</quote> and <quote>Secure</quote> (HTTPS) and
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then the number <quote>8118</quote> for <quote>port</quote>.
This tells your browser to send all web requests to <application>Privoxy</application>
instead of directly to the Internet.
</para>
<para>
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<application>Privoxy</application> can also be used to proxy for
a Local Area Network. In this case, your would enter either the IP
address of the LAN host where <application>Privoxy</application>
is running, or the equivalent hostname, e.g. <literal>192.168.1.1</literal>.
Port assignment would be same as above. Note that
<application>Privoxy</application> doesn't listen on any LAN interfaces by
default.
</para>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> does not currently handle
any other protocols such as FTP, SMTP, IM, IRC, ICQ, etc.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="nothing">
<title>I just installed Privoxy, and nothing is happening.
All the ads are there. What's wrong?</title>
<para>
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Did you configure your browser to use <application>Privoxy</application>
as a proxy? It does not sound like it. See above. You might also try flushing
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the browser's caches to force a full re-reading of pages. You can verify
that <application>Privoxy</application> is running, and your browser
is correctly configured by entering the special URL:
<ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>.
<!-- Use http://p.p/ instead of http://config.privoxy.org/ here because
of potential redirect caching problem (see next Q). -->
This should take you to a page titled <quote>This is Privoxy..</quote> with
access to <application>Privoxy's</application> internal configuration.
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If you see this, then you are good to go. If you receive a page saying
<quote>Privoxy is not running</quote>, then the browser is not set up to use
your <application>Privoxy</application> installation.
If you receive anything else (probably nothing at all), it could either
be that the browser is not set up correctly, or that
<application>Privoxy</application> is not running at all. Check the <ulink
url="../user-manual/config.html#LOGFILE">log file</ulink>. For instructions
on starting <application>Privoxy</application> and browser configuration,
see the <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/startup.html">chapter
on starting <application>Privoxy</application></ulink> in the
<ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/">User Manual</ulink>.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="notused">
<title>I get a <quote>Privoxy is not being used</quote> dummy page although
Privoxy is running and being used.</title>
<para>
First, make sure that Privoxy is <emphasis>really</emphasis> running and
being used by visiting <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>. You
should see the <application>Privoxy</application> main page. If not, see
the <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/startup.html">chapter
on starting <application>Privoxy</application></ulink> in the
<ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/">User Manual</ulink>.
</para>
<para>
Now if <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink> works for you, but
other parts of <application>Privoxy</application>'s web interface show
the dummy page, your browser has cached a redirection it encountered before
<application>Privoxy</application> was being used. You need to clear your
browser's cache. Note that shift-reloading the dummy page won't help, since
that'll only refresh the dummy page, not the redirection that lead you there.
</para>
<para>
The procedure for clearing the cache varies from browser to browser. For
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example, <application>Mozilla/Netscape</application> users would click
<guibutton>Edit</guibutton> --> <guibutton>Preferences</guibutton> -->
<guibutton>Advanced</guibutton> --> <guibutton>Cache</guibutton> and
then click both <quote><guibutton>Clear Memory Cache</guibutton></quote>
and <quote><guibutton>Clear Disk Cache</guibutton></quote>.
In some <application>Firefox</application> versions it's
<guibutton>Tools</guibutton> --> <guibutton>Options</guibutton> -->
<guibutton>Privacy</guibutton> --> <guibutton>Cache</guibutton> and
then click <quote><guibutton>Clear Cache Now</guibutton></quote>.
<!-- In my Firefox versions it's the Netscape way. fk 2007-11-19-->
</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect1 id="configuration"><title>Configuration</title>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
<title id="actionsfile">What exactly is an <quote>actions</quote> file?</title>
<para>
&my-app; utilizes the concept of <quote>
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<ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#ACTIONS">actions</ulink></quote>
that are used to manipulate and control web page data.
<ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html">Actions files</ulink>
are where these <ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#ACTIONS">actions</ulink>
that <application>Privoxy</application> could take while processing a certain
request, are configured. Typically, you would define a set of default actions
that apply globally to all URLs, then add exceptions to these defaults where needed.
There is a wide array of actions available that give the user a high degree
of control and flexibility on how to process each and every web page.
</para>
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<para>
Actions can be defined on a <ulink
url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#AF-PATTERNS">URL pattern</ulink> basis, i.e.
for single URLs, whole web sites, groups or parts thereof etc. Actions can also be
grouped together and then applied to requests matching one or more patterns.
There are many possible actions that might apply to any given site. As an example,
if you are blocking <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">cookies</ulink>
as one of your default actions, but need to accept cookies from a given site,
you would need to define an exception for this site in one of your actions
files, preferably in <filename>user.action</filename>.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="actionss">
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<title>The <quote>actions</quote> concept confuses me. Please list
some of these <quote>actions</quote>.</title>
<para>
For a comprehensive discussion of the actions concept, please refer
to the <ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html">actions file
chapter</ulink> in the <ulink url="../user-manual/index.html">User
Manual</ulink>. It includes a <ulink
url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#ACTIONS">list of all actions</ulink>
and an <ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#ACT-EXAMPLES">actions
file tutorial</ulink> to get you started.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
<title id="actconfig">How are actions files configured? What is the easiest
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way to do this?</title>
<para>
Actions files are just text files in a special syntax and can be edited
with a text editor. But probably the easiest way is to access
<application>Privoxy</application>'s user interface with your web browser
at <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
(Shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>) and then select
<quote><ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">View &
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change the current configuration</ulink></quote> from the menu. Note
that this feature must be explicitly enabled in the main config file
(see <ulink
url="../user-manual/config.html#ENABLE-EDIT-ACTIONS">enable-edit-actions</ulink>).
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
<title>There are several different <quote>actions</quote> files. What are
the differences?</title>
<para>
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Three actions files
are being included by the developers, to be used for
different purposes: These are
<filename>default.action</filename>, the <quote>main</quote> actions file
which is actively maintained by the <application>Privoxy</application>
developers and typically sets the default policies, <filename>user.action</filename>,
where users are encouraged to make their private customizations.
Please see <ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html">the actions chapter</ulink>
in the <ulink url="../user-manual/index.html">User Manual</ulink> for a more
detailed explanation.
</para>
<para>
Earlier versions included three different versions of the
<filename>default.action</filename> file. The new scheme allows for
greater flexibility of local configuration, and for browser based
selection of pre-defined <quote>aggressiveness</quote> levels.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="getupdates"><title>Where can I get updated Actions Files?</title>
<para>
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Based on your feedback and the continuing development, updates of
<filename>default.action</filename> will be
made available from time to time on the <ulink
url="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11118">files section</ulink> of
our <ulink url="http://sf.net/projects/ijbswa/">project page</ulink>.
</para>
<para>
If you wish to receive an email notification whenever we release updates of
<application>Privoxy</application> or the actions file, <ulink
url="http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ijbswa-announce/">subscribe
to our announce mailing list</ulink>, ijbswa-announce@lists.sourceforge.net.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="newconfig"><title>Can I use my old config files?</title>
<para>
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, <quote>improved</quote> versions and it is
therefore strongly recommended to install the newer configuration files
and merge back your modifications.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="difficult">
<title>Why is the configuration so complicated?</title>
<para>
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<quote>Complicated</quote> is in the eye of the beholder. Those that are
familiar with some of the underlying concepts, such as regular expression
syntax, take to it like a fish takes to water. Also, software that tries
hard to be <quote>user friendly</quote>, often lacks sophistication and
flexibility. There is always that trade-off there between power vs.
easy-of-use. Furthermore, anyone is welcome to contribute ideas and
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implementations to enhance &my-app;.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="yahoo"><title>How can I make my Yahoo/Hotmail/Gmail account work?</title>
<para>
The default configuration shouldn't impact the usability of any of these services.
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It may, however, make all <ulink
url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">cookies</ulink>
temporary, so that your browser will forget your
login credentials in between browser sessions. If you would like not to have to log
in manually each time you access those websites, simply turn off all cookie handling
for them in the <filename>user.action</filename> file. An example for yahoo might
look like:
</para>
<para>
<screen># Allow all cookies for Yahoo login:
#
{ -<ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</ulink> -<ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</ulink> -<ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">session-cookies-only</ulink> }
.login.yahoo.com</screen>
</para>
<para>
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These kinds of sites are often quite complex and heavy with
<ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javascript">Javascript</ulink> and
thus <quote>fragile</quote>. So if <emphasis>still</emphasis> a problem,
we have an <ulink
url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#ALIASES">alias</ulink> just for such
sticky situations:
</para>
<para>
<screen># Gmail is a _fragile_ site:
#
{ <literal>fragile</literal> }
# Gmail is ...
mail.google.com</screen>
</para>
<para>
Be sure to flush your browser's caches whenever making these kinds of
changes, just to make sure the changes <quote>take</quote>.
</para>
<para>
Make sure the domain, host and path are appropriate as well. Your browser can
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tell you where you are specifically and you should use that information for
your configuration settings. Note that above it is not referenced as
<literal>gmail.com</literal>, which is a valid domain name.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="configfiles"> <title>What's the difference between the
<quote>Cautious</quote>, <quote>Medium</quote> and <quote>Advanced</quote> defaults?</title>
<para>
Configuring <application>Privoxy</application> is not entirely trivial. To
help you get started, we provide you with three different default action
<quote>profiles</quote> in the web based actions file editor at <ulink
url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>.
See the <ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html"><citetitle>User
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Manual</citetitle></ulink> for a list of actions, and how the default
profiles are set.
</para>
<para>
Where the defaults are likely to break some sites, exceptions for
known popular <quote>problem</quote> sites are included, but in
general, the more aggressive your default settings are, the more exceptions
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you will have to make later. New users are best to start off in
<quote>Cautious</quote> setting. This is safest and will have the fewest
problems. See the <ulink
url="../user-manual/index.html"><citetitle>User Manual</citetitle></ulink>
for a more detailed discussion.
</para>
<para>
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It should be noted that the <quote>Advanced</quote> profile (formerly known
as the <quote>Adventuresome</quote> profile) is more
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aggressive, and will make use of some of
<application>Privoxy's</application> advanced features. Use at your own risk!
</para>
</sect2>
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<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="browseconfig"> <title>Why can I change the configuration
with a browser? Does that not raise security issues?</title>
<para>
It may seem strange that regular users can edit the config files with their
browsers, although the whole <filename>/etc/privoxy</filename> hierarchy
belongs to the user <quote>privoxy</quote>, with only 644 permissions.
</para>
<para>
When you use the browser-based editor, <application>Privoxy</application>
itself is writing to the config files. Because
<application>Privoxy</application> is running as the user <quote>privoxy</quote>,
it can update its own config files.
</para>
<para>
If you run <application>Privoxy</application> for multiple untrusted users (e.g. in
a LAN) or aren't entirely in control of your own browser, you will probably want
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to make sure that the the web-based editor and remote toggle features are
<quote>off</quote> by setting <quote><literal><ulink
url="../user-manual/config.html#ENABLE-EDIT-ACTIONS">enable-edit-actions</ulink>
0</literal></quote> and <quote><literal><ulink
url="../user-manual/config.html#ENABLE-REMOTE-TOGGLE">enable-remote-toggle</ulink>
0</literal></quote> in the <ulink url="../user-manual/config.html">main configuration file</ulink>.
</para>
<para>
As of &my-app; 3.0.7 these options are disabled by default.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
<title id="filterfile">What is the <filename>default.filter</filename> file? What is a <quote>filter</quote>?</title>
<para>
The <ulink url="../user-manual/filter-file.html"><filename>default.filter</filename></ulink>
file is where <emphasis>filters</emphasis> 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 or headers on the fly. Content filters can
be applied to <emphasis>anything</emphasis> in the page source,
header filters can be applied to either server or client headers.
Regular expressions are used to accomplish this.
</para>
<para>
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
<ulink
url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#FILTER"><literal>filter</literal>
action</ulink> in one of the actions files. Content filtering is automatically
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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.
</para>
<para>
Filters should
<emphasis>not</emphasis> be confused with <ulink
url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#BLOCK"><literal>blocks</literal></ulink>, which
is a completely different action, and is more typically used to block ads and
unwanted sites.
</para>
<para>
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If you are familiar with regular expressions, and HTML, you can look at
the provided <filename>default.filter</filename> with a text editor and define
your own filters. This is potentially a very powerful feature, but
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requires some expertise in both regular expressions and HTML/HTTP.
<![%p-newstuff;[ You should
place any modifications to the default filters, or any new ones you create
in a separate file, such as <filename>user.filter</filename>, so they won't
be overwritten during upgrades.
The ability to define multiple filter files
in <filename>config</filename> is a new feature as of v. 3.0.5.]]>
</para>
<para>
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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
<filename>default.filter</filename> file with the <ulink
url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">web-based actions file editor</ulink>.
Note that the custom actions editor must be explicitly enabled in
the main config file (see <ulink
url="../user-manual/config.html#ENABLE-EDIT-ACTIONS">enable-edit-actions</ulink>).
</para>
<para>
If you intend to develop your own filters, you might want to have a look at
<ulink
url="http://www.fabiankeil.de/sourcecode/pft/">Privoxy-Filter-Test</ulink>.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="lanconfig">
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<title>How can I set up Privoxy to act as a proxy for my
LAN?</title>
<para>
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By default, <application>Privoxy</application> only responds to requests
from <literal>127.0.0.1</literal> (localhost). To have it act as a server for
a network, this needs to be changed in the <ulink
url="../user-manual/config.html">main configuration file</ulink>. Look for
the <literal><ulink
url="../user-manual/config.html#LISTEN-ADDRESS">listen-address</ulink></literal>
option, which may be commented out with a <quote>#</quote> symbol. Make sure
it is uncommented, and assign it the address of the LAN gateway interface,
and port number to use. Assuming your LAN address is 192.168.1.1 and you
wish to run <application>Privoxy</application> on port 8118, this line
should look like:
</para>
<para>
<screen>
listen-address 192.168.1.1:8118</screen>
</para>
<para>
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Save the file, and restart <application>Privoxy</application>. Configure
all browsers on the network then to use this address and port number.
</para>
<para>
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Alternately, you can have <application>Privoxy</application> listen on
all available interfaces:
</para>
<para>
<screen>
listen-address :8118</screen>
</para>
<para>
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And then use <application>Privoxy's</application>
<ulink
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url="../user-manual/config.html#PERMIT-ACCESS">permit-access</ulink>
feature to limit connections. A firewall in this situation is recommended
as well.
</para>
<para>
The above steps should be the same for any TCP network, regardless of
operating system.
</para>
<para>
If you run <application>Privoxy</application> on a LAN with untrusted users,
we recommend that you double-check the <ulink
url="../user-manual/config.html#ACCESS-CONTROL">access control and security</ulink>
options!
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
<title id="noseeum">Instead of ads, now I get a checkerboard pattern. I don't want to see anything.</title>
<para>
The replacement for blocked images can be controlled with the <ulink
url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"><literal>set-image-blocker</literal>
action</ulink>. You have the choice of a checkerboard pattern, a transparent 1x1 GIF
image (aka <quote>blank</quote>), or a redirect to a custom image of your choice.
Note that this choice only has effect for images which are blocked as images, i.e.
whose URLs match both a <literal><ulink
url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">handle-as-image</ulink></literal>
<emphasis>and</emphasis> <literal><ulink
url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#BLOCK">block</ulink></literal> action.
</para>
<para>
If you want to see nothing, then change the <ulink
url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"><literal>set-image-blocker</literal>
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action</ulink> to <quote>blank</quote>. This can be done by editing the
<filename>user.action</filename> file, or through the <ulink
url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">web-based actions file editor</ulink>.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
<title id="whyseeum">Why would anybody want to see a checkerboard pattern?</title>
<para>
Remember that <link linkend="whatsanad">telling which image is an ad and which
isn't</link>, is an educated guess. While we hope that the standard configuration
is rather smart, it will make occasional mistakes. The checkerboard image is visually
decent, and it shows you where images have been blocked, which can be very
helpful in case some navigation aid or otherwise innocent image was
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erroneously blocked. It is recommended for new users so they can
<quote>see</quote> what is happening. Some people might also enjoy seeing how
many banners they <emphasis>don't</emphasis> have to see.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
<title id="blockedbytext">I see some images being replaced with text
instead of the checkerboard image. Why and how do I get rid of this?</title>
<para>
This happens when the banners are not embedded in the HTML code of the
page itself, but in separate HTML (sub)documents that are loaded into (i)frames
or (i)layers, and these external HTML documents are blocked. Being non-images
they get replaced by a substitute HTML page rather than a substitute image,
which wouldn't work out technically, since the browser expects and accepts
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only HTML when it has requested an HTML document.
</para>
<para>
The substitute page adapts to the available space and shows itself as a
miniature two-liner if loaded into small frames, or full-blown with a
large red "BLOCKED" banner if space allows.
</para>
<para>
If you prefer the banners to be blocked by images, you must see to it that
the HTML documents in which they are embedded are not blocked. Clicking
the <quote>See why</quote> link offered in the substitute page will show
you which rule blocked the page. After changing the rule and un-blocking
the HTML documents, the browser will try to load the actual banner images
and the usual image blocking will (hopefully!) kick in.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="srvany">
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<title>Can Privoxy run as a service
on Win2K/NT/XP?</title>
<para>
<![%p-newstuff;[
Yes. Version 3.0.5 introduces full <application>Windows</application> service
functionality. See <ulink url="../user-manual/installation.html#installation-pack-win">
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the <citetitle>User Manual</citetitle></ulink> for details on how to install and configure
<application>Privoxy</application> as a service.
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</para>
<para>
Earlier ]]>3.x versions could run as a system service using <command>srvany.exe</command>.
See the discussion at <ulink
url="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&#38;atid=361118&#38;aid=485617&#38;group_id=11118">http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&#38;atid=361118&#38;aid=485617&#38;group_id=11118</ulink>,
for details, and a sample configuration.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="otherproxy">
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<title>How can I make Privoxy work with other
proxies like Squid or Tor?</title>
<para>
This can be done and is often useful to combine the benefits of
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<application>Privoxy</application> with those of a another proxy.
See the <ulink
url="../user-manual/config.html#FORWARDING">forwarding chapter</ulink>
in the <ulink url="../user-manual/index.html">User Manual</ulink> which
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describes how to do this, and the <link linkend="TOR">
How do I use Privoxy together with
Tor</link> section below.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="port-80">
<title>Can I just set Privoxy to use port 80
and thus avoid individual browser configuration?</title>
<para>
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No, its more complicated than that. This only works with special kinds
of proxies known as <quote>intercepting</quote> proxies (see below).
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="transparent">
<title>Can Privoxy run as a <quote>transparent
</quote> proxy?</title>
<para>
The whole idea of Privoxy is to modify client requests
and server responses in all sorts of ways and therefore
it's not a transparent proxy as described in
<ulink url="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2616">RFC 2616</ulink>.
</para>
<para>
However, some people say <quote>transparent proxy</quote> when they
mean <quote>intercepting proxy</quote>. If you are one of them,
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please read the <ulink url="#intercepting">next entry</ulink>.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="intercepting">
<title>Can Privoxy run as a <quote>intercepting</quote> proxy?</title>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> can't intercept traffic itself,
but it can handle requests that where intercepted and redirected
with a packet filter (like <application>PF</application> or
<application>iptables</application>), as long as the <literal>Host</literal>
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header is present.
</para>
<para>
As the <literal>Host</literal> header is required by HTTP/1.1 and as most
web sites rely on it anyway, this limitation shouldn't be a problem.
</para>
<para>
Please refer to your packet filter's documentation to learn how to
intercept and redirect traffic into <application>Privoxy</application>.
Afterward you just have to configure <application>Privoxy</application> to
<ulink url="../user-manual/config.html#ACCEPT-INTERCEPTED-REQUESTS">accept
intercepted requests</ulink>.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="outlook">
<title>How can I configure Privoxy for use with Outlook?</title>
<para>
Versions of <application>Outlook</application> prior to Office 2007, use
<application>Internet Explorer</application> components to both render HTML,
and fetch any HTTP requests that may be embedded in an HTML email. So however
you have <application>Privoxy</application> configured to work with IE, this
configuration should automatically be shared, at least with older version of
Internet Explorer.
</para>
<para>
Starting with Office 2007, Microsoft is instead using the MS-Word rendering
engine with Outlook. It is unknown whether this can be configured to use a
proxy.
<!-- FIXME HB 2009-02-15 -->
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="outlook-more">
<title>How can I have separate rules just for HTML mail?</title>
<para>
The short answer is, you can't. <application>Privoxy</application> has no way
of knowing which particular application makes a request, so there is no way to
distinguish between web pages and HTML mail.
<application>Privoxy</application> just blindly proxies all requests. In the
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case of <application>Outlook Express</application> (see above), OE uses
IE anyway, and there is no way for <application>Privoxy</application> to ever
be able to distinguish between them (nor could any other proxy type application for
that matter).
</para>
<para>
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For a good discussion of some of the issues involved (including privacy and
security issues), see
<ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&#38;atid=211118&#38;aid=629518&#38;group_id=11118">http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&#38;atid=211118&#38;aid=629518&#38;group_id=11118</ulink>.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="sneaky-cookies">
<title>I sometimes notice cookies sneaking through. How?</title>
<para>
<ulink
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url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">Cookies</ulink> can be
set in several ways. The classic method is via the
<literal>Set-Cookie</literal> HTTP header. This is straightforward, and an
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easy one to manipulate, such as the &my-app; concept of
<ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">session-cookies-only</ulink>.
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There is also the possibility of using
<ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javascript">Javascript</ulink> to
set cookies (&my-app; calls these <literal>content-cookies</literal>). This
is trickier because the syntax can vary widely, and thus requires a certain
amount of guesswork. It is not realistic to catch all of these short of
disabling Javascript, which would break many sites. And lastly, if the
cookies are embedded in a HTTPS/SSL secure session via Javascript, they are beyond
<application>Privoxy's</application> reach.
</para>
<para>
All in all, &my-app; can help manage cookies in general, can help minimize
the loss of privacy posed by cookies, but can't realistically stop all
cookies.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="evil-cookies">
<title>Are all cookies bad? Why?</title>
<para>
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No, in fact there are many beneficial uses of
<ulink
url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">cookies</ulink>. Cookies are just a
method that browsers can use to store data between pages, or between browser
sessions. Sometimes there is a good reason for this, and the user's life is a
bit easier as a result. But there is a long history of some websites taking
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advantage of this layer of trust, and using the data they glean from you and
your browsing habits for their own purposes, and maybe to your potential
detriment. Such sites are using you and storing their data on your system.
That is why the privacy conscious watch from whom those cookies come, and why
they really <emphasis>need</emphasis> to be there.
</para>
<para>
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See the
<ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">Wikipedia cookie
definition</ulink> for more.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="allow-cookies">
<title>How can I allow permanent cookies for my trusted sites?</title>
<para>
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There are several actions that relate to cookies. The default behavior is to
allow only <quote>session cookies</quote>, which means the cookies only last
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for the current browser session. This eliminates most kinds of abuse related
to cookies. But there may be cases where you want cookies to last.
</para>
<para>
To disable all cookie actions, so that cookies are allowed unrestricted,
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both in and out, for <literal>example.com</literal>:
</para>
<para>
<screen>
{ -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies -session-cookies-only -filter{content-cookies} }
.example.com</screen>
</para>
<para>
Place the above in <filename>user.action</filename>. Note that some of these may
be off by default anyway, so this might be redundant, but there is no harm
being explicit in what you want to happen. <filename>user.action</filename>
includes an alias for this situation, called
<literal>allow-all-cookies</literal>.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="multiples">
<title>Can I have separate configurations for different users?</title>
<para>
Each instance of <application>Privoxy</application> has its own
configuration, including such attributes as the TCP port that it listens on.
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What you can do is run multiple instances of <application>Privoxy</application>, each with
a unique
<ulink url="../user-manual/config.html#LISTEN-ADDRESS">listen-address</ulink>
configuration setting, and configuration path, and then
each of these can have their own configurations. Think of it as per-port
configuration.
</para>
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<para>
Simple enough for a few users, but for large installations, consider having
groups of users that might share like configurations.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="whitelists">
<title>Can I set-up Privoxy as a whitelist of
<quote>good</quote> sites?</title>
<para>
Sure. There are a couple of things you can do for simple white-listing.
Here's one real easy one:
</para>
<screen>
############################################################
# Blacklist
############################################################
{ <ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#BLOCK">+block</ulink> }
/ # Block *all* URLs
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############################################################
# Whitelist
############################################################
{ <ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#BLOCK">-block</ulink> }
kids.example.com
toys.example.com
games.example.com</screen>
<para>
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This allows access to only those three sites by first blocking all URLs, and
then subsequently allowing three specific exceptions.
</para>
<para>
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Another approach is <application>Privoxy's</application>
<literal>trustfile</literal> concept, which incorporates the notion of
<quote>trusted referrers</quote>. See the <ulink
url="../user-manual/config.html#TRUSTFILE">Trust documentation</ulink>
for details.
</para>
<para>
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 <ulink url="../user-manual/">the User Manual</ulink>)
so that users can't modify their own configuration and easily circumvent the
whitelist.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="no-adblock">
<title>How can I turn off ad-blocking?</title>
<para>
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Ad blocking is achieved through a complex application of various &my-app;
<ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html">actions</ulink>. These
actions are deployed against simple images, banners, flash animations,
text pages, JavaScript, pop-ups and pop-unders, etc., so its not as simple as
just turning one or two actions off. The various actions that make up
&my-app; ad blocking are hard-coded into the default configuration files. It
has been assumed that everyone using &my-app; is interested in this
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particular feature.
</para>
<para>
If you want to do without this, there are several approaches you can take:
You can manually undo the many block rules in
<filename>default.action</filename>. Or even easier, just create your own
<filename>default.action</filename> file from scratch without the many ad
blocking rules, and corresponding exceptions. Or lastly, if you are not
concerned about the additional blocks that are done for privacy reasons, you
can very easily over-ride <emphasis>all</emphasis> blocking with the
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following very simple rule in your <filename>user.action</filename>:
</para>
<para>
<screen>
# Unblock everybody, everywhere
{ <ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#BLOCK">-block</ulink> }
/ # UN-Block *all* URLs</screen>
</para>
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<para>
Or even a more comprehensive reversing of various ad related actions:
</para>
<para>
<screen>
# Unblock everybody, everywhere, and turn off appropriate filtering, etc
{ <ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#BLOCK">-block</ulink> \
<ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#FILTER-BANNERS-BY-SIZE">-filter{banners-by-size}</ulink> \
<ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#FILTER-BANNERS-BY-LINK">-filter{banners-by-link}</ulink> \
<literal>allow-popups</literal> \
}
/ # UN-Block *all* URLs and allow ads</screen>
</para>
<para>
This last <quote>action</quote> in this compound statement,
<literal>allow-popups</literal>, is an <ulink
url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#ALIASES">alias</ulink> that disables
various pop-up blocking features.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="templates">
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<title>How can I have custom template pages, like the
<emphasis>BLOCKED</emphasis> page?</title>
<para>
&my-app; <quote>templates</quote> are specialized text files utilized by
&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: <filename>templates</filename>. Knowing something about HTML syntax
will of course be helpful.
</para>
<para>
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
<filename>config</filename>. For details, have a look at the <ulink
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url="../user-manual/config.html#templdir">templdir</ulink> option.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="blockall">
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<title>How can I remove the <quote>Go There Anyway</quote> link from
the <emphasis>BLOCKED</emphasis> page?</title>
<para>
There is more than one way to do it (although Perl is not involved).
</para>
<para>
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
might want to build &my-app; from source, and disable various features that are
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available as compile-time options. You should
<command>configure</command> the sources as follows:
</para>
<para>
<screen>
./configure --disable-toggle --disable-editor --disable-force</screen>
</para>
<para>
This will create an executable with hard-coded security features so that
&my-app; does not allow easy bypassing of blocked sites, or changing the
current configuration via any connected user's web browser.
</para>
<para>
Finally, all of these features can also be toggled on/off via options in
<application>Privoxy's</application> main <ulink
url="../user-manual/config.html#ACCESS-CONTROL">config</ulink> file which
means you don't have to recompile anything.
</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect1 id="misc"><title>Miscellaneous</title>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
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<title id="slowsme">How much does Privoxy slow my browsing down? This
has to add extra time to browsing.</title>
<para>
How much of an impact depends on many things, including the CPU of the host
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system, how aggressive the configuration is, which specific actions are being triggered,
the size of the page, the bandwidth of the connection, etc.
</para>
<para>
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Overall, it should not slow you down any in real terms, and may actually help
speed things up since ads, banners and other junk are not typically being
retrieved and displayed. The actual processing time required by
<application>Privoxy</application> itself for each page, is relatively small
in the overall scheme of things, and happens very quickly. This is typically
more than offset by time saved not downloading and rendering ad images and
other junk content (if ad blocking is being used).
</para>
<para>
<quote>Filtering</quote> content via the <literal><ulink
url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#FILTER">filter</ulink></literal> or
<literal><ulink
url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#DEANIMATE-GIFS">deanimate-gifs</ulink></literal>
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.
</para>
<para>
Also, when filtering is enabled but zlib support isn't available, compression
is often disabled (see <ulink
url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#PREVENT-COMPRESSION">prevent-compression</ulink>).
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.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="loadingtimes"><title>I notice considerable
delays in page requests. What's wrong?</title>
<para>
If you use any <literal><ulink
url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#FILTER">filter</ulink></literal> action,
such as filtering banners by size, web-bugs etc, or the <literal><ulink
url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#DEANIMATE-GIFS">deanimate-gifs</ulink></literal>
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action, the entire document must be loaded into memory in order for the filtering
mechanism to work, and nothing is sent to the browser during this time.
</para>
<para>
The loading time typically does not really change much in real numbers, but
the feeling is different, because most browsers are able to start rendering
incomplete content, giving the user a feeling of "it works". This effect is
more noticeable on slower dialup connections. Extremely large documents
may have some impact on the time to load the page where there is filtering
being done. But overall, the difference should be very minimal. If there is a
big impact, then probably some other situation is contributing (like
anti-virus software).
</para>
<para>
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Filtering is automatically disabled for inappropriate MIME types. But note
that if the web server mis-reports the MIME type, then content that should
not be filtered, could be. <application>Privoxy</application> only knows how
to differentiate filterable content because of the MIME type as reported by
the server, or because of some configuration setting that enables/disables
filtering.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="configurl"><title>What are "http://config.privoxy.org/" and
"http://p.p/"?</title>
<para>
<ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink> is the
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address of <application>Privoxy</application>'s built-in user interface, and
<ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink> is a shortcut for it.
</para>
<para>
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Since <application>Privoxy</application> sits between your web browser and the Internet,
it can simply intercept requests for these addresses and answer them with its built-in
<quote>web server</quote>.
</para>
<para>
This also makes for a good test for your browser configuration: If entering the
URL <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
takes you to a page saying <quote>This is Privoxy ...</quote>, everything is OK.
If you get a page saying <quote>Privoxy is not working</quote> instead, then
your browser didn't use <application>Privoxy</application> for the request,
hence it could not be intercepted, and you have accessed the <emphasis>real</emphasis>
web site at config.privoxy.org.
</para>
</sect2>
<!--
out of date 09/02/06 HB
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="blocklist"><title>Do you still maintain the blocklists?</title>
<para>
No. The patterns for blocking now reside (among other things) in the <ulink
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url="../user-manual/actions-file.html">actions files</ulink>, which are
actively maintained instead. See next question ...
</para>
</sect2>
-->
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="newads"><title>How can I submit new ads, or report
problems?</title>
<para>
Please see the <link linkend="contact">Contact section</link> for
various ways to interact with the developers.
</para>
</sect2>
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<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="newads2"><title>If I do submit missed ads, will
they be included in future updates?</title>
<para>
Whether such submissions are eventually included in the
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<filename>default.action</filename> configuration file depends on how
significant the issue is. We of course want to address any potential
problem with major, high-profile sites such as <citetitle>Google</citetitle>,
<citetitle>Yahoo</citetitle>, etc. Any site with global or regional reach,
has a good chance of being a candidate. But at the other end of the spectrum
are any number of smaller, low-profile sites such as for local clubs or
schools. Since their reach and impact are much less, they are best handled by
inclusion in the user's <filename>user.action</filename>, and thus would be
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unlikely to be included.
</para>
</sect2>
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<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="noonecares"><title>Why doesn't anyone answer my support
request?</title>
<para>
Rest assured that it has been read and considered. Why it is not answered,
could be for various reasons, including no one has a good answer for it, no
one has had time to yet investigate it thoroughly, it has been reported
numerous times already, or because not enough information was provided to help
us help you. Your efforts are not wasted, and we do appreciate them.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="ip"><title>How can I hide my IP address?</title>
<para>
If you run both the browser and &my-app; locally, you cannot hide your IP
address with <application>Privoxy</application> or ultimately any other
software alone. The server needs to know your IP address so that it knows
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where to send the responses back.
</para>
<para>
There are many publicly usable "anonymous" proxies out there, which
provide a further level of indirection between you and the web server.
</para>
<para>
However, these proxies are called "anonymous" because you don't need
to authenticate, not because they would offer any real anonymity.
Most of them will log your IP address and make it available to the
authorities in case you violate the law of the country they run in. In fact
you can't even rule out that some of them only exist to *collect* information
on (those suspicious) people with a more than average preference for privacy.
</para>
<para>
If you want to hide your IP address from most adversaries,
you should consider chaining <application>Privoxy</application>
with <ulink url="https://www.torproject.org/">Tor</ulink>.
The configuration details can be found in
<ulink url="#TOR">How do I use <application>Privoxy</application> together
with <application>Tor</application> section</ulink>
just below.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
<title id="anonforsure">Can Privoxy guarantee I am anonymous?</title>
<para>
No. Your chances of remaining anonymous are improved, but unless you
<ulink url="#TOR">chain <application>Privoxy</application> with <application>Tor</application></ulink>
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.
</para>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> can remove various information about you,
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and allows <emphasis>you</emphasis> more freedom to decide which sites
you can trust, and what details you want to reveal. But it neither
hides your IP address, nor can it guarantee that the rest of the system
behaves correctly. There are several possibilities how a web sites can find
out who you are, even if you are using a strict <application>Privoxy</application>
configuration and chained it with <application>Tor</application>.
</para>
<para>
Most of <application>Privoxy's</application> privacy-enhancing features can be easily subverted
by an insecure browser configuration, therefore you should use a browser that can
be configured to only execute code from trusted sites, and be careful which sites you trust.
For example there is no point in having <application>Privoxy</application>
modify the User-Agent header, if websites can get all the information they want
through JavaScript, ActiveX, Flash, Java etc.
</para>
<para>
A few browsers disclose the user's email address in certain situations, such
as when transferring a file by FTP. <application>Privoxy</application>
does not filter FTP. If you need this feature, or are concerned about the
mail handler of your browser disclosing your email address, you might
consider products such as <application>NSClean</application>.
</para>
<para>
Browsers available only as binaries could use non-standard headers to give
out any information they can have access to: see the manufacturer's license
agreement. It's impossible to anticipate and prevent every breach of privacy
that might occur. The professionally paranoid prefer browsers available as
source code, because anticipating their behavior is easier. Trust the source,
Luke!
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
<title id="proxytest">A test site says I am not using a Proxy.</title>
<para>
Good! Actually, they are probably testing for some other kinds of proxies.
Hiding yourself completely would require additional steps.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="tor"><title>How do I use Privoxy
together with Tor?</title>
<para>
Before you configure <application>Privoxy</application> to use
<ulink url="https://www.torproject.org/">Tor</ulink>,
please follow the <citetitle>User Manual</citetitle> chapters
<ulink url="../user-manual/installation.html">2. Installation</ulink> and
<ulink url="../user-manual/startup.html">5. Startup</ulink> to make sure
<application>Privoxy</application> itself is setup correctly.
</para>
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<para>
If it is, refer to <ulink url="https://www.torproject.org/documentation.html">Tor's
extensive documentation</ulink> to learn how to install <application>Tor</application>,
and make sure <application>Tor</application>'s logfile says that
<quote>Tor has successfully opened a circuit</quote> and it
<quote>looks like client functionality is working</quote>.
</para>
<para>
If either <application>Tor</application> or <application>Privoxy</application>
isn't working, their combination most likely will neither. Testing them on their
own will also help you to direct problem reports to the right audience.
If <application>Privoxy</application> isn't working, don't bother the
<application>Tor</application> developers. If <application>Tor</application>
isn't working, don't send bug reports to the <application>Privoxy</application> Team.
</para>
<para>
If you verified that <application>Privoxy</application> and <application>Tor</application>
are working, it is time to connect them. As far as <application>Privoxy</application>
is concerned, <application>Tor</application> is just another proxy that can be reached
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by socks4 or socks4a. Most likely you are interested in <application>Tor</application>
to increase your anonymity level, therefore you should use socks4a, to make sure DNS requests are
done through <application>Tor</application> and thus invisible to your local network.
</para>
<![%p-newstuff;[
<para>
Since <application>Privoxy</application> 3.0.5, its
<ulink url="../user-manual/config.html">main configuration file</ulink>
is already prepared for <application>Tor</application>, if you are using a
default <application>Tor</application> configuration and run it on the same
system as &my-app;, you just have to edit the
<ulink url="../user-manual/config.html#FORWARDING">forwarding section</ulink>
and uncomment the line:
</para>
<para>
<screen>
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# forward-socks4a / 127.0.0.1:9050 .
</screen>
</para>
<para>
This is enough to reach the Internet, but additionally you might want to
uncomment the following forward rules, to make sure your local network is still
reachable through Privoxy:
</para>
<para>
<screen>
# forward 192.168.*.*/ .
# forward 10.*.*.*/ .
# forward 127.*.*.*/ .
</screen>
</para>
<para>
Unencrypted connections to systems in these address ranges will
be as (un)secure as the local network is, but the alternative is
that your browser can't reach the network at all. Then again,
that may actually be desired and if you don't know for sure
that your browser has to be able to reach the local network,
there's no reason to allow it.
</para>
<para>
If you want your browser to be able to reach servers in your local
network by using their names, you will need additional exceptions
that look like this:
</para>
<para>
<screen>
# forward localhost/ .
</screen>
</para>
<para>
Save the modified configuration file and open
<ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status/</ulink>
in your browser, confirm that <application>Privoxy</application> has reloaded its configuration
and that there are no other forward lines, unless you know that you need them. If everything looks good,
refer to
<ulink url="https://wiki.torproject.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorFAQ#IsMyConnectionPrivate">Tor
Faq 4.2</ulink> to learn how to verify that you are really using <application>Tor</application>.
</para>
<para>
Afterward, please take the time to at least skim through the rest
of <application>Tor's</application> documentation. Make sure you understand
what <application>Tor</application> does, why it is no replacement for
application level security, and why you probably don't want to
use it for unencrypted logins.
</para> ]]>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
<title id="sitebreak">Might some things break because header information or
content is being altered?</title>
<para>
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Definitely. It is common for sites to use browser type, browser version,
HTTP header content, and various other techniques in order to dynamically
decide what to display and how to display it. What you see, and what I see,
might be very different. There are many, many ways that this can be handled,
so having hard and fast rules, is tricky.
</para>
<para>
The <quote>User-Agent</quote> is sometimes used in this way to identify
the browser, and adjust content accordingly.
</para>
<para>
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 <quote>User Agent</quote> with the wrong
operating system or browser manufacturer causes some sites in these languages
to be garbled; Surfers to Eastern European sites should change it to
something closer. And then some page access counters work by looking at the
<quote>Referer</quote> header; they may fail or break if unavailable. The
weather maps of Intellicast have been blocked by their server when no
<quote>Referer</quote> or cookie is provided, is another example. (But you
can forge both headers without giving information away). There are
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
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what went wrong, or why. Nowhere will there be a message that says
<quote><emphasis>Turn off <literal>fast-redirects</literal> or else!</emphasis>
</quote>
</para>
<para>
Similar thoughts apply to modifying JavaScript, and, to a lesser degree,
HTML elements.
</para>
<para>
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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.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
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<title id="caching">Can Privoxy act as a <quote>caching</quote> proxy to
speed up web browsing?</title>
<para>
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No, it does not have this ability at all. You want something like
<ulink url="http://www.squid-cache.org/">Squid</ulink> or
<ulink url="http://www.pps.jussieu.fr/~jch/software/polipo/">Polipo</ulink> for this.
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And, yes, before you ask, <application>Privoxy</application> can co-exist
with other kinds of proxies like <application>Squid</application>.
See the <ulink url="../user-manual/config.html#FORWARDING">forwarding
chapter</ulink> in the <ulink url="../user-manual/index.html">user
manual</ulink> for details.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
<title id="firewall">What about as a firewall? Can Privoxy protect me?</title>
<para>
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Not in the way you mean, or in the way some firewall vendors claim they can.
<application>Privoxy</application> can help protect your privacy, but can't
protect your system from intrusion attempts. It is, of course, perfectly possible
to use <emphasis>both</emphasis>.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
<title id="wasted">I have large empty spaces / a checkerboard pattern now where
ads used to be. Why?</title>
<para>
It is technically possible to eliminate banners and ads in a way that frees
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their allocated page space. This could easily be done by blocking with
<application>Privoxy's</application> filters,
and eliminating the <emphasis>entire</emphasis> image references from the
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HTML page source.
</para>
<para>
But, this would consume considerably more CPU resources (IOW, slow things
down), would likely destroy the layout of some web pages which rely on the
banners utilizing a certain amount of page space, and might fail in other
cases, where the screen space is reserved (e.g. by HTML tables for instance).
Also, making ads and banners disappear without any trace complicates
troubleshooting, and would sooner or later be problematic.
</para>
<para>
The better alternative is to instead let them stay, and block the resulting
requests for the banners themselves as is now the case. This leaves either
empty space, or the familiar checkerboard pattern.
</para>
<para>
So the developers won't support this in the default configuration, but you
can of course define appropriate filters yourself to achieve this.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
<title id="ssl">How can Privoxy filter Secure (HTTPS) URLs?</title>
<para>
Since secure HTTP connections are encrypted SSL sessions between your browser
and the secure site, and are meant to be reliably <emphasis>secure</emphasis>,
there is little that <application>Privoxy</application> can do but hand the raw
gibberish data though from one end to the other unprocessed.
</para>
<para>
The only exception to this is blocking by host patterns, as the client needs
to tell <application>Privoxy</application> the name of the remote server,
so that <application>Privoxy</application> can establish the connection.
If that name matches a host-only pattern, the connection will be blocked.
</para>
<para>
As far as ad blocking is concerned, this is less of a restriction than it may
seem, since ad sources are often identifiable by the host name, and often
the banners to be placed in an encrypted page come unencrypted nonetheless
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for efficiency reasons, which exposes them to the full power of
<application>Privoxy</application>'s ad blocking.
</para>
<para>
<quote>Content cookies</quote> (those that are embedded in the actual HTML or
JS page content, see <literal><ulink
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url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#FILTER-CONTENT-COOKIES">filter{content-cookies}</ulink></literal>),
in an SSL transaction will be impossible to block under these conditions.
Fortunately, this does not seem to be a very common scenario since most
cookies come by traditional means.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
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<title id="secure">Privoxy runs as a <quote>server</quote>. How
secure is it? Do I need to take any special precautions?</title>
<para>
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On Unix-like systems, <application>Privoxy</application> can run as a non-privileged
user, which is how we recommend it be run. Also, by default
<application>Privoxy</application> listens to requests from <quote>localhost</quote>
only.
</para>
<para>
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The server aspect of <application>Privoxy</application> is not itself directly
exposed to the Internet in this configuration. If you want to have
<application>Privoxy</application> serve as a LAN proxy, this will have to
be opened up to allow for LAN requests. In this case, we'd recommend
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you specify only the LAN gateway address, e.g. 192.168.1.1, in the main
<application>Privoxy</application> configuration file and check all <ulink
url="../user-manual/config.html#ACCESS-CONTROL">access control and security
options</ulink>. All LAN hosts can then use this as their proxy address
in the browser proxy configuration, but <application>Privoxy</application>
will not listen on any external interfaces. ACLs can be defined in addition,
and using a firewall is always good too. Better safe than sorry.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="turnoff">
<title>Can I temporarily disable Privoxy?</title>
<para>
&my-app; doesn't have a transparent proxy mode,
but you can toggle off blocking and content filtering.
</para>
<para>
The easiest way to do that is to point your browser
to the remote toggle URL: <ulink
url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle">http://config.privoxy.org/toggle</ulink>.
</para>
<para>
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See the <ulink url="../user-manual/appendix.html#BOOKMARKLETS">Bookmarklets section</ulink>
of the <citetitle>User Manual</citetitle> for an easy way to access this
feature. Note that this is a feature that may need to be enabled in the main
<filename>config</filename> file.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="reallyoff">
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<title>When <quote>disabled</quote> is Privoxy totally
out of the picture?</title>
<para>
No, this just means all optional filtering and actions are disabled.
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<application>Privoxy</application> is still acting as a proxy, but just
doing less of the things that <application>Privoxy</application> would
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normally be expected to do. It is still a <quote>middle-man</quote> in
the interaction between your browser and web sites. See below to bypass
the proxy.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="turnoff2">
<title>How can I tell Privoxy to totally ignore certain sites?</title>
<para>
Bypassing a proxy, or proxying based on arbitrary criteria, is purely a browser
configuration issue, not a &my-app; issue. Modern browsers typically do have
settings for not proxying certain sites. Check your browser's help files.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="crunch">
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<title>My logs show Privoxy <quote>crunches</quote>
ads, but also its own internal CGI pages. What is a <quote>crunch</quote>?</title>
<para>
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A <quote>crunch</quote> simply means <application>Privoxy</application> intercepted
<emphasis>something</emphasis>, nothing more. Often this is indeed ads or
banners, but <application>Privoxy</application> uses the same mechanism for
trapping requests for its own internal pages. For instance, a request for
<application>Privoxy's</application> configuration page at: <ulink
url="http://config.privoxy.org">http://config.privoxy.org</ulink>, is
intercepted (i.e. it does not go out to the 'net), and the familiar CGI
configuration is returned to the browser, and the log consequently will show
a <quote>crunch</quote>.
</para>
<para>
Since version 3.0.7, Privoxy will also log the crunch reason.
If you are using an older version you might want to upgrade.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="downloads">
<title>Can Privoxy effect files that I download
from a webserver? FTP server?</title>
<para>
From the webserver's perspective, there is no difference between
viewing a document (i.e. a page), and downloading a file. The same is true of
<application>Privoxy</application>. If there is a match for a <literal><ulink
url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#BLOCK">block</ulink></literal> pattern,
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it will still be blocked, and of course this is obvious.
</para>
<para>
Filtering is potentially more of a concern since the results are not always
so obvious, and the effects of filtering are there whether the file is simply
viewed, or downloaded. And potentially whether the content is some obnoxious
advertisement, or Mr. Jimmy's latest/greatest source code jewel. Of course,
one of these presumably is <quote>bad</quote> content that we don't want, and
the other is <quote>good</quote> content that we do want.
<application>Privoxy</application> is blind to the differences, and can only
distinguish <quote>good from bad</quote> by the configuration parameters
<emphasis>we</emphasis> give it.
</para>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> knows the differences in files according
to the <quote>Content Type</quote> as reported by the webserver. If this is
reported accurately (e.g. <quote>application/zip</quote> for a zip archive),
then <application>Privoxy</application> knows to ignore these where
appropriate. <application>Privoxy</application> potentially can filter HTML
as well as plain text documents, subject to configuration parameters of
course. Also, documents that are of an unknown type (generally assumed to be
<quote>text/plain</quote>) can be filtered, as will those that might be
incorrectly reported by the webserver. If such a file is a downloaded file
that is intended to be saved to disk, then any content that might have been
altered by filtering, will be saved too, for these (probably rare) cases.
</para>
<para>
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Note that versions later than 3.0.2 do NOT filter document types reported as
<quote>text/plain</quote>. Prior to this, <application>Privoxy</application>
did filter this document type.
</para>
<para>
In short, filtering is <quote>ON</quote> if a) the content type as reported
by the webserver is appropriate <emphasis>and</emphasis> b) the configuration
allows it (or at least does not disallow it). That's it. There is no magic
cookie anywhere to say this is <quote>good</quote> and this is
<quote>bad</quote>. It's the configuration that lets it all happen or not.
</para>
<para>
If you download text files, you probably do not want these to be filtered,
particularly if the content is source code, or other critical content. Source
code sometimes might be mistaken for Javascript (i.e. the kind that might
open a pop-up window). It is recommended to turn off filtering for download
sites (particularly if the content may be plain text files and you are using
version 3.0.2 or earlier) in your <filename>user.action</filename> file. And
also, for any site or page where making <emphasis>any</emphasis> changes at
all to the content is to be avoided.
</para>
<para>
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<application>Privoxy</application> does not do FTP at all, only HTTP
and HTTPS (SSL) protocols.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="downloads2">
<title>I just downloaded a Perl script, and Privoxy
altered it! Yikes, what is wrong!</title>
<para>
Please read above.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="hostsfile">
<title>Should I continue to use a <quote>HOSTS</quote> file for ad-blocking?</title>
<para>
One time-tested technique to defeat common ads is to trick the local DNS
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system by giving a phony IP address for the ad generator in the local
<filename>HOSTS</filename> file, typically using <literal>127.0.0.1</literal>, aka
<literal>localhost</literal>. This effectively blocks the ad.
</para>
<para>
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There is no reason to use this technique in conjunction with
<application>Privoxy</application>. <application>Privoxy</application>
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does essentially the same thing, much more elegantly and with much more
flexibility. A large <filename>HOSTS</filename> file, in fact, not only
duplicates effort, but may get in the way and seriously slow down your system.
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It is recommended to remove such entries from your <filename>HOSTS</filename> file. If you think
your hosts list is neglected by <application>Privoxy's </application>
configuration, consider adding your list to your <filename>user.action</filename> file:
</para>
<para>
<screen>
{ +block }
www.ad.example1.com
ad.example2.com
ads.galore.example.com
etc.example.com</screen>
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="seealso">
<title>Where can I find more information about Privoxy
and related issues?</title>
<!-- Include seealso.sgml boilerplate: -->
&seealso;
<!-- end boilerplate -->
<!--
<para>
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Please see the
<ulink url="../user-manual/seealso.html">user-manual</ulink> for
others references.
</para>
-->
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="microsuck">
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<title>I've noticed that Privoxy changes <quote>Microsoft</quote> to
<quote>MicroSuck</quote>! Why are you manipulating my browsing?</title>
<para>
We're not. The text substitutions that you are seeing are disabled
in the default configuration as shipped. You have either manually
activated the <quote><literal>fun</literal></quote> filter which
is clearly labeled <quote>Text replacements for subversive browsing
fun!</quote> or you are using an older Privoxy version and have implicitly
activated it by choosing the <quote>Advanced</quote> profile in the
web-based editor. Please upgrade.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="valid">
<title>Does Privoxy produce <quote>valid</quote> HTML (or XHTML)?</title>
<para>
Privoxy generates HTML in both its own <quote>templates</quote>, and possibly
whenever there are text substitutions via a &my-app; filter. While this
should always conform to the HTML 4.01 specifications, it has not been
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validated against this or any other standard.
</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect1 id="trouble">
<title>Troubleshooting</title>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
<title id="refused">I cannot connect to any websites. Or, I am getting
<quote>connection refused</quote> message with every web page. Why?</title>
<para>
There are several possibilities:
</para>
<para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>
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<application>Privoxy</application> is not running. Solution: verify
that &my-app; is installed correctly, has not crashed, and is indeed running.
Turn on <application>Privoxy's</application> logging, and look at the logs to see what they say.
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Or your browser is configured for a different port than what
<application>Privoxy</application> is using. Solution: verify that &my-app;
and your browser are set to the same port (<literal>listen-address</literal>).
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Or if using a forwarding rule, you have a configuration problem or a
problem with a host in the forwarding chain. Solution: temporarily alter your
configuration and take the forwarders out of the equation.
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
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Or you have a firewall that is interfering and blocking you. Solution:
try disabling or removing the firewall as a simple test.
</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
</sect2>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="error503">
<title>Why am I getting a 503 Error (WSAECONNREFUSED) on every page?</title>
<para>
More than likely this is a problem with your TCP/IP networking. ZoneAlarm has
been reported to cause this symptom -- even if not running! The solution is
to either fight the ZA configuration, or uninstall ZoneAlarm, and then find
something better behaved in its place. Other personal firewall type products
may cause similar type problems if not configured correctly.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
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<title id="flushit">I just added a new rule, but the steenkin ad is
still getting through. How?</title>
<para>
If the ad had been displayed before you added its URL, it will probably be
held in the browser's cache for some time, so it will be displayed without
the need for any request to the server, and <application>Privoxy</application>
will not be involved. Flush the browser's caches, and then try again.
</para>
<para>
If this doesn't help, you probably have an error in the rule you
applied. Try pasting the full URL of the offending ad into <ulink
url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</ulink>
and see if it really matches your new rule. Blocking ads is like blocking
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spam: a lot of tinkering is required to stay ahead of the game. And
remember you need to block the URL of the ad in question, which may be
entirely different from the site URL itself. Most ads are hosted on different
servers than the main site itself. If you right-click on the ad, you should
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be able to get all the relevant information you need. Alternately, you can
find the correct URL by looking at <application>Privoxy's</application> logs
(you may need to enable logging in the main config file if its disabled).
</para>
<para>
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Below is a slightly modified real-life log snippet that originates with one
requested URL: <literal>www.example.com</literal> (name of site was changed
for this example, the number of requests is real). You can see in this the
complexity of what goes into making up this one <quote>page</quote>. There
are eight different domains involved here, with thirty two separate URLs
requested in all, making up all manner of images, Shockwave Flash,
JavaScript, CSS stylesheets, scripts, and other related content. Some of this
content is obviously <quote>good</quote> or <quote>bad</quote>, but not all.
Many of the more questionable looking requests, are going to outside domains
that seem to be identifying themselves with suspicious looking names, making
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our job a little easier. &my-app; has <quote>crunched</quote> (meaning caught
and BLOCKED) quite a few items in this example, but perhaps missed a few as well.
</para>
<para>
<screen>
<![CDATA[
Request: www.example.com/
Request: www.example.com/favicon.ico
Request: img.example.com/main.css
Request: img.example.com/sr.js
Request: example.betamarker.com/example.html
Request: www.lik-sang.com/Banners/bestsellers/skyscraper.php?likref=BSellers
Request: img.example.com/pb.png
Request: www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js crunch! (Blocked)
Request: www.advertising-department.com/ats/switch.ps.php?26856 crunch! (Blocked)
Request: img.example.com/p.gif
Request: www.popuptraffic.com/assign.php?l=example&mode=behind crunch! (Blocked)
Request: www.popuptraffic.com/scripts/popup.php?hid=5c3cf&tmpl=PBa.tmpl crunch! (Blocked)
Request: www.popuptraffic.com/assign.php?l=example crunch! (Blocked)
Request: www.lik-sang.com/Banners/best_sellers/best_sellers.css
Request: www.adtrak.net/adx.js crunch! (Blocked)
Request: img.example.com/hbg.gif
Request: img.example.com/example.jpg
Request: img.example.com/mt.png
Request: img.example.com/mm.png
Request: img.example.com/mb.png
Request: www.popuptraffic.com/scripts/popup.php?hid=a71b91fa5&tmpl=Ua.tmp crunch! (Blocked)
Request: www.example.com/tracker.js
Request: www.lik-sang.com/Banners/best_sellers/lsi_head.gif
Request: www.adtrak.net/adjs.php?n=020548130&what=zone:61 crunch! (Blocked)
Request: www.adtrak.net/adjs.php?n=463594413&what=zone:58&source=Ua crunch! (Blocked)
Request: www.lik-sang.com/Banners/best_sellers/bottomani.swf
Request: mmm.elitemediagroup.net/install.php?allowpop=no&popupmincook=0&allowsp2=1 crunch! (Blocked)
Request: www.example.com/tracker.js?screen=1400x1050&win=962x693
Request: www.adtrak.net/adlog.php?bannerid=1309&clientid=439&zoneid=61 crunch! (Blocked)
Request: 66.70.21.80/scripts/click.php?hid=5c3cf599a9efd0320d26&si
Request: 66.70.21.80/img/pixel.gif
Request: www.adtrak.net/adlog.php?bannerid=1309&clientid=439&zoneid=58&source=Ua&block=86400 crunch! (Blocked)
Request: 66.70.21.80/scripts/click.php?hid=a71b9f6504b0c5681fa5&si=Ua
]]>
</screen>
</para>
<para>
Despite 12 out of 32 requests being blocked, the page looked, and seemed to
behave perfectly <quote>normal</quote> (minus some ads, of course).
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="badsite" renderas="sect3">
<title >One of my favorite sites does not work with Privoxy.
What can I do?</title>
<para>
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First verify that it is indeed a <application>Privoxy</application> problem,
by toggling off <application>Privoxy</application> through <ulink
url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle">http://config.privoxy.org/toggle</ulink>
(the toggle feature may need to be enabled in the main
<filename>config</filename>),
and then shift-reloading the problem page (i.e. holding down the shift key
while clicking reload. Alternatively, flush your browser's disk and memory
caches).
</para>
<para>
If the problem went away, we know we have a configuration related problem.
Now go to <ulink
url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</ulink>
and paste the full URL of the page in question into the prompt. See which
actions are being applied to the URL, and which matches in which actions
files are responsible for that. It might be helpful also to look at your logs
for this site too, to see what else might be happening (note: logging may need
to be enabled in the main config file). Many sites are
complex and require a number of related pages to help present their content.
Look at what else might be used by the page in question, and what of that
might be <emphasis>required</emphasis>.
Now, armed with this information, go to
<ulink
url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>
and select the appropriate actions files for editing. </para>
<para>
You can now either look for a section which disables the actions that
you suspect to cause the problem and add a pattern for your site there,
or make up a completely new section for your site. In any case, the recommended
way is to disable only the prime suspect, reload the problem page, and only
if the problem persists, disable more and more actions until you have
identified the culprit. You may or may not want to turn the other actions
on again. Remember to flush your browser's caches in between any such changes!
</para>
<para>
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Alternately, if you are comfortable with a text editor, you can accomplish
the same thing by editing the appropriate actions file. Probably the easiest
way to deal with such problems when editing by hand is to add your
site to a <literal>{ fragile }</literal> section in <filename>user.action</filename>,
which is an alias that turns off most <quote>dangerous</quote>
actions, but is also likely to turn off more actions then needed, and thus lower
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your privacy and protection more than necessary,
</para>
<para>
Troubleshooting actions is discussed in more detail in the <ulink
url="../user-manual/appendix.html#ACTIONSANAT">User Manual appendix,
Troubleshooting: the Anatomy of an Action</ulink>.
There is also an <ulink
url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#ACT-EXAMPLES">actions tutorial</ulink>
with general configuration information and examples.
</para>
<para>
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As a last resort, you can always see if your browser has a setting that will
bypass the proxy setting for selective sites. Modern browsers can do this.
</para>
</sect2>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect2 id="dun" renderas="sect3">
<title>After installing Privoxy, I have to log in
every time I start IE. What gives?</title>
<para>
This is a quirk that effects the installation of
<application>Privoxy</application>, in conjunction with Internet Explorer and
Internet Connection Sharing on Windows 2000 and Windows XP. The symptoms may
appear to be corrupted or invalid DUN settings, or passwords.
</para>
<para>
When setting up an NT based Windows system with
<application>Privoxy</application> you may find that things do not seem to be
doing what you expect. When you set your system up you will probably have set
up Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) with Dial up Networking (DUN) when
logged in with administrator privileges. You will probably have made this DUN
connection available to other accounts that you may have set-up on your
system. E.g. Mum or Dad sets up the system and makes accounts suitably
configured for the kids.
</para>
<para>
When setting up <application>Privoxy</application> in this environment you
will have to alter the proxy set-up of Internet Explorer (IE) for the
specific DUN connection on which you wish to use
<application>Privoxy</application>. When you do this the ICS DUN set-up
becomes user specific. In this instance you will see no difference if you
change the DUN connection under the account used to set-up the connection.
However when you do this from another user you will notice that the DUN
connection changes to make available to "Me only". You will also find that
you have to store the password under each different user!
</para>
<para>
The reason for this is that each user's set-up for IE is user specific. Each
set-up DUN connection and each LAN connection in IE store the settings for
each user individually. As such this enforces individual configurations
rather than common ones. Hence the first time you use a DUN connection after
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re-booting your system it may not perform as you expect, and prompt you for
the password. Just set and save the password again and all should be OK.
</para>
<para>
[Thanks to Ray Griffith for this submission.]
</para>
</sect2>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect2 id="ftp" renderas="sect3">
<title>I cannot connect to any FTP sites. Privoxy
is blocking me.</title>
<para>
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<application>Privoxy</application> cannot act as a proxy for FTP traffic,
so do not configure your browser to use <application>Privoxy</application>
as an FTP proxy. The same is true for <emphasis>any protocol other than HTTP
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or HTTPS (SSL)</emphasis>.
</para>
<para>
Most browsers understand FTP as well as HTTP. If you connect to a site, with
a URL like <literal>ftp://ftp.example.com</literal>, your browser is making
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an FTP connection, and not a HTTP connection. So while your browser may
speak FTP, <application>Privoxy</application> does not, and cannot proxy
such traffic.
</para>
<para>
To complicate matters, some systems may have a generic <quote>proxy</quote>
setting, which will enable various protocols, including
<emphasis>both</emphasis> HTTP and FTP proxying! So it is possible to
accidentally enable FTP proxying in these cases. And of course, if this
happens, <application>Privoxy</application> will indeed cause problems since
it does not know FTP. <![%p-newstuff;[Newer version will give a sane error
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message if a FTP connection is attempted.]]> Just disable the FTP setting
and all will be well again.
</para>
<para>
Will <application>Privoxy</application> ever proxy FTP traffic? Unlikely.
There just is not much reason, and the work to make this happen is more than
it may seem.
</para>
</sect2>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect2 id="macosxie" renderas="sect3">
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<title>In Mac OS X, I can't configure Microsoft Internet Explorer to use
Privoxy as the HTTP proxy.</title>
<para>
Microsoft Internet Explorer (in versions like 5.1) respects system-wide
network settings. In order to change the HTTP proxy, open System
Preferences, and click on the Network icon. In the settings pane that
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comes up, click on the Proxies tab. Ensure the "Web Proxy (HTTP)" checkbox
is checked and enter <literal>127.0.0.1</literal> in the entry field.
Enter <literal>8118</literal> in the Port field. The next time you start
IE, it should reflect these values.
</para>
</sect2>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="macosxuninstall">
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<title>In Mac OS X, I dragged the Privoxy folder to the trash in order to
uninstall it. Now the finder tells me I don't have sufficient privileges to
empty the trash.</title>
<para>
Note: This ONLY applies to privoxy 3.0.6 and earlier.
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</para>
<para>
Just dragging the <application>Privoxy</application> folder to the trash is
not enough to delete it. <application>Privoxy</application> supplies an
<application>uninstall.command</application> file that takes care of
these details. Open the trash, drag the <application>uninstall.command</application>
file out of the trash and double-click on it. You will be prompted for
confirmation and the administration password.
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</para>
<para>
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The trash may still appear full after this command; emptying the trash
from the desktop should make it appear empty again.
</para>
</sect2>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="macosximages">
<title>In Mac OS X Panther (10.3), images often fail to load and/or I
experience random delays in page loading. I'm using
<literal>localhost</literal> as my browser's proxy setting.</title>
<para>
We believe this is due to an IPv6-related bug in Mac OS X, but don't fully
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understand the issue yet. In any case, changing the proxy setting to
<literal>127.0.0.1</literal> instead of <literal>localhost</literal>
works around the problem.
</para>
</sect2>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<!-- XXX: Is this still relevant now that we have gzip support? -->
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="blankpage">
<title>I get a completely blank page at one site. <quote>View Source</quote>
shows only: <markup><![CDATA[<html><body></body></html>]]></markup>. Without
Privoxy the page loads fine.</title>
<para>
Chances are that the site suffers from a bug in
<ulink url="http://www.php.net/"><application>PHP</application></ulink>,
which results in empty pages being sent if the client explicitly requests
an uncompressed page, like <application>Privoxy</application> does.
This bug has been fixed in PHP 4.2.3.
</para>
<para>
To find out if this is in fact the source of the problem, try adding
the site to a <literal>-prevent-compression</literal> section in
<filename>user.action</filename>:
</para>
<screen>
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# Make exceptions for ill-behaved sites:
#
{-prevent-compression}
.example.com</screen>
<para>
If that works, you may also want to report the problem to the
site's webmasters, telling them to use zlib.output_compression
instead of ob_gzhandler in their PHP applications (workaround)
or upgrade to PHP 4.2.3 or later (fix).
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="nohostname">
<title>My logs show many <quote>Unable to get my own hostname</quote> lines.
Why?</title>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> tries to get the hostname of the system
its running on from the IP address of the system interface it is bound to
(from the <filename>config</filename> file
<emphasis>listen-address</emphasis> setting). If the system cannot supply
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this information, <application>Privoxy</application> logs this condition.
</para>
<para>
Typically, this would be considered a minor system configuration error. It is
not a fatal error to <application>Privoxy</application> however, but may
result in a much slower response from <application>Privoxy</application> on
some platforms due to DNS timeouts.
</para>
<para>
This can be caused by a problem with the local <filename>hosts</filename>
file. If this file has been changed from the original, try reverting it to
see if that helps. Make sure whatever name(s) are used for the local system,
that they resolve both ways.
</para>
<para>
You should also be able to work around the problem with the
<ulink url="../user-manual/config.html#HOSTNAME">hostname option</ulink>.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="inuse">
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<title>When I try to launch Privoxy, I get an
error message <quote>port 8118 is already in use</quote> (or similar wording).
Why?</title>
<para>
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Port 8118 is <application>Privoxy's</application> default TCP
<quote>listening</quote> port. Typically this message would mean that there
is already one instance of <application>Privoxy</application> running, and
your system is actually trying to start a second
<application>Privoxy</application> on the same port, which will not work.
(You can have multiple instances but they must be assigned different ports.)
How and why this might happen varies from platform to platform, but you need
to check your installation and start-up procedures.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="demoronizer">
<title>
Pages with UTF-8 fonts are garbled.
</title>
<para>
This is caused by the <quote>demoronizer</quote> filter. You should either
upgrade <application>Privoxy</application>, or at least upgrade to the most
recent <filename>default.action</filename> file available from <ulink
url="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11118">SourceForge</ulink>.
Or you can simply disable the demoronizer filter.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="demoronizer2">
<title>
Why are binary files (such as images) corrupted when Privoxy
is used?
</title>
<para>
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This may also be caused by the <quote>demoronizer</quote> filter,
in conjunction with a web server that is misreporting the content type. Binary
files are exempted from <application>Privoxy's</application> filtering
(unless the web server by mistake says the file is something else). Either
upgrade <application>Privoxy</application>, or go to the most recent
<filename>default.action</filename> file available from <ulink
url="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11118">SourceForge</ulink>.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="demoronizer3">
<title>
What is the <quote>demoronizer</quote> and why is it there?
</title>
<para>
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The original demoronizer was a Perl script that cleaned up HTML pages which
were created with certain Microsoft products. MS has used proprietary extensions
to standardized font encodings (ISO 8859-1), which has caused problems for pages
that are viewed with non-Microsoft products (and are expecting to see a
standard set of fonts). The demoronizer corrected these errors so the pages
displayed correctly. <application>Privoxy</application> borrowed from this
script, introducing a filter based on the original demoronizer, which in turn could
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correct these errors on the fly.
</para>
<para>
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But this is only needed in some situations, and will cause serious problems in some
other situations.
</para>
<para>
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If you are using Microsoft products, you do not need it. If you need to view
pages with UTF-8 characters (such as Cyrillic or Chinese), then it will
cause corruption of the fonts, and thus <emphasis>should not be on</emphasis>.
</para>
<para>
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On the other hand, if you use non-Microsoft products, and you occasionally
notice weird characters on pages, you might want to try it.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="windowopen">
<title>
Why do I keep seeing <quote>PrivoxyWindowOpen()</quote> in raw source code?
</title>
<para>
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<application>Privoxy</application> is attempting to disable malicious
<ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javascript">Javascript</ulink>
in this case, with the <literal>unsolicited-popups</literal>
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filter. <application>Privoxy</application> cannot tell very well
<quote>good</quote> code snippets from <quote>bad</quote> code snippets.
</para>
<para>
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If you see this in HTML source, and the page displays without problems, then
this is good, and likely some pop-up window was disabled. If you see this
where it is causing a problem, such as a downloaded program source code file,
then you should set an exception for this site or page such that the
integrity of the page stays in tact by disabling all filtering.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="dnserrors">
<title>
I am getting too many DNS errors like <quote>404 No Such Domain</quote>. Why
can't Privoxy do this better?
</title>
<para>
There are potentially several factors here. First of all, the DNS resolution
is done by the underlying operating system -- not
<application>Privoxy</application> itself. <application>Privoxy</application>
merely initiates the process and hands it off, and then later reports
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 <quote>www.</quote> to the URL).
</para>
<para>
In other cases, if <application>Privoxy</application> is being chained
with another proxy, this could complicate the issue, and cause undue
delays and timeouts. In the case of a <quote>socks4a</quote> proxy, the socks
server handles all the DNS. <application>Privoxy</application> would just be
the <quote>messenger</quote> which is reporting whatever problem occurred
downstream, and not the root cause of the error.
</para>
<![%p-newstuff;[
<para>
In any case, versions newer than 3.0.3 include various improvements to help
<application>Privoxy</application> better handle these cases.
</para>]]>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="allcpu">
<title>
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At one site Privoxy just hangs, and starts taking
all CPU. Why is this?
</title>
<para>
This is probably a manifestation of the <quote>100% cpu</quote> problem that
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occurs on pages containing many (thousands upon thousands) of blank lines. The blank lines
are in the raw HTML source of the page, and the browser just ignores them. But the
pattern matching in <application>Privoxy's</application> page filtering
mechanism is trying to match against absurdly long strings and this becomes
very CPU-intensive, taking a long, long time to complete.
</para>
<para>
Until a better solution comes along, disable filtering on these pages,
particularly the <literal>js-annoyances</literal> and
<literal>unsolicited-popups</literal> filters. If you run into this problem
with a recent &my-app; version, please send a problem report.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="slowcrawl">
<title>I just installed Privoxy, and all my
browsing has slowed to a crawl. What gives? </title>
<para>
This should not happen, and for the overwhelming number of users world-wide,
it does not happen. I would suspect some inadvertent interaction of software
components such as anti-virus software, spyware protectors, personal
firewalls or similar components. Try disabling (or uninstalling) these one
at a time and see if that helps. Either way, if you are using a
recent &my-app; version, please report the problem.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="preventcomp">
<title>Why do my filters work on some sites but not on others? </title>
<para>
It's probably due to compression. It is a common practice for web servers to
send their content <quote>compressed</quote> in order to speed things up, and
then let the browser <quote>uncompress</quote> them. When compiled with zlib support
&my-app; can decompress content before filtering, otherwise you may want to enable
<ulink
url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#PREVENT-COMPRESSION">prevent-compression</ulink>.
</para>
<para>
As of &my-app; 3.0.9, zlib support is enabled in the default builds.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="ssl-warnings">
<title>On some HTTPS sites my browser warns me about unauthenticated content,
the URL bar doesn't get highlighted and the lock symbol appears to be broken.
What's going on?</title>
<para>
Probably the browser is requesting ads through HTTPS and &my-app;
is blocking the requests. Privoxy's error messages are delivered
unencrypted and while it's obvious for the browser that the HTTPS
request is already blocked by the proxy, some warn about unauthenticated
content anyway.
</para>
<para>
To work around the problem you can redirect those requests to an invalid
local address instead of blocking them. While the redirects aren't
encrypted either, many browsers don't care. They simply follow the
redirect, fail to reach a server and display an error message instead
of the ad.
</para>
<para>
To do that, enable logging to figure out which requests get blocked by
&my-app; and add the hosts (no path patterns) to a section like this:
</para>
<para>
<screen>
<![CDATA[
{+redirect{http://127.0.0.1:0/} -block -limit-connect}
.ivwbox.de:443/
]]>
</screen>
</para>
<para>
Additionally you have to configure your browser to contact
<quote>127.0.0.1:0</quote> directly (instead of through &my-app;).
</para>
<para>
To add a proxy exception in <application>Mozilla Firefox</application>
open the <quote>Preferences</quote>, click the <quote>Settings</quote>
button located on the <quote>Network</quote> tab in the <quote>Advanced</quote>
section, and add <quote>127.0.0.1:0</quote> in the <quote>No Proxy for:</quote>
field.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="se-linux">
<title>I get selinux error messages. How can I fix this?</title>
<para>
Please report the problem to the creator of your selinux policies.
</para>
<para>
The problem is that some selinux policy writers aren't familiar
with the application they are trying to <quote>secure</quote> and
thus create policies that make no sense.
</para>
<para>
In <application>Privoxy's</application> case the problem usually
is that the policy only allows outgoing connections for certain
destination ports (e.g. 80 and 443). While this may cover the
standard ports, websites occasionally use other ports as well.
This isn't a security problem and therefore <application>Privoxy's</application>
default configuration doesn't block these requests.
</para>
<para>
If you really want to block these ports (and don't be able
to load websites that don't use standard ports), you should
configure Privoxy to block these ports as well, so it doesn't
trigger the selinux warnings.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="gentoo-ricers">
<title>I compiled &my-app; with Gentoo's portage and it appears to be very slow. Why?</title>
<para>
Probably you unintentionally compiled &my-app; without threading support
in which case requests have to be serialized and only one can be served
at the same time.
</para>
<para>
Check your <quote>USE</quote> flags and make sure they include
<quote>threads</quote>. If they don't, add the flag and rebuild &my-app;.
</para>
<para>
If you compiled &my-app; with threading support (on POSIX-based systems),
the <quote>Conditional #defines</quote> section on <ulink
url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>
2012-06-28 03:42:39 +00:00
will list <quote>FEATURE_PTHREAD</quote> as <quote>enabled</quote>.
</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect1 id="contact"><title>Contacting the developers, Bug Reporting and Feature Requests</title>
<!-- Include contacting.sgml -->
&contacting;
<!-- end contacting -->
</sect1>
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<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect1 id="copyright"><title>Privoxy Copyright, License and History</title>
<!-- Include copyright.sgml -->
&copyright;
<!-- end -->
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<para>
Portions of this document are <quote>borrowed</quote> from the original
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<application>Junkbuster</application> (tm) FAQ, and modified as
appropriate for <application>Privoxy</application>.
</para>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect2><title>License</title>
<!-- Include copyright.sgml: -->
&license;
<!-- end copyright -->
</sect2>
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect2><title>History</title>
<!-- Include history.sgml -->
&history;
<!-- end -->
</sect2>
</sect1>
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
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<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<!--
<sect1 id="seealso"><title>See also</title>
-->
<!-- Include seealso.sgml -->
<!--
&see;
-->
<!-- end -->
<!--
</sect1>
-->
<!-- hhmts end -->
<!--
Tue 09/11/01 06:38:14 PM EST: Test SGML doc by Hal Burgiss.
2012-06-28 03:42:39 +00:00
This program is free software; you can redistribute it
and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General
Public License as published by the Free Software
Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at
your option) any later version.
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.
The GNU General Public License should be included with
this file. If not, you can view it at
http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
2012-06-28 03:42:39 +00:00
or write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA
$Log: faq.sgml,v $
Revision 2.58 2009/03/21 12:27:44 fabiankeil
Turn the donation entry title into a question,
also rephrase the content a bit.
Revision 2.57 2009/03/19 19:07:49 fabiankeil
First draft of a "Donating" entry. To be polished tomorrow.
Revision 2.56 2009/02/19 17:05:05 fabiankeil
Explain slowness when build with Gentoo's portage.
Revision 2.55 2009/02/19 02:20:21 hal9
Make some links in seealso conditional. Man page is now privoxy only links.
Revision 2.54 2009/02/15 20:47:12 hal9
Fix small typo.
Revision 2.53 2009/02/15 20:46:13 hal9
Update Outlook HTML rendering engine comments re: Office 2007.
Revision 2.52 2009/02/14 10:27:52 fabiankeil
Finish last paragraph in the selinux entry which
I unintentionally committed with the last commit.
Revision 2.51 2009/02/12 16:08:26 fabiankeil
Declare the code stable.
Revision 2.50 2009/02/11 18:13:36 fabiankeil
State the obvious.
Revision 2.49 2009/02/10 16:30:20 fabiankeil
Add a workaround for "unauthenticated content" warnings on HTTPS sites.
Revision 2.48 2009/01/13 16:50:35 fabiankeil
The standard.action file is gone.
Revision 2.47 2008/11/24 18:29:39 fabiankeil
Two changes suggested by Roger Dingledine:
- Use https://www.torproject.org/ in section 4.7, too.
- Replace the Tor wiki URL in section 4.10 with one
with a more useful anchor name.
Revision 2.46 2008/08/30 15:37:35 fabiankeil
Update entities.
Revision 2.45 2008/08/16 08:51:28 fabiankeil
Update version-related entities.
Revision 2.44 2008/06/19 01:41:36 hal9
Add short note about zlib being enabled in 3.0.9
Revision 2.43 2008/06/14 13:21:25 fabiankeil
Prepare for the upcoming 3.0.9 beta release.
Revision 2.42 2008/06/07 13:11:15 fabiankeil
- Note that the "100% cpu problem" is worth
reporting if it happens with a recent release.
- Mention the hostname option as a workaround for
the "can't get my own hostname" issue.
- The profile formerly known as "Adventuresome"
is called "Advanced" now.
- Some white-space fixes.
Revision 2.41 2008/06/06 15:32:09 fabiankeil
- Minor rewordings.
- Don't claim that all the old Junkbuster features remain.
Some of them have been removed or replaced with better ones.
Revision 2.40 2008/02/22 05:54:27 markm68k
updates for mac os x
Revision 2.39 2008/02/03 21:37:41 hal9
Apply patch from Mark: s/OSX/OS X/
Revision 2.38 2008/01/19 17:52:39 hal9
Re-commit to fix various minor issues for new release.
Revision 2.37 2008/01/19 15:03:05 hal9
Doc sources tagged for 3.0.8 release.
Revision 2.36 2008/01/17 01:49:51 hal9
Change copyright notice for docs s/2007/2008/. All these will be rebuilt soon
enough.
Revision 2.35 2007/11/19 17:57:59 fabiankeil
A bunch of rewordings, minor updates and fixes.
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.
Revision 2.32 2007/11/13 03:03:42 hal9
Various changes to reflect new features and revised configuration for the
upcoming release.
Revision 2.31 2007/11/05 02:34:53 hal9
Various changes in preparation for the upcoming release. Much yet to be done.
Revision 2.30 2007/11/04 15:16:40 hal9
Fix one silly typo.
Revision 2.29 2007/11/04 15:12:47 hal9
Various minor adjustments.
Revision 2.28 2007/10/27 15:14:16 fabiankeil
Change Tor links to use the new domain torproject.org.
Revision 2.27 2007/10/22 19:47:05 fabiankeil
- Bump version and copyright.
- Adjust Tor section to make it clear that forward exceptions
aren't required and may not even be desired.
- A bunch of other minor rewordings.
- Fix markup problems Roland noticed (hopefully without adding new ones).
Revision 2.26 2007/08/05 15:37:55 fabiankeil
- Don't claim that thousands of people read our code.
- Specify the GPL version and link to GPLv2 instead of v3.
- Note that configuration syntax may change between releases.
- Mention zlib support.
- Answer the "transparent proxy" question properly.
- Add "intercepting proxy" entry.
- Mention Polipo.
- Rephrase some other sentences for various reasons.
Revision 2.25 2007/07/18 11:00:34 hal9
Add misc note about valid mark-up in Privoxy.
Revision 2.24 2006/11/14 01:57:46 hal9
Dump all docs prior to 3.0.6 release. Various minor changes to faq and user
manual.
Revision 2.23 2006/10/21 22:19:52 hal9
Two new FAQs, a rewrite or two, and some touch ups.
Revision 2.22 2006/10/14 20:33:10 hal9
Three new FAQ's re: templates and blocking, and various minor touch-ups/improvements.
Revision 2.21 2006/10/03 14:40:51 fabiankeil
Added links from the Tor faq to the
configuration chapter in the User Manual.
Revision 2.20 2006/09/26 10:12:37 fabiankeil
Spelling fix.
Revision 2.19 2006/09/22 10:54:32 hal9
Change references to 3.0.4 to 3.0.5 and minor adjustments.
Revision 2.18 2006/09/22 01:27:55 hal9
Final commit of probably various minor changes here and there. Unless
something changes this should be ready for pending release.
Revision 2.17 2006/09/17 14:56:32 hal9
This includes yet several more new FAQs, some improved wording, enhanced
mark-up, various hyper links to wikipedia to explain key terminology to the
uninitiated, etc. This is ready for release IMO pending final tagging of cvs
and Privoxy version stamping.
Revision 2.16 2006/09/10 15:30:46 hal9
Spell check.
Revision 2.15 2006/09/08 23:05:07 hal9
Fix broken links. Add faq on hosts files. Move most of new windows service
feature to user manual and reference in faq. Various other small changes.
Revision 2.14 2006/09/05 13:25:12 david__schmidt
Add Windows service invocation stuff (duplicated) in FAQ and in user manual under Windows startup. One probably ought to reference the other.
Revision 2.13 2006/09/04 19:20:33 fabiankeil
Adjusted anonymity related sections to match reality.
Added a section about using Privoxy with Tor.
Revision 2.12 2006/09/03 14:15:30 hal9
Various updates, including 7 or 8 new FAQs, and updates/changes to various
other ones to better reflect improvements, additions and changes for the
upcoming release. This is close to final form for 3.0.4 IMHO.
Revision 2.11 2006/07/18 14:48:50 david__schmidt
Reorganizing the repository: swapping out what was HEAD (the old 3.1 branch)
with what was really the latest development (the v_3_0_branch branch)
Revision 1.61.2.41 2004/04/05 13:44:05 oes
Fixed allow-all-cookies alias name; closes SR #929746
Revision 1.61.2.40 2004/01/30 17:00:33 oes
Added Mac OS X Panther problem
Revision 1.61.2.39 2004/01/29 22:53:08 hal9
Minor changes for exempting docs of text/plain. Change copyright date.
Revision 1.61.2.38 2003/12/10 03:39:45 hal9
Added FAQs for: demoronizer, related problems and why its included. Also,
port 8118 already in use questions, and PrivoxyWindowOpen() questions. All in
troubleshooting section.
Revision 1.61.2.37 2003/10/17 11:01:50 oes
Added Q&A for "not being used" page problem
Revision 1.61.2.36 2003/06/26 23:49:20 hal9
More on the filter/source code problem.
Revision 1.61.2.35 2003/06/26 13:38:08 hal9
Add FAQ on whether configuring Privoxy is necessary or not.
Revision 1.61.2.34 2003/06/26 03:00:03 hal9
Sorry, found another copyright date.
Revision 1.61.2.33 2003/06/26 02:57:05 hal9
Fix typo (finally!) and very minor modifications.
Revision 1.61.2.32 2003/06/26 02:52:04 hal9
Test, no changes.
Revision 1.61.2.31 2003/06/25 01:27:51 hal9
Fix copyright, and a few nits.
Revision 1.61.2.30 2003/06/25 01:13:52 hal9
Add:
- FAQ on "Unable to get my own hostname"
- Another one on filtering effects on text files.
Revision 1.61.2.29 2003/06/15 21:32:58 hal9
Add to the 4.17 (filtering effects on downloaded files).
Revision 1.61.2.28 2003/03/18 19:37:21 oes
s/Advanced|Radical/Adventuresome/g to avoid complaints re fun filter
Revision 1.61.2.27 2002/12/01 06:31:58 hal9
Add faq on win32 error 503 due to ZoneAlarm.
Revision 1.61.2.26 2002/11/17 06:41:06 hal9
Move default profiles table from FAQ to U-M, and other minor related changes.
Add faq on cookies.
Revision 1.61.2.25 2002/10/29 03:21:50 hal9
Add 3 Q/A's relating to HTML in email. Other minor touchups.
Revision 1.61.2.24 2002/10/15 12:50:22 oes
s/Advanced/Radical/ (stupid me)
Revision 1.61.2.23 2002/10/15 12:38:56 oes
Added Microsuck faq; more detail for PHP problem
Revision 1.61.2.22 2002/10/12 01:13:13 hal9
Updates for demoronizer, more commentary on Radical profile, and update on
the srvany.exe/icon fix.
Revision 1.61.2.21 2002/10/10 04:09:35 hal9
s/Advanced/Radical/ and added very brief note.
Revision 1.61.2.20 2002/09/26 01:22:45 hal9
Small additions for LAN setup, content-cookies/SSL, and FTP non-support.
Revision 1.61.2.19 2002/08/25 23:31:56 hal9
Fix one grammatical error. Add brief FAQ relating to tranparent proxies (ie
port 80 setting). Add FAQ on effects of Privoxy on downloaded files
(especially filtering).
Revision 1.61.2.18 2002/08/14 16:39:37 hal9
Fix wrong tag on FAQ addition.
Revision 1.61.2.17 2002/08/14 00:01:18 hal9
Add a crunch FAQ.
Revision 1.61.2.16 2002/08/13 00:10:38 hal9
Add faq to troubleshooting re: blank page syndrome, ie {-prevent-compression}.
Revision 1.61.2.15 2002/08/10 11:34:22 oes
Add disclaimer about probably being out-of-date
Revision 1.61.2.14 2002/08/07 02:53:43 hal9
Fix some minor markup errors, and move one Mac OS X Q/A to troubleshooting section.
Revision 1.61.2.13 2002/08/06 11:55:32 oes
Added missing close tag
Revision 1.61.2.12 2002/08/06 11:43:46 david__schmidt
Updated Mac OS X uninstall FAQ... we have an uninstall script now.
Revision 1.61.2.11 2002/08/06 08:54:03 oes
Style police: Fixed formatting details
Revision 1.61.2.10 2002/08/02 14:00:25 david__schmidt
Made the Mac OS X removal commands far less dangerous
Revision 1.61.2.9 2002/08/02 13:14:45 oes
Added warning about sudo rm -r for Mac OS X deinstallation; moved this item to install section
Revision 1.61.2.8 2002/08/02 02:01:42 david__schmidt
Add FAQ item for MSIE on Mac OS X HTTP proxy confusion
Revision 1.61.2.7 2002/08/02 01:46:01 david__schmidt
Added FAQ item for Mac OS X uninstall woes
Revision 1.61.2.6 2002/07/30 20:04:56 hal9
Fix typo: 'schould'.
Revision 1.61.2.5 2002/07/26 15:22:58 oes
- Updated to reflect changes in standard.action
- Added info on where to get updated actions files
Revision 1.61.2.4 2002/07/25 21:42:29 hal9
Add brief notes on not proxying non-HTTP protocols.
Revision 1.61.2.3 2002/06/09 16:36:33 hal9
Clarifications on filtering and MIME. Hardcode 'latest release' in index.html.
Revision 1.61.2.2 2002/06/06 02:51:34 hal9
Fix typo in URL http:/config.privoxy.org
Revision 1.61.2.1 2002/06/05 23:10:43 hal9
Add new FAQ re: DUN/IE. Change release date from May to June :)
Revision 1.61 2002/05/25 12:37:25 hal9
Various minor changes and edits.
Revision 1.60 2002/05/22 17:17:48 oes
Proofread & added more links into u-m
Revision 1.59 2002/05/15 04:03:30 hal9
Fix ulink -> link markup.
Revision 1.58 2002/05/10 01:48:20 hal9
This is mostly proposed copyright/licensing additions and changes. Docs
are still GPL, but licensing and copyright are more visible. Also, copyright
changed in doc header comments (eliminate references to JB except FAQ).
Revision 1.57 2002/05/05 20:26:02 hal9
Sorting out license vs copyright in these docs.
Revision 1.56 2002/05/04 08:44:44 swa
bumped version
Revision 1.55 2002/05/04 00:41:56 hal9
-Remove TOC/first page kludge in favor of proper handling via dsl file.
Revision 1.54 2002/05/03 05:06:44 hal9
Add brief Q/A on transparent proxies.
Revision 1.53 2002/05/03 01:34:52 hal9
Fix section numbering for new sections (due to TOC kludge).
Revision 1.52 2002/04/29 03:08:43 hal9
-Added new Q/A on new actions file set up (pointer to u-m)
-Fixed a few broken links and converted old actions as a result of
recent changes.
Revision 1.51 2002/04/26 17:24:31 swa
bookmarks cleaned, changed structure of user manual, screen and programlisting cleanups, and numerous other changes that I forgot
Revision 1.50 2002/04/26 05:25:23 hal9
Mass commit to catch a few scattered fixes.
Revision 1.49 2002/04/12 10:10:18 swa
version update
Revision 1.48 2002/04/10 18:45:15 swa
generated
Revision 1.47 2002/04/10 04:05:32 hal9
More on BML, etc.
Revision 1.45 2002/04/08 22:59:26 hal9
Version update. Spell chkconfig correctly :)
Revision 1.44 2002/04/07 21:24:29 hal9
Touch up on name change.
Revision 1.43 2002/04/04 21:59:53 hal9
Added NT/W2K service/icon situation.
Revision 1.42 2002/04/04 18:46:47 swa
consistent look. reuse of copyright, history et. al.
Revision 1.41 2002/04/04 06:48:37 hal9
Structural changes to allow for conditional inclusion/exclusion of content
based on entity toggles, e.g. 'entity % p-not-stable "INCLUDE"'. And
definition of internal entities, e.g. 'entity p-version "2.9.13"' that will
eventually be set by Makefile.
More boilerplate text for use across multiple docs.
Revision 1.40 2002/04/03 04:22:03 hal9
Fixed several typos.
Revision 1.39 2002/04/03 03:53:03 hal9
Revert some changes, and then make some news, to layout, and appearance.
Revision 1.38 2002/04/02 03:49:10 hal9
Major changes to doc structure and layout. Sections are not automatically
numbered now. TOC is on page by itself.
Revision 1.37 2002/04/01 16:24:07 hal9
-Rework of supported Q/A.
-Set up entities to include boilerplate text.
Revision 1.36 2002/03/31 23:18:47 hal9
More on dealing with BLOCKED.
Revision 1.35 2002/03/30 04:14:19 hal9
Fix privoxy.org/config links.
Revision 1.34 2002/03/29 04:35:56 hal9
Touch ups.
Revision 1.33 2002/03/29 01:31:48 hal9
Several new Q/A's and other touch ups.
Revision 1.32 2002/03/27 00:57:03 hal9
Touch ups for name change.
Revision 1.31 2002/03/26 22:29:55 swa
we have a new homepage!
Revision 1.30 2002/03/25 16:39:22 hal9
A few new sections. Made all links relative to user-manual.
Revision 1.29 2002/03/25 05:23:57 hal9
Moved section, and touch ups.
Revision 1.28 2002/03/25 04:27:33 hal9
New section related to name change.
Revision 1.25 2002/03/24 16:08:08 swa
we are too lazy to make a block-built
privoxy logo. hence removed the option.
Revision 1.24 2002/03/24 15:46:20 swa
name change related issue.
Revision 1.23 2002/03/24 12:33:01 swa
more additions.
Revision 1.22 2002/03/24 11:51:00 swa
name change. changed filenames.
Revision 1.21 2002/03/24 11:01:06 swa
name change
Revision 1.20 2002/03/23 15:13:11 swa
renamed every reference to the old name with foobar.
fixed "application foobar application" tag, fixed
"the foobar" with "foobar". left junkbustser in cvs
comments and remarks to history untouched.
Revision 1.19 2002/03/21 17:01:54 hal9
Some touch ups.
Revision 1.18 2002/03/18 16:40:31 hal9
More additions.
Revision 1.17 2002/03/18 03:53:53 hal9
Some new additions.
Revision 1.16 2002/03/17 21:32:56 hal9
A few more additions.
Revision 1.15 2002/03/17 07:25:59 hal9
Correcting some of my typos, and some additions.
Revision 1.14 2002/03/17 02:39:13 hal9
A little more added ...
Revision 1.13 2002/03/17 00:22:20 hal9
Adding new stuff, and trying to incorporate stuff from old faq.
Revision 1.12 2002/03/11 20:13:21 swa
typo
Revision 1.11 2002/03/11 18:42:27 swa
new section
Revision 1.10 2002/03/11 13:13:27 swa
correct feedback channels
Revision 1.9 2002/03/10 23:34:04 swa
more info on not hiding ip address
Revision 1.8 2002/03/09 15:55:48 swa
added default config section
Revision 1.7 2002/03/07 18:16:55 swa
looks better
Revision 1.6 2002/03/07 13:16:31 oes
Committing changes by Stefan
Revision 1.5 2002/03/02 15:50:04 swa
2.9.11 version. more input for docs.
Revision 1.4 2002/02/24 14:34:24 jongfoster
Formatting changes. Now changing the doctype to DocBook XML 4.1
will work - no other changes are needed.
Revision 1.3 2001/09/23 10:13:48 swa
upload process established. run make webserver and
the documentation is moved to the webserver. documents
are now linked correctly.
Revision 1.2 2001/09/13 15:20:17 swa
merged standards into developer manual
Revision 1.1 2001/09/12 15:36:41 swa
source files for junkbuster documentation
Revision 1.3 2001/09/10 17:43:59 swa
first proposal of a structure.
Revision 1.2 2001/06/13 14:28:31 swa
docs should have an author.
Revision 1.1 2001/06/13 14:20:37 swa
first import of project's documentation for the webserver.
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