What's New Pussycat?
Charly's Column – urlwatch
Experienced system administrators attach great importance to always being up to date when it comes to information technology. Urlwatch is a command-line tool that presents the latest news from websites that do not offer RSS feeds by email.
Some years ago, I reported on the Miniflux RSS feed aggregator [1] in this column, and I still use it. Miniflux is lean, fast, and easy to use. The media have been predicting the death of RSS feeds for what feels like an eternity, but it still has not happened. However, some websites simply don't offer feeds. I have to do something different here. What I need is a tool that alerts me when a particular website changes.
That's far more complicated than it sounds at first. Using a web service for this purpose (there are countless numbers of them) is out of the question for reasons of data economy. However, the biggest problem is something else. Things on websites that I don't find relevant are constantly changing. For example, a daily newspaper that I regularly read displays job ads that change with every reload. If I was notified every time, it would drive me crazy. There has to be a better way – and there is: urlwatch.
Written in Python 3, urlwatch is included in most popular distributions. If you want to know exactly if and which version of urlwatch is available in your favorite distro, you can find out on Repology.org [2]; DIY enthusiasts can use GitHub [3]. For example, I instructed urlwatch to keep an eye on the online news page for Linux Magazine (Listing 1) – pointlessly, because it actually still offers RSS.
[...]
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
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
-
Kernel 7.0 Now in Testing
Linus Torvalds has announced the first Release Candidate (RC) for the 7.x kernel is available for those who want to test it.
-
Introducing matrixOS, an Immutable Gentoo-Based Linux Distro
It was only a matter of time before a developer decided one of the most challenging Linux distributions needed to be immutable.
-
Chaos Comes to KDE in KaOS
KaOS devs are making a major change to the distribution, and it all comes down to one system.
-
New Linux Botnet Discovered
The SSHStalker botnet uses IRC C2 to control systems via legacy Linux kernel exploits.
-
The Next Linux Kernel Turns 7.0
Linus Torvalds has announced that after Linux kernel 6.19, we'll finally reach the 7.0 iteration stage.
-
Linux From Scratch Drops SysVinit Support
LFS will no longer support SysVinit.
-
LibreOffice 26.2 Now Available
With new features, improvements, and bug fixes, LibreOffice 26.2 delivers a modern, polished office suite without compromise.
-
Linux Kernel Project Releases Project Continuity Document
What happens to Linux when there's no Linus? It's a question many of us have asked over the years, and it seems it's also on the minds of the Linux kernel project.
-
Mecha Systems Introduces Linux Handheld
Mecha Systems has revealed its Mecha Comet, a new handheld computer powered by – you guessed it – Linux.
-
MX Linux 25.1 Features Dual Init System ISO
The latest release of MX Linux caters to lovers of two different init systems and even offers instructions on how to transition.