Tutorial – Desktop News Feeds
Tutorial – Desktop News Feeds
Reading news is part good citizenry, part necessary evil, but your news feed notifications on Linux don't have to be distracting or intrusive.
Wouldn't it be great if you could automatically gather updates from all your favorite online sources and make them subtly accessible in your favorite browser, to peruse when you feel like reading headlines, without wasting time or screen space and without even touching them unless you want to read a full article? Would you like to do this in the same way, whatever your preferred Linux environment? In this tutorial, I show you how by integrating two distinct sets of open standards.
First, I explain what RSS feeds are and how to download as many of them as you want with scripts that can run periodically as automated cron jobs. Second, you will see how to use the output of those scripts to generate desktop icons, or root menus, that open the news you want to read straight into your browser. You can do this in ways that work with little or no tweaking in the great majority of Linux window managers or desktop environments available today.
Only your imagination will limit what you can do when you know how to download news automatically from the web or regenerate window manager menus. I mention some ways to reuse what you learn here in the Conclusions of the tutorial.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Digital Autonomy
• How the Fediverse Found Parts for Its Platforms
• The Answer Was Already on the Shelf
• Changing the Chip Industry: How Public Investment Has Grown Open Silicon
• United Nations Open Source Portal Goes Live
• EU Open Source Strategy Plays Key Role in Tech Sovereignty Package
• France Says “Au Revoir” to Microsoft
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Bottlenecks Discovered by Meta Engineers Lead to Scalability Improvements
Thanks to a small group of engineers at Meta, the Linux kernel module kernfs has been improved, which has led to some serious gains.
-
PwnEscape Poses VM Vulnerability
A guest-to-host escape flaw in Linux KVM, named PwnEscape, might be yet another means of attacking Linux.
-
Linux Mint 27 Set for a Christmas Release
The developers behind Linux Mint have announced a Christmas release, and it looks like Santa's sack will be brimming with features.
-
Is Linus Torvalds Vibe Coding?
The creator of Linux has added AI into his process for Linux kernel development, and it's more than just for debugging.
-
openKylin 3.0 Released with Expanded AI Integration
The latest release features a pre-installed AI agent to help perform tasks.
-
DigitalOcean Ends Open Source Credits Program
In a change that has surprised many open source developers, DigitalOcean has decided to sunset its Open Source Credits Program.
-
Office 365 Available for Testing on Linux via Bottles
Linux users can now test the official Office 365, thanks to Mirko Brombin's work on Bottles.
-
Dutch Government Turns to Open Source for Digital Sovereignty
Following in the footsteps of other European countries, the Netherlands is looking to increase its sovereign digital infrastructure with open source software.
-
Linux May Soon Work on Snapdragon X2-Based PCs
If you're thinking about buying a Snapdragon X2-based desktop or laptop, Linux may soon be an option.
-
KDE for People Initiative Calls for AI Ban in Plasma
A new community of KDE wants the project to adopt a strict no-AI policy for KDE Plasma.