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RSS
Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is an ancient file format for communicating updates over the Web, and my personal favourite.
Stubs:
- my curated feeds
- reader applications
Technical Simplicity
From a technical perspective, like Gemini (HTTP) it's grokkable with a couple good reads of the specification. I wrote a simple generator] for my blog posts, and am now working on a simpler one for the garden. To start with, I'd like to generate it as simply as possible, from just a directory structure, but I can already see I'd like to do more with it.
I work predominantly in Git repositories, which, like a directory, or a garden, is tree-based. My blog's feed has a chronological hierarchy, but at present it's based on manually creating and naming folders. It's also very much a published format, rather than a living one. This is silly! Instead, I'd like to structure my feed around a Git repository, as I think it'd be a much better descriptor of activity.
Managing YouTube Subscriptions
There are many reasons to avoid the YouTube homepage, such as recommended videos or the accursed Shorts. YouTube publishes channel-specific RSS feeds, making it totally possible to circumvent its subscription system entirely - including having to make an account - and keep track of channels one enjoys with RSS feeds instead. Get a channel's ID:
- Go to the channel's page
- Go to the About section
- Share icon under Stats block
- Copy channel ID
The channel's feed is available at https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=CHANNEL_ID_HERE.