\n\tNOTE: If you’d prefer to view this information as a blog post, check out this entry in our Five Apps blog.
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\n\tThe Internet has made the collection of news easy, and RSS offer a fast and simple way to keep tabs on what you want to know. RSS readers are generally single-minded tools that do exactly what you want: Keep you up to date on your favorite feeds.
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\n\tBut out of the hundreds upon hundreds of readers out there, which ones are the best? And out of the best, which are open source? Let’s take a look at five outstanding open source RSS readers, so you can start collecting feeds immediately.
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\n\tPhoto: iStockphoto.com/PK-Photos
\n\tThunderbird is not only one of the best mail clients available, it also has built-in support for aggregating RSS feeds.
\n\tRSSOwl may be the most powerful feed reader available. And the fact that it’s cross-platform makes it all the better. Although RSSOwl is a Java-based application, it is still one of the top contenders in the RSS space. Its power is unmatched by most newsreaders and the ability to search and find new feeds is just short of incredible.
\n\tNew users will really appreciate RSSOwl’s large default feed set. With powerful filtering, it’s easy to find exactly what you’re looking for.
\n\tLiferea has a simple-to-use interface, supports Google Reader, can permanently save headlines in news bins, and can also read news offline. If you’re looking for the de facto standard stand-alone RSS reader for the open source desktop, look no further than Liferea.
\n\tQuiteRSS is a cross-platform feed reader, written in Qt, available for Windows and Linux. It supports all the standard feed types and it offers news filters, its own embedded browser (based on Webkit), keyboard shortcuts, audio notification of feed updates, auto update, a versatile UI, and much more.
\n\tFor the Windows platform, there is also a portable version of this lightweight feed reader.
\n\tAkregator was once a stand-alone feed reader for KDE. When KDE evolved into the 4.x series, Akregator was seamlessly meshed with Kontact to consolidate news, mail, contacts, and much more.
\n\tAkregator offers a number of views so that you can read your news exactly how you like it. By clicking on the Complete Story link, a new tab will open in Kontact to view the full story.
Jack Wallen is an award-winning writer for TechRepublic, The New Stack, and Linux New Media. He's covered a variety of topics for over twenty years and is an avid promoter of open source. For more news about Jack Wallen, visit his website jackwallen.com.
