Recommended hosts file blocklist ?

[PDP-8]

Can anyone recommend any good hosts file blocklists like the old days?

Testing out the ancient Opera-12 on TinyCorePure64, and it may fit my needs for some limited applications.

But obviously the ability to install extensions like uBlock Origin, the fsf's Privacy Badger, and the latest JShelter can't be done.

So at least I'd like to put *something* in there to help prevent modern 3rd party junk from stealing my bandwidth a bit at a time.

So if you have any preferences for canned hosts file blocklist, I'm all ears!

[patrikg]

Have a look at this site:

https://filterlists.com/

[gadget42]

have used Dan Pollock's list for years:
https://someonewhocares.org/hosts/
(Dan's rss feed: https://someonewhocares.org/hosts/rss.xml)

also you can have a look at another list provider that doesn't update their list much:
https://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm
(if nothing else, the webpage has plenty of insightful information)

filter lists is confusing until you get over/past the learning curve/hump:
https://filterlists.com/

[PDP-8]

Thanks guys!  Looks like some of those dos-based filterlists needed some cleanup with the dos2unix command to zap those ctrl-m's.

Problem is, my limited TC-fu is eluding me.  I prepend the original hosts file from TC to the new one, but making it actually work / stick / reread has me puzzled.

And simply adding /etc/hosts to my backup list doesn't work either - upon reboot it is zapped and back to the original.  Good security I suppose.

Hmm..  wonder how you guys get TC to reread and activate your new hosts file?

[Rich]

Hi PDP-8
I have this in my  /opt/bootlocal.sh  file:

Code: [Select]

cat /home/tc/HostsBlocked.txt >> /etc/hosts

[Rich]

Hi PDP-8

... Hmm..  wonder how you guys get TC to reread and activate your new hosts file?

I think the file gets consulted for every request. The  /etc/hosts  file resides in RAM so reading it is fast. I'm pretty sure
I've commented out entries and it took effect as soon as I refreshed the web page.

[PDP-8]

YES!  Right on Rich.  Using bootlocal.sh was the key!

I tested by altering the modified hosts file, and yep - it gets consulted and picks up the change.

Something like this is SO PERFECT for TC with nary any performance penalty due to being in ram.  Outstanding.

[CNK]

I don't have much faith in most hosts file blocklists myself, because they're manually generated and too easily get full of outdated entries while at the same time inevitably missing the latest changes.

The exception might be this, because there's an actual reasoning and method behind it:
https://spreadprivacy.com/duckduckgo-tracker-radar/

The Git repo is around 2GB and doesn't contain a hosts file itself.

I wrote a simple script that just uses grep to pull out the host names who's JSON file contains a relevent category name, and it generates a hosts file. I haven't had time to test out using the hosts file yet though - I'm not sure how much stuff it might break when trying to browse Javascripty sites in Firefox.

I use NoScript in Firefox and use Dillo whenever possible anyway, though both approaches are still vulnerable to tracking pixels.

If anyone's interested I can try to remember to remember to post instructions for making a DDG Tracker Radar hosts file here once I get back to it one day.

[gadget42]

when you get a chance that would be great!

[gadget42]

KDE-Powering Qt's New Framework Lets Developers Bring Ads Into Their Apps

that headline caught my attention earlier this morning...

reference and some rabbitholes:

slashdot:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/22/01/22/1751259/kde-powering-qts-new-framework-lets-developers-bring-ads-into-their-apps

phoronix:
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Qt-Digital-Advertising-1.0

and one of the phoronix comments mentioned:
https://www.zdnet.com/article/npm-bans-terminal-ads/

which then had this link:
https://github.com/kethinov/no-cli-ads

and the obligatory rabbithole(s):
[follow-the-white-rabbit]
https://www.zdnet.com/article/when-open-source-developers-go-bad/
[/follow-the-white-rabbit]

key words:
hosts file
pihole
firefox
https everywhere
noscript
privacy badger
umatrix
ubo-scope
ublock origin
minerblock
snowflake

sharing is caring

20220124-0604am-modified-added additional content/link(s)

[gadget42]

Cory Doctorow on ad blocking via adafruit ESPhole or raspberry pi pihole pi-hole

didn't want to start a new thread and this one seemed ok to bump anyways:

Cory Doctorow is always awesome!

https://pluralistic.net/2022/04/28/shut-yer-pi-hole/#largest-boycott-in-world-history

fyi: please note that while Cory's commentaries are also available on bait-in-but-then-paywalled websites(like "medium") they are almost always freely viewable at his other websites!

Cory Doctorow's websites:
https://craphound.com/
https://pluralistic.net/

and if you do such things:
https://twitter.com/doctorow

sharing is caring

[gadget42]

interesting commentary on ip blocking:

https://blog.cloudflare.com/consequences-of-ip-blocking/

sharing is caring

[gadget42]

One of the FBI's recommendations for consumers is to install an ad blocker

https://yro.slashdot.org/story/22/12/22/2214206/even-the-fbi-says-you-should-use-an-ad-blocker

[gadget42]

a forum search for "dns hijacking" returned no results

found these commentaries informative:
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/01/hacker-group-incorporates-dns-hijacking-into-its-malicious-website-campaign/
https://securelist.com/roaming-mantis-dns-changer-in-malicious-mobile-app/108464/

[gadget42]

Hugo Landau - Total Advertising Denial
(from 2019 but still thought-provoking, enjoy!)
https://www.devever.net/~hl/total-advertising-denial