BTW one thing I realized is missing here (because as I was writing this thread I was also discussing this elsewhere, and my mind tried to avoid duplication): #RSS isn't the only thing Meta aka #Facebook and #Google siphoned the energy off: there was another important protocol that they #EEE-ed into oblivion: #XMPP, which was a federated (reminds you of anything), open, extensible protocol for chat/instant messaging.
Look, it's not that I don't get the enthusiasm about #P92/#Barcelona —that's not the reason why I warn against federating with it <https://sociale.network/@oblomov/110397020867065165>. I do get it. There is something elating, validating, empowering even, when some{one,thing} Big & Famous (seems to) adopts “underdog” tech. I know because I've been there, both as a user and as a developer. But because of that, and for having been burned already not once, not twice, but three times at least, I know what to look out for.
In fact, all three of them go completely against everything that company and its products stand for. So why would they even bother adopting them if they weren't dragged into it kicking and screaming? Because “adopting” them gives them a unique opportunity to destroy them thanks to the company market size. And this is exactly what they've done with #RSS and #XMPP, and what they will do to #ActivityPub if we let them get even just a sliver of an inch in.
The single most important thing to look out for is the difference between actually adopting a technology and “adopting” it. And this must be looked at not from the perspective of the user, but from that of the Big & Famous: how can they best use it to serve their own interest?
And here's the thing: #Meta/#Facebook has literally nothing to gain from actually adopting#ActvityPub, exactly as it had nothing to gain from #RSS or from #XMPP
I love Mastodon and I haven't been on Twitter for months. But I feel like I'm not meeting new people here and frankly a bit bored. I want to discover new voices and see more opinions, which is hard when there are no suggested people to follow. Tips anyone?
I'll add to that that there's another form of media that still heavily employs #RSS, and those that follow me won't be surprised by my mention of this: #webcomics.
A lot of self-hosted webcomic sites build on #WordPress, so RSS availability isn't a big surprise, but I appreciate that (or rather, when) dedicated hosting solutions also offer the feature. (#ComicFury does it, and even #WebToons, while AFAICS #Tapas does not.)
So I would argue that not only the shutdown of #GoogleReader was the primary cause for the #RSS demise, but also this was actually intentional, to wipe out from the general consciousness the awareness of the possibility and existence of decentralized, user-controlled forms of content distribution.
Several users have also remarked that RSS and #Atom feeds still exist, citing podcasts as primary application (in fact, it could be argued that it's not a podcast if it's not available via RSS).
And yes, as individuals this can be extremely frustrating, because the feeling is that even knowing what would be best to support the #openWeb, there's the feeling that our choice have little effect if any. And in this context, the non-ubiquitousness of #RSS production and consumption “where people gather” often means a need to double or triple the efforts to reach out and connect with other people with matching interests, especially for those whose livelihood depends on it.
(And yes, that was really aimed at @mozilla as an invitation to bring back #RSS support in #Firefox, and to openly promote #JpegXL instead of keeping it hidden in @FirefoxNightly, and more in general to go against everything that #Google's chokehold on the web currently represent. Support user choice instead of crippling it. Prove that you are different.)
And of course, #Mastodon and other #Fediverse platforms also support #RSS, as producers, as consumers, or both. Several news sites still have feeds too, even though they don't always link to them in any user-visible part of the page, or even at all (secret URLs FTW).
I think this underlines the importance of stating what exactly is meant by “Google Reader (or whatever else) killed RSS”, and why the mindshare aspect mentioned above is so important:
@butter, @dessalines, I've grown quite fond of Friendica for that very thing, following things, not just people. Not only does it let me follow topics via tags, but things like #lemmy and #guppe get added as "forums", plus I can follow any #RSS or #Atom feed. All of these are added the same as adding any other contact (follow). All of these different ways of following things get listed in the same area of my account, as "contacts", where they can be easily separated into to multiple groups (lists). Each followed hashtag, forum, contact group, or protocol type is always listed down the side of my page where I can simply click on it to filter my current feed.
I know that other #fediverse / #ActivityPub interfaces such as #Pleroma, #Akkoma, #Misskey, #Calckey, #Hubzilla, and #Streams have some/all of these capabilities, each to their own extent. However, having played around extensively with all of them, I've come to find that #Friendica is the one that works best for me. And at the end of the day, this is the only thing that matters. It may be a bit time consuming, but trying all the things is the best (only?) way to see how they'll work for you.
@boilingsteam I would use it more, but I kept going through this cycle where I would have too many to manage, and then I'd switch software and just start over. No #RSS reader prioritized saving time. But yes, in the infrequent case (now) when I really want to follow a feed that I can't follow on the fediverse, I will try to get a rss feed. And no, I will not sign up for their (f*cking) newsletter.
Thank you for voting, and while I'm sure this is an unusually #RSS user heavy crowd, I'm surprised that almost 80% of people want the full text; personally I skim the summaries and then jump to the ones I'm interested in. Time to update my feed to full text then 🛠️
> I've never kept a list, but it strikes me how many people are dedicating to writing complete browser engines from scratch.. but in so many go-it-alone efforts, that likely the vast majority of these projects will strand. If only they'd unite, right?
For some I pinged you with the URL. I've also been in a thread, think with @aral about starting such united project (can't find that).
@vowe Ich lese RSS-Feeds via #Feedly mit einer App namens @fieryfeeds auf #apple#iphone#ipad und #macOs genial, deutscher Programmierer, tolle Features, unkomplizierter Support auch via #mastodon Nur die Heise News kann man nicht extrahieren, hier fehlt scheinbar eine Schnittstelle, den man sieht nur den Titel und dann die Kommentare im #rss#feed
@tilvids@thelinuxEXP A while back I had the idea of setting up an #RSS reader that allowed users to 'retweet' feed items, creating the ability to have user curated feeds. This gives RSS even more of the advantages of social media without inheriting any of the downsides. I am still looking for more users to help me test things, as well as someone to build an Apple version if anyone wants to take a look - http://gametheatre.org/porifera/
Last week on Uploaded we talked about many things. Like discord changing their username system, which many people don't want to change, China exactly copying an Intel Core i3, someone smuggling a lot of gpus in a load of lobsters and more. Catch it in your podcast app by searching for "Uploaded Tech News" or get the links to most platforms here: https://linktr.ee/UploadingPodcast#podcast#podcasting#podcasts#RSS
After today a #Twitter applet on #IFTTT I have had set up since 2018 or so to monitor school closing alerts (published via tweet, and mass calls I didn't get) is going to be turned off.
I haven't had use for this since graduating (plus, my filter for it stopped working a long time ago). This is a situation that would benefit from #ActivityPub, or even #RSS even though the urgency of the alerts encourages push over pull...
That has some truth in it. I'm far more interested in the local #RSS feeds for CBC and CTV #Ottawa than I am in national or international news.
That works against entrepreneurs who want to scale big, because hiring reporters to sit in local city council meetings for 4 hours costs orders of magnitude more than hiring a few writers to churn out generic national copy, but it also means local #journalism will never fully die (even if it mutates).
I've just discovered a new, self-hostable, minimalist RSS feed aggregator. No JS, very simple to use. There's a free, hosted version too at https://vore.website. Thanks @j3s. Long live #RSS!
You are a company. You create a blog with interesting content (No video, buttext? We need more of that!)! You don't provide a #RSS feed for your blog! You lost one reader ...
Mastodon monoculture problem (rys.io)