RSS

What: A webfeed protocol, usually served by websites with updating info, allows use of a newsfeeder (like newsboat) to get all one’s feeds in one app.

Acronym: The one I remember is Really Simple Syndication but others exist like Rich Site Summary or RDF (Resource Description Framework)¹ Site Summary

Atom is used alongside RSS 2.0 (and casually called RSS). Both are written in XML.

Popular in the early to mid 00s, RSS is more or less niche today (except as technical piece for podcasts). Unfortunately even Firefox dropped support for an integrated feed (the last of the major browsers to do so).

Per Trust Me I’m Lying (published 2012) RSS was sidelined because it doesn’t generate clicks/revenue for the websites. Which seems a reasonable claim.

But appears to be coming back since the nadir of the 2010s. (Or maybe I’m just using it more; we all have a tendency to think what we’re into to is what’s it. [Or at least I do…])

References/Links

Footnotes

1. Older name and rather anachronistic as RSS dropped RDF quite early in its evolution. RDF on Wikipedia ↩