From: Duje Mihanović Date: Sat, 8 Jun 2024 12:50:46 +0000 (+0200) Subject: New post: Software Review: FreshRSS X-Git-Url: http://git.dujemihanovic.xyz/%22http:/www.sics.se/static/git-logo.png?a=commitdiff_plain;h=b8797fcba7c6b4d1a878e3e28031544205bd5c07;p=dujemihanovic.xyz.git New post: Software Review: FreshRSS --- diff --git a/content/posts/freshrss/index.md b/content/posts/freshrss/index.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f88eb4f --- /dev/null +++ b/content/posts/freshrss/index.md @@ -0,0 +1,101 @@ +--- +title: "Software Review: FreshRSS" +date: 2024-06-08T12:14:37+02:00 +summary: About RSS, its issues and my solution of choice for them. +--- +Most RSS users start off with desktop readers such as Newsboat or Akregator in +order to keep things simple. However, due to certain drawbacks of this approach +*(which I will talk about below)* I have looked for an aggregator I can install +on my VPS and use as such. After a bit of research, I have decided to go with +[FreshRSS](https://freshrss.org/) and here I'll explain why I decided to ditch +Akregator in the first place and why I chose FreshRSS. + +## What even is RSS? +*If you're already initiated on this subject, feel free to skip to the next +section.* + +A practically universal use case for the Internet is reading various blogs and +news. However, as your number of followed blog and news sites builds up, going +through all of them looking for new content becomes a serious chore. To make +things worse, many (generally news) sites are becoming increasingly bloated. +*(Not just technologically, but also with garbage content!)* + +RSS solves these issues beautifully. The idea is that each site has an XML +document (called an **RSS feed**, or **feed** for short) which contains a list +of the N latest posts on that website. You can add an arbitrary number of these +feeds into your reader and it will automatically sync these at a specified +interval, optionally notifying you of new content. This removes the chore of +having to go through your followed sites manually, but it also works around the +technological bloat issue as the feeds can only contain plain text or *(more +common and still reasonable)* plain HTML. Finally, low-quality content can be +much more easily ignored or straight up filtered from your reader. + +Unfortunately, RSS has declined since its golden age in the 2000's with [Firefox +dropping its own +reader](https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/feed-reader-replacements-firefox) +and many people forgetting about RSS, however it persists on many sites (even +big ones) and other readers continue to be actively developed. + +## What's the problem with traditional readers? + +If you consume your feeds on multiple devices *(as most people, me included, +probably do)* with a traditional reader, your feeds and other info on them (such +as read and important markers) will not sync. Besides that, you might lose +articles on high-volume feeds if you do not open your feed reader for a while +(which might be just a few days) and the feed has a sufficiently low N. + +The solution to these problems is to run your aggregator on a server. There +exist public ones, but a far better solution would be to host your own. This is +where FreshRSS comes in. + +## How to install it? + +If you have Docker Compose, put something like this into a `docker-compose.yml`: +```yaml +version: "3.8" + +volumes: + data: + extensions: + +services: + freshrss: + image: freshrss/freshrss:latest + container_name: freshrss + hostname: freshrss + restart: unless-stopped + ports: + - "8181:80" + logging: + options: + max-size: 10m + volumes: + - data:/var/www/FreshRSS/data + - extensions:/var/www/FreshRSS/extensions + environment: + TZ: Europe/Zagreb + CRON_MIN: '3,33' +``` +Then, configure your web server to point a subdomain or path to the respective +port. Open the subdomain or path in your browser, do the initial setup and +you're done. Add a few categories and feeds, then go through the settings and +configure everything to your wishes. + +Since FreshRSS is a PWA, you may "install" it using a Chromium-based browser +*(which I do on Android)* or through the **Web Apps** program on a Linux Mint +system. + +## How does it feel to use? Should I use it? + +There's not that much to say. Adding feeds is as simple as on a traditional +reader, all my feeds and starred articles sync between devices *(strictly +speaking, they do not, but are fetched from the server)* and it overall behaves +pretty much just like Akregator did excluding the issues. + +If you only read feeds on one device and don't care about losing articles from +big news sites here and there, you should probably stick with a traditional +reader as that is obviously less complicated, probably a bit more secure, allows +offline reading and so on. However, if your RSS experience is affected by one of +the aforementioned issues, I can highly recommend FreshRSS as it's relatively +simple to set up and does not otherwise try to be radically different just for +the sake of it.