Thinking about Feeds.
So we have XML, generally. We have RSS 0.91, 1.0, 2.0, we have Atom. Of the aforementioned, I’m currently partial to Atom. This is just after a cursory comparison of the different formats, I could certainly bear to look deeper into them…
However… they are all feeds designed to do pretty much the same thing. That is, they’re similar enough, it ought to be fairly easy to choose one format, and then parse other formats and then re-publish them into the One True Feed Format.
There are challenges with the above approach. Some formats include elements or attributes which don’t have a corresponding equivalent in another format. These could be filled in with default values so as not to lose data.
Still, the problem is: what One True Format do we transform it into? Feed formats don’t seem to inspire quite as heated debates as, say, text editors (vi! emacs!) or operating systems (Linux, various flavours of BSD… let’s not even mention Microsoft), or even Linux package management systems (RPM, deb, portage, etc.). That said, choosing One True Format is certain to tick somebody off, no matter which is chosen.
So, why not sidestep that altogether, and turn all our feeds into YAML? Specifically, into YAML that is also valid JSON?
It could be that this is an idea that was contemplated by souls wiser than I, and already abandoned. Perhaps it’s not easily implemented. Maybe nobody’s interested.
So forget YAML for a moment (though the idea still appeals to me). Standardizing on a single feed type still makes sense. At the same time… I don’t think it’s likely in the near future.
Why?
- Too many Very Large services have already chosen different formats and don’t seem likely to change. Blogger, IIRC, uses Atom. I believe Six Apart uses RDF, which would be RSS 1.0. Other services support multiple formats, or 2.0, or 0.91.
- Supporting different formats is fairly low overhead. It takes a little time, but it’s not an extremely difficult prospect for a feed aggregator to add a parser for a different format. They’re all XML. Many features are in common. One person working alone could create parsers for all the various formats in comparatively short order.
In short… it’s just too easy to allow people to keep using their favorite format, and to just parse all of them if we’re building a feed reader. Nobody gets worked up about it, there is no Grand Debate or Holy Feed Crusade.
My own answer to the question asked in the headline? No, probably not. Not any time soon.
If you want to implement a new standard (and, you know, go for it) then you need to make sure that:
a) The transition is painless - you’ll need plugins for all the major blog systems, and conversion routines for everyone else
b) The benefits are huge.
from my perspective as a developer, it’s negligible to publish in multiple feed formats. In fact, the benefits of compatibility far outweigh the small additional dev costs. Atom, RSS, YAML, M3U, etc, all have their strengths and weaknesses. Understanding them makes it easier to determine how and when to publish in each.
Good points, Garrick. That’s one of the reasons I think there won’t be any real push to try to unify the format of feeds; it’s not hard just to support the all the current formats.
I probably just liked the idea of using YAML, and let that snowball into this post.
@mrBen… yeah, I’d agree. And for those reasons, I’ve no plan to attempt to create a new standard.