I used to adore the Feedbro extension for Firefox - until I learned that browser extensions are a privacy concern and stopped using them. Unfortunately, I’ve been unable to find anything similar for the Linux desktop. I just can’t seem to find the ‘sweet spot’ with all the readers I’ve tried. Some are bloated with features and complicated configurations that I will never use. Others are too simplistic. Still others haven’t seen an update in years. I feel like this is an impossible quest.
The readers I have tried (and discarded):
- Liferea
- RSS Guard
- News Flash
- Feeds
- Feed Deck
- Feed Flow
- Akregator
- Thunderbird
- Raven Reader
Here are the features I need:
- FOSS (obviously)
- Import/export OPML
- Scale the size of the UI and all text elements
- RSS feed discovery
- Fetch full articles
- Configure update interval
- Privacy-conscious
- Desktop only (I am currently unable to self-host)
Things that would be nice, but I can live without if I have to:
- Dark mode
- An uncluttered, two-column display
That’s about it. Now tell me that I am asking too much and there’s no hope for me. :D
I was really interested in trying feedr, but got frustrated trying to install it and moved on to other potential options.
What was the trouble with Akregator? I think recent versions have dark mode, and older versions could be made dark with the right style sheets applied.
It’s not a perfect fit for me, but it works well enough that I stopped hunting for something better.
If I remember correctly, Akregator wouldn’t allow me to resize the text to make it more readable. Also, I believe it was having trouble downloading a few of my feeds for some reason.
That makes sense.
It has some font size controls in Settings: Configure Akregator: Appearance: Font Size. I think these sliders apply to the article bodies.
It uses compiled-in style sheets for the size of other text, like headings, so changing that probably requires the program to be recompiled. In case you have those skills and want to make those changes, have a look in this file: src/formatter/html/style.css
I use Fluent Reader. It supports several view modes, and has lots of convenience features.
Fluent Reader was my stopping point when looking for a good desktop RSS reader. I’d rather a non-Electron-based app, but hey,
non-programmersbeggars can’t be choosers.
If your desktop is not very old with very little RAM, you could self-host FreshRSS on your desktop.
Or miniflux if it is. It’s efficient, fast, and I like the interface better.
Is this something that a complete newbie would be able to do?
For FreshRSS, if you want to run the development version on localhost:
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apt update && apt install build-essential git -
Install Docker: https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/ubuntu/
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Clone FreshRSS repository, run
make startand finish the installation: https://freshrss.github.io/FreshRSS/en/developers/02_First_steps.html
That seems simple enough. I’ll give it a shot. Much appreciated!
Installation for MiniFlux is similar, once you have docker installed you run the long ass docker command from their documentation:
https://miniflux.app/docs/docker.html
I personally prefer the approach they mention in the Docker Compose section of that page though, for long term maintenance.
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I’m replying here in good faith that this isn’t a bottomless Yes, but scenario.
Now tell me that I am asking too much and there’s no hope for me.
There’s plenty of hope if one is willing to fork and modify a FOSS server or client. Make it look and act exactly like you want.
browser extensions are a privacy concern and stopped using them
I think this concern is overstated in an RSS context for anonymous (no sign-in) feeds.
Not meaning to ‘yes, but’ you…but… :D
- You’re assuming that I know how to code. :)
- I think the privacy concerns are from third parties somehow being able to use browser extensions to read the contents of whatever other tabs one has open. At least that’s what I’ve read.
Extensions are not, themselves, security risks. If it’s FOSS, you can see what they’re doing in the code.
Depending on what’s keeping you from self-hosting, running a server-based reader right there on your desktop could be an option. Also, maintaining a separate browser profile just for FeedBro is easy, if you don’t trust it for whatever reason.
I’m currently running FreshRSS with good results. I ran TinyTinyRSS previously but the dev was so toxic I bailed on principle. :-(
Liferea
