Getting an RSS reader

Background info, some basics & a few helpful links

Our first PWF Technology article introduced RSS, a simple way to read favourite news/newsletter headlines in one place on your computer. Today we’re talking about how to get a ‘reader’ so you can read RSS.

There is a huge range of readers available and new versions are appearing all the time. Different news readers work on different operating systems, so you have to choose one that will work with your computer.

First, some definitions of terms I recognised but couldn’t explain – found it cleared away some of the fog. Just scroll down if you know it all!

Operating system – The software that the ‘rest of the software’ depends on to make the computer functional. On most PCs this is Windows or the Macintosh OS. Unix and Linux are other operating systems often found in scientific and technical environments.

Browser – any software program that lets you surf the Internet and view web pages. Microsoft Internet Explorer and Safari are two of the most common. Firefox is also very popular.

Open Source http://www.opensource.org/ is a NonProfit initiative – basically free software. It allows programmers to read, redistribute, and modify the source code for a piece of software. This means that the software evolves, people improve it, adapt it, fix bugs. I am told this rapid evolutionary process produces better software than the traditional closed model, in which only a very few programmers can see the source.

Source code – the programming language used to write web pages and software.

Firefox is an open source, cross-platform, graphical web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation and hundreds of volunteers. It is:

• an alternative to Internet Explorer (IE)
• it is standards compliant and faster than IE – standards compliance enables the sharing of information, the interoperability of systems, and the findability of information.
• geeks say it does ‘better’ things!

A platform describes some sort of framework, either in hardware or software, which allows software to run.

Cross-platform means the ability of a document, file or program to be used or seen from more than one operating system. Typically platforms include “Mac” (Apple Macintosh), PC (Windows), and UNIX (a common system used by many Internet service providers). Virtually all Internet web pages and documents and all email are cross-platform, which means you don’t need a particular machine to view them.

An RSS reader is either

1. a software application or
2. an online service

Some readers are free, some you pay for.

The two types of reader are used in different ways.

1. The software application can become a tool on your PC and is automatically installed as you download if you use Firefox. Wizz, a Firefox extension, is what PWF uses, BUT not all readers are tied to Firefox or the browser. Athough some readers work within the browser like Wizz, some are plugins for email programs eg Newsgator-Inbox and others operate independently, FeedDemon.
2. With the online service you open a web page on your browser eg Netvibes, Google, Bloglines. Using this type of reader means you can read RSS on computers other than your own.

Some useful links for follow-up:

• BBC’s “How do I start using RSS feeds?“
• Feedburner gives a good explanation and a list of what’s popular, in the right hand column.
• Feedster also gives a good rundown on readers.