Software

Five outstanding open source RSS readers

By // July 25, 2012, 9:55 PM PST // jlwallen

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  • Introduction

    NOTE: If you'd prefer to view this information as a blog post, check out this entry in our Five Apps blog.

    The 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.

    But 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.

    Photo: iStockphoto.com/PK-Photos

  • Thunderbird

    Thunderbird is not only one of the best mail clients available, it also has built-in support for aggregating RSS feeds.

  • Thunderbird

    Having these feeds at close range to your inbox makes reading news far simpler than having to open yet another application. Best of all, Thunderbird lets you view the RSS feeds the same way you view your email.

  • RSSOwl

    RSSOwl 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.

  • RSSOwl

    New users will really appreciate RSSOwl's large default feed set. With powerful filtering, it's easy to find exactly what you're looking for.

  • Liferea

    For many users, Liferea is the go-to RSS reader for the Linux desktop. This handy aggregator can collect RSS feeds, podcasts, and weblogs.

  • Liferea

    Liferea 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.

  • QuiteRSS

    QuiteRSS 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.

  • QuiteRSS

    For the Windows platform, there is also a portable version of this lightweight feed reader.

  • Akregator

    Akregator 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.

  • Akregator

    Akregator 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.

Introduction

NOTE: If you'd prefer to view this information as a blog post, check out this entry in our Five Apps blog.

The 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.

But 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.

Photo: iStockphoto.com/PK-Photos

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By Jack Wallen

Jack Wallen is an award-winning writer for TechRepublic and Linux.com. He’s an avid promoter of open source and the voice of The Android Expert. For more news about Jack Wallen, visit his website jackwallen.com.