/*********************************************************************
 *
 * File        :  $Source: /cvsroot/ijbswa/current/README,v $
 *
 * Purpose     :  README file to give a short intro.
 *
 * Copyright   :  Written by and Copyright (C) 2001 - 2006  the SourceForge
 *                Privoxy team. http://www.privoxy.org/
 *
 *                Based on the Internet Junkbuster originally written
 *                by and Copyright (C) 1997 Anonymous Coders and 
 *                Junkbusters Corporation.  http://www.junkbusters.com
 *
 *                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
 *                or write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 
 *                51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, 
 *                USA
 *
 *********************************************************************/

This README is included with Privoxy 3.0.6. See http://www.privoxy.org/ for
more information. The current code maturity level is "stable".

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Privoxy is a web proxy with advanced filtering capabilities for protecting
privacy, modifying web page data, managing cookies, controlling access, and
removing ads, banners, pop-ups and other obnoxious Internet junk. Privoxy has a
very flexible configuration and can be customized to suit individual needs and
tastes. Privoxy has application for both stand-alone systems and multi-user
networks.

Privoxy is based on Internet Junkbuster (tm).

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1. IMPORTANT CHANGES

NEWS! November 2006, Privoxy 3.0.6 is released. This is a significant upgrade
with many new and enhanced features, and many bugs fixed. It is also the first
stable release in quite some time. There are fifteen new actions available, and
several actions have enhanced capabilities. Multiple filter files are now
supported as well. There are many improvements and refinements. See the "What's
New" section and the "Upgrader's Notes" in the User Manual for details and
specifics. Preliminary work on 3.0.7 is already underway.

NEWS! September 2006, Privoxy 3.0.5 BETA is released. This is a significant
upgrade with many new and enhanced features, and many bugs fixed.

There was and will not be an official 3.0.4 release. This release cycle was
used to gather our thoughts, play with some new ideas and refine some old ones.
It will remain a development cycle with no actual release. 3.0.5 is the fruit
of these efforts.

NEWS! January 2004, Privoxy 3.0.3 is released. This is the another maintenance
release of Privoxy which fixes more bugs, further refines the configuration and
works around some known third-party problems. See the ChangeLog for complete
details. Upgrading from 3.0.2 is recommended.

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2. INSTALL

See the INSTALL file in this directory, for installing from raw source, and the
User Manual, for all other installation types.

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3. RUN

privoxy [--help] [--version] [--no-daemon] [--pidfile PIDFILE] [--user USER
[.GROUP]] [--chroot] [config_file]

See the man page or User Manual for an explanation of each option, and other
configuration and usage issues.

If no config_file is specified on the command line, Privoxy will look for a
file named 'config' in the current directory (except Win32 which will look for
'config.txt'). If no config_file is found, Privoxy will fail to start.

Or for Red Hat and Fedora based distributions: /etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start

Or Debian: /etc/init.d/privoxy start

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4. CONFIGURATION

See: 'config', 'default.action', 'user.action', 'default.filter', and
'user.filter'. 'user.action' and 'user.filter' are for personal and local
configuration preferences. These are all well commented. Most of the magic is
in '*.action' files. 'user.action' should be used for any actions
customizations. On Unix-like systems, these files are typically installed in /
etc/privoxy. On Windows, then wherever the executable itself is installed.
There are many significant changes and advances from earlier versions. The User
Manual has an explanation of all configuration options, and examples: http://
www.privoxy.org/user-manual/.

Be sure to set your browser(s) for HTTP/HTTPS Proxy at <IP>:<Port>, or whatever
you specify in the config file under 'listen-address'. DEFAULT is localhost:
8118. Note that Privoxy ONLY proxies HTTP (and HTTPS) traffic. Do not try it
with FTP or other protocols for the simple reason it does not work.

The actions list can be configured via the web interface accessed via http://
p.p/, as well other options.

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5. DOCUMENTATION

There should be documentation in the 'doc' subdirectory. In particular, see the
User Manual there, the FAQ, and those interested in Privoxy development, should
look at developer-manual.

The source and configuration files are all well commented. The main
configuration files are: 'config', 'default.action', and 'default.filter'.

Included documentation may vary according to platform and packager. All
documentation is posted on http://www.privoxy.org, in case you don't have it,
or can't find it.

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6. CONTACTING THE DEVELOPERS, BUG REPORTING AND FEATURE REQUESTS

We value your feedback. In fact, we rely on it to improve Privoxy and its
configuration. However, please note the following hints, so we can provide you
with the best support:

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6.1. Get Support

For casual users, our support forum at SourceForge is probably best suited: 
http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=211118

All users are of course welcome to discuss their issues on the users mailing
list, where the developers also hang around.

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6.2. Reporting Problems

"Problems" for our purposes, come in two forms:

  * Configuration issues, such as ads that slip through, or sites that don't
    function properly due to one Privoxy "action" or another being turned "on".
   
  * "Bugs" in the programming code that makes up Privoxy, such as that might
    cause a crash.
   
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6.2.1. Reporting Ads or Other Configuration Problems

Please send feedback on ads that slipped through, innocent images that were
blocked, sites that don't work properly, and other configuration related
problem of default.action file, to http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=
11118&atid=460288, the Actions File Tracker.

New, improved default.action files may occasionally be made available based on
your feedback. These will be announced on the ijbswa-announce list and
available from our the files section of our project page.

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6.2.2. Reporting Bugs

Please report all bugs only through our bug tracker: http://sourceforge.net/
tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=111118.

Before doing so, please make sure that the bug has not already been submitted
and observe the additional hints at the top of the submit form. If already
submitted, please feel free to add any info to the original report that might
help to solve the issue.

Please try to verify that it is a Privoxy bug, and not a browser or site bug
first. If unsure, try toggling off Privoxy, and see if the problem persists. If
you are using your own custom configuration, please try the stock configs to
see if the problem is configuration related.

If not using the latest version, the bug may have been found and fixed in the
meantime. We would appreciate if you could take the time to upgrade to the
latest version (or even the latest CVS snapshot) and verify your bug.

Please be sure to provide the following information:

  * The exact Privoxy version of the proxy software (if you got the source from
    CVS, please also provide the source code revisions as shown in http://
    config.privoxy.org/show-version).
   
  * The operating system and versions you run Privoxy on, (e.g. Windows XP
    SP2), if you are using a Unix flavor, sending the output of "uname -a"
    should do.
   
  * The name, platform, and version of the browser you were using (e.g.
    Internet Explorer v5.5 for Mac).
   
  * The URL where the problem occurred, or some way for us to duplicate the
    problem (e.g. http://somesite.example.com/?somethingelse=123).
   
  * Whether your version of Privoxy is one supplied by the developers of
    Privoxy via SourceForge, or somewhere else.
   
  * Whether you are using Privoxy in tandem with another proxy such as Tor. If
    so, please try disabling the other proxy.
   
  * Whether you are using a personal firewall product. If so, does Privoxy work
    without it?
   
  * Any other pertinent information to help identify the problem such as config
    or log file excerpts (yes, you should have log file entries for each action
    taken).
   
  * Please provide your SF login, or email address, in case we need to contact
    you.
   
The appendix of the Privoxy User Manual also has helpful information on
understanding actions, and action debugging.

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6.3. Request New Features

You are welcome to submit ideas on new features or other proposals for
improvement through our feature request tracker at http://sourceforge.net/
tracker/?atid=361118&group_id=11118.

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6.4. Other

For any other issues, feel free to use the mailing lists. Technically
interested users and people who wish to contribute to the project are also
welcome on the developers list! You can find an overview of all Privoxy-related
mailing lists, including list archives, at: http://sourceforge.net/mail/?
group_id=11118.

