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content/blog/rss.md

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+---
+title: RSS
+date: 2023-09-01
+description: "Feeds without fuzz."
+tags: [rss, meta]
+---
+## What is RSS?
+
+Originally, RSS stood for "RDF/Rich Site Summary" but was later changed to "Really Simple Syndication"
+
+RSS is a way to subscribe to a website.
+Whenever that website updates it writes its changes to a `XML` file.
+You can then read this XML file and see what changed at a glance.
+
+Many websites use RSS including YouTube, ~~Reddit~~ Lemmy, ~~Twitter~~ Mastodon, most news sites, and almost any blog out there.
+For many blogs, RSS is the main way to distribute new posts.
+
+RSS is experiencing a Renaissance at the moment:
+Many people are now seeing the damages done by algorithmic feeds and want to go back to purely chronological feeds.
+RSS provides a perfect infrastructure for this.
+
+## How to read RSS?
+
+First, you need a feed reader. On macOS and iOS I highly recommend [NetNewsWire](https://netnewswire.com).
+For terminal fans [Newsboat](https://newsboat.org) is the way to go.
+[Thunderbird](https://www.thunderbird.net/) is also a good choice but there are tons of programs that can read RSS feeds.
+
+That's bascially it. Now you need to add some feeds and you are ready.
+
+I recommend picking a reader that can also fetch the article without opening the browser and loading a ton of ads.
+
+Pro tip: You can export your subscibtions to a `OPML` file and import them into any RSS reader.
+
+## How to distribute RSS?
+
+This is the hardest question to answer about RSS as there are endless possibilities.
+
+The easiest way would probably be to use a service such as Mastodon that generates the feed automatically.
+If that platform isn't for you, WordPress is a good way to host a blog.
+I read about people setting up their own scripts that automatically update the feed for new posts.
+
+I use [Hugo](https://gohugo.io) which is a *static site generator*.
+It generates feeds automatically but lies somewhere between WordPress and writing your own scripts in terms of how tech savvy you should be.
+
+## How to find RSS?
+
+Go to a website you like, copy the URL and paste it into your RSS reader.
+Modern feed readers can find RSS feed on their own, you just have to provide a link to the site you want to subscribe to.
+If that is not the case, you could try adding `/index.xml` to the URL.
+
+Some sites, like this one, also link to their RSS feeds.
+Often those links are a the bottom of the website and are either marked as `RSS`, `Feed`, or just use the RSS logo.
+I additionally provide links to my subprojects such as my [microblog](/micro) or my [photos](/fotos).
+Feel free to add them to your reader.
+
+## Conclusion
+
+I think RSS is on the rise.
+It's an old protocol that survived numerous challenges
+It provides an escape from the algorithms and large social media companies.
+It also provides a way for content creators to distribute their content on their own without any middleman.