XPost: alt.privacy   
   From: marionf@fact.com   
      
   A PAC (Proxy Auto Config) file is a JavaScript file used by browsers or   
   other applications that support the PAC standard. For each URL or host it   
   decides whether to send the request through a proxy or connect directly. It   
   only works for software that can load and follow a PAC file. PAC files are   
   generally limited to controlling HTTP and HTTPS traffic and do not handle   
   other protocols such as IMAP or SMTP. Programs that ignore proxy settings   
   such as Thunderbird or Betterbird (which are not browsers) will not be   
   affected.   
      
   To make Thunderbird follow proxy rules we need an external tool that can   
   intercept its connections. My first choice would be an open source   
   proxifier such as SocksCap64 which can force Thunderbird to use a proxy.   
   However SocksCap64 cannot apply different rules for different domains and   
   will send all traffic through the same proxy without selective routing.   
       
      
      
    Name: SocksCap64-setup-3.6.exe   
    Size: 6193115 bytes (6047 KiB)   
    SHA256: B2DA49EC9A2702CFD7625D3F152AF98A4C8E3E155DAB78686962BB3DF1F76825   
      
   This is where the cross-platform open-source NekoBox may come in handy.   
       
    Name: nekoray-4.0.1-2024-12-12-windows64.zip>   
    Size: 41719145 bytes (39 MiB)   
    SHA256: A492224792C38BD1A3B7A5438B1431C5CB4260F55E9A121DB3B2CE1603F7664A   
      
   NekoRay or NekoBox is an open source V2Ray/Sing box proxy manager with a   
   graphical interface that sits between our applications & our upstream   
   proxy such as Psiphon. Unlike proxifiers such as SocksCap64, NekoBox can   
   apply user-defined specific-domain routing rules so that some domains or IP   
   ranges go through a proxy while others connect directly (bypassing   
   proxies).   
      
   NekoRay  can also handle multiple protocols including HTTP HTTPS SOCKS   
   IMAP SMTP and more which allows it to apply selective routing to non HTTP   
   traffic. By pointing Thunderbird to NekoBox instead of directly to Psiphon   
   we should be able to recreate the selective routing logic of a PAC file and   
   apply it to applications that do not support PAC files at all.   
      
   In practice this means we can keep using the PAC file to control proxy   
   behavior for web browsers exactly as we do now while letting NekoRay handle   
   the same selective routing for Thunderbird. We would configure NekoRay so   
   that Gmail IMAP and SMTP servers are marked as direct connections and all   
   other destinations are sent through Psiphon. Thunderbird would be pointed   
   to NekoRay's local listener instead of Psiphon directly so NekoRay can   
   enforce those rules. The end result is a unified setup where browsers   
   follow the PAC file and non browser applications such as Thunderbird follow   
   equivalent rules inside NekoRay giving us consistent split tunnel behavior   
   across all software.   
      
   I am testing it as we speak but I post this 1st to ask if anyone has a   
   better solution to force Thunderbird to selectively route so that all   
   traffic goes through the proxy except the Google GMail server traffic.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)