Erik Moeller

If you are (re-)discovering the joy of community-built technology that's not controlled by a billionaire, allow me to plug an even older tech:

An RSS/Atom feed reader is a great companion to a more conversational social media "site" like Mastodon.

Google killed its Reader product years ago, but there are still many great ones. I personally use https://newsblur.com/, which also has a mobile app, synchronizes across devices, and is open source. (If you have a favorite, please reply with it!)

Nov 6, 2022 at 6:48amWeb
Show threadErik MoellerNov 6, 2022
(On that note -- podcasts are kind of like Mastodon, spread across servers, except when we let corporations like Spotify put them behind paywalls and subscriptions. :-)
Show threadKateNov 6, 2022
@eloquence I never fully got rid of my beloved feed reader, though I did stop updating the feeds in it. Sounds like time for me to go tidy my Feedly list and start using that again!
Show threadErik MoellerNov 6, 2022

@precatlady

I had completely stopped using RSS, but I made a conscious choice to shift news consumption from social back to feedreading a few months ago and it so far it's been a very .. cleansing experience :).

Show thread♾️ Yuki (스노 雪亮) 🐬 🦣Nov 8, 2022

@eloquence

I went back to feed readers last year for the exact same reason. I've been reading updates through SNS, which (the SNS) takes a lot of time off me because of all the distractions.

But reading via feed readers, it's quiet and focused.

@precatlady

Show threadMiloIgnisNov 6, 2022
@eloquence Indeed, though only if we let them! Spotify and others attempting to make them proprietary and exclusive ire me, and I humbly encourage others to boycott them if they can. I am very grateful that my favorite podcasts are open, and support some via Patreon and the like.
Show threadRyuno-KiNov 6, 2022

@eloquence
Never understand the „rate and comment“ call to actions for something I subscribed to by RSS 🤷

I'd rather ask for letters to the editors…

Show threadArindam BasuNov 6, 2022
@eloquence
Then there is Funkwhale, the federated podcasting app that you can use the protocol
Show threadAngle🖇Nov 6, 2022
@eloquence I started using RSS recently on Mozilla, it's surprisingly good, honestly. :/
Show threadRyuno-KiNov 6, 2022
@eloquence
I'm using newsboat on laptop (successor to newsbeuter) and Handy News Reader on Android.
Show threadErik MoellerNov 6, 2022
@RyunoKi Huh, so "read/unread" does not transfer across your devices? Or are they somehow syncing to the same backend?
Show threadRyuno-KiNov 6, 2022

@eloquence
No, no sync.

I've no need for that.

Look, I've got a couple hundred feeds in my reader. Android struggle with large databases. I don't want (or need) to have my feeds in the cloud.

Keeping a local copy is just fine. It allows me to turn off the Internet and remove distractions.

Show threadErik MoellerNov 6, 2022
@RyunoKi Heh, fair enough :-). Sync is a must-have feature for me for newsfeeds, but I generally dislike/distrust cloud-syncing for a lot of other things (passwords, bookmarks, etc.).
Show threadRyuno-KiNov 6, 2022

@eloquence
I mean, I likely could move the database (SQLite, i.e. a file) where Nextcloud would pick it up. Or use Nextcloud in the first place.

But it doesn't match my needs.

I'm aware that I'm special here.

Show threadMichael AschenbornNov 6, 2022
@eloquence I love Feedly for RSS consuming. It's not free, but features and UX are great for me
Show threadSimon Ives has movedNov 6, 2022
@eloquence, I use Feedly - far from open source but has the right feature set for me
Show threadtk://Nov 6, 2022

@eloquence Been paying for Feedbin for a few years now, but I haven't been able to find an Android app I'm comfortable with so I've not used it nearly as much as I want to.

The ability to subscribe to email newsletters and Twitter accounts is real great!

Show threadmartin lentink 🇪🇺 🇺🇦📎Nov 6, 2022
@eloquence Nextcloud has a newsreader too, so if you're running your own cloud server, be sure to install that app. You can access it wherever you're connected.
Show threadRobin H. HansenNov 6, 2022
@eloquence Also don't forget that every user has their own .rss feed on mastodon.
Show threadJürgen HaasNov 6, 2022
@eloquence
I'm also in the @nextcloud camp when it comes to news reader and RSS. Works nicely in the background and syncs with the android app, that's all I need. And I'm in full control of my data too.
Show threadMattNov 6, 2022
@eloquence Absolutely! Was a long-time Newsbur user, now switched to Feedbin. I'm using it to follow a load of people from Twitter who are still posting stuff that's useful, plus all the people I follow on Mastodon I've got on RSS too, plus all my pre-existing RSS feeds. So nice having it all come into one place!
Show threadEd SummersNov 6, 2022
@matt @eloquence 💯 the staying power of rss, despite blatant attempts to wipe it out, is really amazing.
Show threadMattNov 6, 2022
@edsu yes indeed @eloquence
Show threadEd SummersNov 6, 2022
@matt @eloquence oh, and here I've been using https://www.freshrss.org/ for the past two years, but I'm always looking for more tools, so thanks for this thread.
FreshRSS, a free, self-hostable feeds aggregator

FreshRSS is lightweight, easy to work with, powerful, and customizable.

Show threadMattNov 6, 2022
@edsu I love the idea of self-hosting stuff but I'm just not technically-able enough and just end up spending all my Tim fixing and/or fiddling then breaking things! // @eloquence
Show threadEd SummersNov 6, 2022
@matt @eloquence perhaps this is another class of service @SocialCoop could host, but it's not as polished as feedbin or newsblur.
Show threadocdtrekkieNov 7, 2022
@eloquence I use TinyTinyRSS (on Sandstorm). The TTRSS author is... somewhat unpleasant, but I like the software!
Show threadErik MoellerNov 7, 2022
@ocdtrekkie I did not know that about the author .. but have also heard good things about the software.
Show threadKevin AnsfieldNov 7, 2022

@eloquence I like https://reeder.app but admittedly mostly because the macOS design aesthetic appeals.

Unfortunately I don't find many feeds to subscribe to in some of my interest areas. It seems YouTube has become the platform of choice in the hands-on/maker arena

Show thread♾️ Yuki (스노 雪亮) 🐬 🦣Nov 8, 2022

@eloquence I use #FluentReader ( https://github.com/yang991178/fluent-reader )

It's a desktop app available in Linux (AppImage), macOS, and Windows.

What I like most about it is the UI/UX.

GitHub - yang991178/fluent-reader: Modern desktop RSS reader built with Electron, React, and Fluent UI

Modern desktop RSS reader built with Electron, React, and Fluent UI - yang991178/fluent-reader

GitHub
Show thread♾️ Yuki (스노 雪亮) 🐬 🦣Nov 8, 2022

@eloquence There is also #TinyTinyRSS ( https://tt-rss.org ) which can be self-hosted for those interested.

It used to have some form of federation with other TT-RSS instances, but I wasn't able to figure out how to make it work when I self-hosted it (or maybe I misunderstood it).

Home

Tiny Tiny RSS (tt-rss) is a free, flexible, open-source, web-based news feed (RSS/Atom/other) reader and aggregator.

Tiny Tiny RSS
Show threadJosh Wilson BlackNov 8, 2022
@eloquence amen! Google Reader was very important for my news consumption and I was gutted when it was shut down. Glad RSS is having a bit of a renaissance!
Show threadAndrea TitoloNov 8, 2022
@eloquence newsblur is great, but I didn’t quite like the user experience. Given I’m mostly on apple devices I use https://netnewswire.com/, similarly FOSS and cross-device sync.
Show threadRobert FromontNov 8, 2022
@eloquence After Google shut their RSS reader down, I went to the @nextcloud app and never looked back.
Show threadAlisonW ♿🏳️‍🌈♾️Nov 10, 2022
@eloquence Your mastodon has an automatic rss feed. Just add ".rss"!