[olug] RSS, Atom , etc.

[Tim & Alethea Larson]

Joe Gulizia wrote:
> What do RSS and Atom do for a website?
> 
> Why would an end user want me to make it part of my site?

RSS and Atom are technologies used for syndication.  They are a simple, 
standard XML format that other sites can parse and include in their own 
site easily.  Many people now get their news by aggregating these "news 
feeds" rather than visiting a multitude of websites one at a time. 
Since they are a standard format, it is simple to build a single web 
page that collects all the headlines from sites you like.  There are 
also specialized feedreader apps, just like you have newsreader apps for 
Usenet.  Thunderbird and Opera have integrated RSS capabilities.



Tim

-- 
Tim & Alethea
christtrek.org