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Left Google Reader for rssLounge

Ben mentions he left Google Reader and went back to Liferea, but mentions a series of bugs that keep him from being happy. After pondering it a bit, a couple of months ago I also left Google Reader, but I turned to a free webapp: rssLounge aggregator. Although it does not fully cover Ben’s wishlist (I’ll get to it now), I am happy using it as it covers my main need: Being able to read my stuff from just about everywhere, without installing even a ssh client (that would make public Windows machines a liability for me, as they could sniff my keystrokes while authenticating to my ssh server). So, for me, a webapp is basically a must.

Well, as for Ben’s list:

  1. MAY be a desktop or web application.
    Check. Well, I don't know what would fail this :)
  2. If it's a web application, it MUST be reasonably secure, e.g. it must not be written in PHP.
    Fail. It's PHP. And that's my main reason for not uploading it to Debian — I use and enjoy this app every day, but it has some bugs I don't really feel like looking into. And yes, maintaining PHP code is ugly.
  3. If it's a web application, it MUST allow for multiple independent users on the same server.
    Don't really remember, I set it up just for myself. But in any case, you could install a different instance per user?
  4. If it's a desktop application, it MUST embed a browser engine (presumably Gecko or WebKit) so I can follow links without having to switch windows.
    N/A
  5. MUST support organisation of feeds by folders or tags, including combined item lists.
    Pass.
  6. MUST keep track of which items have been read.
    Pass.
  7. MUST support a global 'unread items' list. SHOULD only remove items from this list when I refresh it, not as soon as I move away from an item.
    Pass. In fact, given that storage is cheap, I have set it to never expire old entries. I don't know if it will ever be useful, but as long as it does not hurt me...
  8. SHOULD support a three-pane (folder/list/item) view or something similar. Google Reader's list view with expanding items is perhaps even better, though it means links must be opened in a separate tab.
    It's more like Google Reader's
  9. SHOULD support folder and item navigation by keyboard.
    Pass.
  10. SHOULD have some way to flag/bookmark items for later attention.
    Pass.
  11. If it's a desktop application, it SHOULD have some sort of download manager to support podcasts.
    N/A

So, Ben, with only one (big) fail, it might be a good candidate for you.

PS- And hard as it might seem, I am leading an almost-Google-free life now! :) But don’t let them hear this, as we want them to keep sponsoring Summer of Code and DebConf.

Comments

Alexandre Franke 2012-02-20 00:17:21

Competition

I settled long ago on TinyTinyRSS. It’s PHP too, so it fails at the same point, but passes all the other ones just as RSSlounge. When I switched from Liferea to TinyTinyRSS, I’m pretty sure RSSlounge didn’t exist yet. I’ve since given a shot at RSSlounge but I like TinyTinyRSS better. I think it’s mostly a matter of taste, but I think you should give it a shot.


Ana 2012-02-20 02:12:38

guardarse posts

Gunnar, ¿como funciona el guardarse un post para siempre? Yo hay veces que leo alguna post, me parece útil y me gustaria guardarmelo para siempre (al menos varios años).


Anonymous 2012-02-20 15:19:49

what about newsblur?

what about newsblur?


Bruno BEAUFILS 2012-02-20 11:03:39

Almost Google free : alternative to Calendar and Spreadsheet ?

I am trying to get out of Google hands, as you seem to be. I am still Google dependent for some tools.

Did you find a serious alternative to Google Calendar ?

Web application is preferred for the same reason as the one you exposed for reader. PHP en MySQL should also be out of scope.

Same questions for Google Documents (mainly spreadsheet) ?


c1b3rh4ck 2012-03-09 15:44:12

Mmm no convences

Aun no me convences,asi que deseo quedarme con liferea por ahora.


Claudio 2012-02-21 11:11:10

Tried, not for me

I followed your suggestion and gave rssLounge a try. The setup was extremely easy Impressive and It does what a reader is supposed to do.

Sadly, the interface does not scale to mobile devices. I do some rss-reading while waiting for the train, so this functionality is of the make-it-or-break-it type for me. An other minus was the absence of a recheck feeds (reload) button. I find it more useful than a cron-like setup.

Nevertheless, thank you for the nice tip.

C.


Fernando C. Estrada 2012-02-21 19:28:05

What about NewsBlur?

What about NewsBlur? #647712

Regards,


gwolf 2012-02-20 06:22:56

Marcar como favorito

Cada quién le tiene un uso personal a las “estrellitas” de favorito. En mi caso, marco así mis notas favoritas, y son copiadas a una pseudo-carpeta especial. En el par de meses que llevo usando rssLounge, he marcado 11 mensajes.


gwolf 2012-02-22 08:10:00

Calendar and Documents?

Humh… I have never been able to use a calendar, either on the wall, on my phone, on the computer… Yes, I am a mess, but thankfully I have not grown attached to that Google service.

As for Google Docs, I really dislike the Office-like suite’s programs. Of course, when somebody sends me a document in Google Docs, I use it from there. But I would never author using it. I would never author a spreadsheet or a MSWord-like text. There are better ways to do it.

And yes, I’m not a normal user, and I don’t expect my solutions are always valid for normal users :-}


gwolf 2012-02-22 08:12:35

Flash scares me.

Feedmug’s web page shows only a black square where a Flash application(?) should be run. Even allowing it to run, it is not Gnash-compatible. So, no joy.


gwolf 2012-02-22 08:15:42

Sounds nice….

Why don’t you transform that RFP into an ITP and then upload the package? Count on me if you need any help :)


PJP 2012-02-22 03:22:57

see -> http://feedmug.com

see -> http://feedmug.com


rjc 2012-02-20 03:48:03

Desktop or Web App

Re. 1. Well, I think what Ben meant is a Desktop as in X so I guess a command line reader would fail, e.g. newsbeuter.

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