How do I keep myself up to date?
Call me an old-timer if you like, but I still use RSS (et al) to quickly skim through the latest and greatest in the technology news. Its very concise/compact and easy on the eyes which makes it perfect for a 30-minute read-the-newspaper-on-the-couch kind of setting after a long day at work.
The old tool
Up until recently I used a fat-client (desktop) application called liferea which is great honestly. But it limits me to using it on one box only; and I would need to go through the configuration for every additional “reading” device; let alone that when I read articles on device A they won’t be marked as read on device B. So I couldn’t for example easily and conveniently read from my mobile while on the way back from work.
The new kid in the block
While skimming through the news digest that other day; I read an article talking about TinyTiny Rss reader. I didn’t expect much from it initially; as I didn’t expect it to be as capable as a desktop app; but I thought given the appraisal its worth trying.
Setup
It literally took me 3 minutes to get it up an running on my server. Git-clone; create a MariaDB database/user then go through the installation step that resulted in storing a config file; then I configured the list of my favorite feed sources and viola. I actually did it while sipping my coffee and getting myself ready to leave to work in the morning.
Findings and Conclusion
I really like it and here is why: TTRSS offers the same exact experience I had on the fat client both look-and-feel and usability. I could use the same exact keyboard shortcuts to navigate (e.g. ‘n’ or down to jump to the next article and ‘o’ to open and interesting article in another browser tab for further reading). Best of all I could use it everywhere! TTRSS is also mobile friendly and has one nice feature that allows me to publish the articles I like into – guess what? – An Rss feed! isn’t that great! 🙂
Update: I publish my favorite RSS-read articles on “My Picks” section now on this blog. Very nice indeed.
TinyTiny RSS Web-based reader
Liferea Linux Desktop RSS Reader