Can someone please explain to me why RSS still exists?

Re:Can someone please explain to me why RSS still exists? by jcbator on Tuesday October 27, 2015 @01:20PM (#10459540)

I think the core of it is exactly that - the hiccups and lack of standardization. (This reminds me of the classic tightly-knit Apple vs. open Android argument). Looking at podcasts for example, they are presented in a standardized format on whichever podcast app you use, but the data and enclosures behind that interface are inconsistent. It leads to some episodes downloading quickly, others failing entirely, and all kinds of error checking/validation if you want to provide a slick experience. Maybe text content is better?

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Re:Can someone please explain to me why RSS still exists? by detaro on Tuesday October 27, 2015 @01:42PM (#10459726)

Text has similar issues, most common things I notice are:

* blog software dropping JS-dependent elements into the feed

* leaving out formatting (e.g. leaving line breaks)

* software updates etc triggering entries to be republished

All of these are IMHO "faults" in the publishing software.

A clearer standard for what you actually put into a feed (formatting) and potentially permissions for caching of e.g. podcast episodes would be helpful, if it were actually enforced (e.g. by clients being strict and dropping non-conforming contents). There clearly is potential for improvement, but I haven't seen any strong candidates that could do better, + they'll have a hard time gaining momentum vs the "good enough" right now.

(P.S.: if someone disagrees and has a good suggestion for something better, please tell us and don't just downvote)

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