================================================== Newsboat Terminal RSS Reader ================================================== Purpose ------- Newsboat is a terminal-based RSS and Atom feed reader. It is particularly useful on lightweight Unix systems where a graphical news reader would be unnecessary. The basic model is simple: feed URL ~/.newsboat/urls newsboat terminal text browser -------------------------------------------------- 1. Installation -------------------------------------------------- Update the package lists if necessary: sudo apt update Install Newsboat: sudo apt install newsboat Verify the installation: newsboat --version -------------------------------------------------- 2. Feed List -------------------------------------------------- Newsboat reads its feed list from: ~/.newsboat/urls Create the directory if it does not exist: mkdir -p ~/.newsboat Create or edit the feed list: nano ~/.newsboat/urls -------------------------------------------------- 3. Example Feed List -------------------------------------------------- The file can contain one feed per line. Comments begin with '#'. Example: # Ukraine https://www.pravda.com.ua/rss/ https://www.unian.ua/rss/ https://www.ukrinform.ua/rss/ # World https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/rss.xml https://rss.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/HomePage.xml https://www.aljazeera.com/xml/rss/all.xml https://feeds.a.dj.com/rss/RSSWorldNews.xml # Technology https://hnrss.org/frontpage https://www.theverge.com/rss/index.xml https://arstechnica.com/feed/ https://www.wired.com/feed/rss https://spectrum.ieee.org/feeds/feed.rss # Linux / Open Source https://lwn.net/headlines/rss https://www.phoronix.com/rss.php https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/feed https://planet.debian.org/rss20.xml # Security https://krebsonsecurity.com/feed/ https://www.schneier.com/feed/ https://thehackernews.com/feeds/posts/default https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/feed/ # Culture / Long Reads https://www.404media.co/rss/ https://www.theatlantic.com/feed/all/ https://longreads.com/feed/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/feed/ # Miscellaneous https://aeon.co/feed.rss https://waitbutwhy.com/feed -------------------------------------------------- 4. Feed Tags -------------------------------------------------- Newsboat can associate tags with feeds. For example: https://lwn.net/headlines/rss "linux" or: https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/rss.xml "world" Tags make larger collections easier to navigate. A feed list can therefore become a small index rather than merely a collection of URLs. -------------------------------------------------- 5. Configuration -------------------------------------------------- The main configuration file is: ~/.newsboat/config Create or edit it: nano ~/.newsboat/config A minimal terminal-oriented configuration: auto-reload yes reload-time 30 browser "w3m %u" color listnormal default default color listfocus black yellow standout color info cyan default -------------------------------------------------- 6. Browser Integration -------------------------------------------------- Newsboat itself is primarily a feed reader. When an article needs to be read in full, it can pass the URL to an external browser. For a lightweight terminal environment: browser "w3m %u" Other text browsers can be substituted: browser "lynx %u" or: browser "elinks %u" The choice depends on which browser handles the target site and its protocol correctly. -------------------------------------------------- 7. Running Newsboat -------------------------------------------------- Start: newsboat Useful basic commands: r reload feeds Enter open selected feed or article o open the selected URL in the configured browser q quit -------------------------------------------------- 8. Offline Reading -------------------------------------------------- Newsboat stores downloaded feed information locally. This makes it useful for intermittent connections and for maintaining a small local reading queue. A practical workflow is: connect newsboat reload feeds disconnect read locally -------------------------------------------------- 9. Newsboat in tmux -------------------------------------------------- Newsboat works particularly well inside tmux. Example: tmux new -s news newsboat Detach with: Ctrl-b d Reattach later: tmux attach -t news This allows Newsboat to remain available as one persistent part of a larger terminal workspace. -------------------------------------------------- 10. Feed Collection as an Index -------------------------------------------------- A useful approach is to treat ~/.newsboat/urls as an index of interesting sources rather than merely a news list. Possible groups include: Linux Unix Open Source BBS Gopher Internet History Software Archaeology Archives Hardware Science Culture This makes Newsboat useful as a lightweight discovery layer for the wider text-oriented Internet. ================================================== NOTES ================================================== RSS and Atom feeds are ordinary web resources. They may use: http:// https:// Gopher and Gemini are separate protocols and are not RSS feeds. If a site provides a feed, Newsboat can often act as the entry point to the site's text content without requiring a graphical browser. Feed URLs may disappear over time. Historical collections should therefore be periodically reviewed and, where appropriate, archived locally. ================================================== WORKING PRINCIPLE ================================================== Newsboat is not the destination. It is a terminal-based index into the Internet. feeds Newsboat selected article text browser source archive / notes / further exploration Keep the feed list curated. A small collection of useful feeds is generally more valuable than hundreds of noisy subscriptions. ==================================================