An RSS feed reader is an indispensable tool for most of us.
It aggregates feeds from various websites to make it easy for you to keep track of their latest updates.
Depending on how you like these updates served, you may choose a graphical or CLI-based feed reader.
Newsboat is one such CLI-based feed aggregator for Linux.
Let’s jump in to explore it in more detail.
What Is Newsboat?
Newsboat is a CLI-based RSS/Atomfeed reader for Linux.
What Features Does Newsboat Offer?
Else, followour Snap guideto install Snap on your system first.
First, copy the RSS feed address of the website you want to add to your Newsboat feed.
If you want to add more feeds, copy their URLs and paste them here.
HitCtrl + Oto write the changes to the file and save.
PressCtrl + Xto exit.
For this, access your account on the feed reader and export your feed in the OPML format.
After this, copy this file and move it to the home directory.
Finally, trigger the following command to import it:
3.
However, these sources aren’t updated right now.
To do so, pressR, and it will reload all sources.
If you want to reload a particular feed, select it using arrow keys, and pressr.
Wait for the feed to update.
Once done, grab the feed to open and pressEnterto open it.
Here, you’ll see all the latest stories from that feed.
To open and read one, select it and pressEnter.
When you’re reading an article and wish to view the next story, use thenkey.
Lastly, to go back to the preview screen, pressq.
This also quits Newsboat when you press it on the main Newsboat page.
But if you wish to quit the program from anywhere, pressQinstead.
Configuring Newsboat on Linux
In its default state, Newsboat works just fine.
You must save all Newsboat configurations to theconfigfile inside Newsboat’s directory structure.
If the file is missing, it’s crucial that you create it.
After this, depending on what you want to accomplish, modify this file accordingly.
Here are a few configuration changes that may interest you:
1.
For this reason, configuring your preferred default surfing app is an essential step.
To do this, add the following line to theconfigfile:
2.
Auto-Refresh Feeds at Launch
Newsboat isn’t configured to auto-refresh the feeds when you launch it.
As a result, it’s crucial that you manually refresh the feed yourself.
For this, add this line:
3.
Remove Read Articles
Most RSS readers remove read articles from your feed to reduce clutter.
Newsboat is perhaps the best feed reader in this regard.