The Pi-hole blocks ads via a [DNS sinkhole](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNS_Sinkhole), so all your devices are protected without the need to install client-side software.
- **Easy-to-install**: our versatile installer walks you through the process, and [takes less than ten minutes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKWjx1AQYgs)
@ -22,6 +17,9 @@ The Pi-hole blocks ads via a [DNS sinkhole](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNS_Si
- **Free**: open source software which helps ensure _you_ are the sole person in control of your privacy
[Piping to `bash` can be dangerous](https://pi-hole.net/2016/07/25/curling-and-piping-to-bash/), so we understand the importance of giving people the option to review our code! Our installer is [found here](https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/blob/master/automated%20install/basic-install.sh), if you wish to read it before running.
[Piping to `bash` _can_ be dangerous](https://pi-hole.net/2016/07/25/curling-and-piping-to-bash/), so we understand the importance of giving people the option to review our code! Our installer is [found here](https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/blob/master/automated%20install/basic-install.sh), if you wish to read it before running.
You can install Pi-hole via one of the two alternative methods:
@ -58,15 +56,15 @@ As a last resort, you can always manually set each device to use Pi-hole as thei
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## Pi-hole is free, but powered by your support
There are many reoccuring costs involved with maintaining free, open source and privacy respecting software; expenses which [our volunteers](https://github.com/orgs/pi-hole/people) pitch in to cover out-of-pocket. This is just one example of how strongly we feel about our software, as well as the importance of keeping it maintained.
There are many reoccurring costs involved with maintaining free, open source, and privacy-respecting software; expenses which [our volunteers](https://github.com/orgs/pi-hole/people) pitch in to cover out-of-pocket. This is just one example of how strongly we feel about our software, as well as the importance of keeping it maintained.
Make no mistake: **your support is absolutely vital to help keep us innovating!**
### Donations
Sending a donation using our links below is **extremely helpful** in offset a portion of our monthly costs:
Sending a donation using our links below is **extremely helpful** in offsetting a portion of our monthly expenses:
-  [Donate via PayPal](https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=3J2L3Z4DHW9UY)
If you'd rather not donate (_which is okay!_), there are other ways you can help support us:
@ -78,7 +76,7 @@ If you'd rather not donate (_which is okay!_), there are other ways you can help
- Spreading the word about our software, and how you have benefited from it
### Contributing via GitHub
We welcome everyone to contribute to issue reports, suggest new features and create pull requests.
We welcome _everyone_ to contribute to issue reports, suggest new features, and create pull requests.
If you have something to add - anything from a typo through to a whole new feature, we're happy to check it out! Just make sure to fill out our template when submitting your request; the questions that it asks will help the volunteers quickly understand what you're aiming to achieve.
@ -102,7 +100,7 @@ Word-of-mouth continues to help our project grow immensely, and we'd like to hel
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## Features
## Breakdown Of Features
### The Command Line Interface
The `pihole` command has all the functionality necessary to be able to fully administer the Pi-hole.
@ -112,7 +110,7 @@ Some of the features include:
* [Whitelisting, Blacklisting and Wildcards](https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/wiki/Core-Function-Breakdown#whitelisting-blacklisting-and-wildcards)
* [Viewing the live log file](https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/wiki/Core-Function-Breakdown#tail)
* [Real-time Statistics via `ssh`](https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/wiki/Core-Function-Breakdown#chronometer) or [your TFT LCD screen](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00ID39LM4/pihole09-20)
* [Real-time Statistics via `ssh`](https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/wiki/Core-Function-Breakdown#chronometer) or [your TFT LCD screen](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HN0LL2A/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=pihole09-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B01HN0LL2A&linkId=fb33e9efb10c1daba0dd1dd9fea72b1a)
* [Updating Ad Lists](https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/wiki/Core-Function-Breakdown#gravity)
* [Querying Ad Lists for matching domains](https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/wiki/Core-Function-Breakdown#query)
* [Enabling and Disabling Pi-hole](https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/wiki/Core-Function-Breakdown#enable--disable)
@ -132,9 +130,9 @@ There are several ways to [access the dashboard](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t
3. `http://pi.hole/` (when using Pi-hole as your DNS server)
## The Faster-Than-Light Engine
The [FTL Engine](https://github.com/pi-hole/FTL) is a lightweight purpose-built daemon used to provide statistics needed for the Web Interface, and its API can be easily intergrated into your own projects. As the name implies, FTL does this all *very quickly*!
The [FTL Engine](https://github.com/pi-hole/FTL) is a lightweight, purpose-built daemon used to provide statistics needed for the Web Interface, and its API can be easily integrated into your own projects. As the name implies, FTL does this all *very quickly*!
Some of the statistics you can intergrate include:
Some of the statistics you can integrate include:
* Total number of domains being blocked
* Total number of DNS queries today
* Total number of ads blocked today
@ -148,8 +146,8 @@ The API can be accessed via [`telnet`](https://github.com/pi-hole/FTL), the Web
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## Technical Details
To summarize into a short sentence, the Pi-hole is an **advertising-aware DNS/Web server**. While quite outdated at this point, [this original blog post about Pi-hole](https://jacobsalmela.com/2015/06/16/block-millions-ads-network-wide-with-a-raspberry-pi-hole-2-0/) goes into **great detail** about how it was setup and how it works. Syntactically, it's no longer accurate, but the same basic principles and logic still apply to Pi-hole's current state.
## The Origin Of Pi-hole
While quite outdated at this point, [this original blog post about Pi-hole](https://jacobsalmela.com/2015/06/16/block-millions-ads-network-wide-with-a-raspberry-pi-hole-2-0/) goes into **great detail** about how Pi-hole was originally setup and how it works. Syntactically, it's no longer accurate, but the same basic principles and logic still apply to Pi-hole's current state.
-----
@ -189,3 +187,4 @@ To summarize into a short sentence, the Pi-hole is an **advertising-aware DNS/We
- [Adafruit: Raspberry Pi Quick Look at Pi Hole ad blocking server with Tony D](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg4u2j1HYlI)
- [Devacron: OrangePi Zero as an Ad-Block server with Pi-Hole](http://www.devacron.com/orangepi-zero-as-an-ad-block-server-with-pi-hole/)
- [CryptoAUSTRALIA Blog: How We Tried 5 Privacy Focused Raspberry Pi Projects](https://blog.cryptoaustralia.org.au/2017/10/05/5-privacy-focused-raspberry-pi-projects/)
Jacob Salmela
7 years ago