Canto (news aggregator)
Encyclopedia
Canto is a terminal based aggregator for online news. It supports all major news formats (RSS
/RDF
and Atom
), as well as importing from and exporting to OPML
. The news content is downloadable and as such Canto also has limited podcasting
support. Canto intends to be extremely flexible and extensible, allowing the full use of the Python
programming language in its configuration.
rewrite of NRSS (a C-based news reader that has since been deprecated), starting in early 2008. The project was started to address many of the shortcomings of NRSS, particularly multiple line item titles, more formats supported, and general fragility. A lot of code was eliminated by using Mark Pilgrim
's feedparser and chardet libraries. The name canto was chosen to describe the divisions apparent in the default interface, like the divisions
of a long poem.
Configuration is done using Python, allowing users to alter Canto with custom classes and functions. Sorting and filtering is done in the same manner as typical Python lists, and new themes and styles can just override part of the default renderer class. Extra functionality has been added using extra libraries.
Canto fully supports using Unicode
/UTF-8
in feed items, and for user input.
Lastly, Canto's information is updated by a separate process, canto-fetch, which can either run as a daemon
or as a cron
-job.
RSS (file format)
RSS is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format...
/RDF
Resource Description Framework
The Resource Description Framework is a family of World Wide Web Consortium specifications originally designed as a metadata data model...
and Atom
Atom (standard)
The name Atom applies to a pair of related standards. The Atom Syndication Format is an XML language used for web feeds, while the Atom Publishing Protocol is a simple HTTP-based protocol for creating and updating web resources.Web feeds allow software programs to check for updates published on a...
), as well as importing from and exporting to OPML
OPML
OPML is an XML format for outlines...
. The news content is downloadable and as such Canto also has limited podcasting
Podcasting
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
support. Canto intends to be extremely flexible and extensible, allowing the full use of the Python
Python (programming language)
Python is a general-purpose, high-level programming language whose design philosophy emphasizes code readability. Python claims to "[combine] remarkable power with very clear syntax", and its standard library is large and comprehensive...
programming language in its configuration.
History
Canto is a PythonPython (programming language)
Python is a general-purpose, high-level programming language whose design philosophy emphasizes code readability. Python claims to "[combine] remarkable power with very clear syntax", and its standard library is large and comprehensive...
rewrite of NRSS (a C-based news reader that has since been deprecated), starting in early 2008. The project was started to address many of the shortcomings of NRSS, particularly multiple line item titles, more formats supported, and general fragility. A lot of code was eliminated by using Mark Pilgrim
Mark Pilgrim
Mark Pilgrim is a software developer, writer, and advocate of free software. He authors a popular blog, and has written several books including Dive into Python, a guide to the Python programming language published under the GNU Free Documentation License...
's feedparser and chardet libraries. The name canto was chosen to describe the divisions apparent in the default interface, like the divisions
Canto
The canto is a principal form of division in a long poem, especially the epic. The word comes from Italian, meaning "song" or singing. Famous examples of epic poetry which employ the canto division are Lord Byron's Don Juan, Valmiki's Ramayana , Dante's The Divine Comedy , and Ezra Pound's The...
of a long poem.
Distinguishing Features
Canto's main appeal is that all of the content is displayed in a single list that is fully visible by default. Feeds can be hidden and items can be dynamically filtered out so that at any given time the most relevant information is visible. The summary of an item is accurately depicted in HTML rendered to text, including image links and enclosure (podcast) content (both of which can be downloaded with external handlers).Configuration is done using Python, allowing users to alter Canto with custom classes and functions. Sorting and filtering is done in the same manner as typical Python lists, and new themes and styles can just override part of the default renderer class. Extra functionality has been added using extra libraries.
Canto fully supports using Unicode
Unicode
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
/UTF-8
UTF-8
UTF-8 is a multibyte character encoding for Unicode. Like UTF-16 and UTF-32, UTF-8 can represent every character in the Unicode character set. Unlike them, it is backward-compatible with ASCII and avoids the complications of endianness and byte order marks...
in feed items, and for user input.
Lastly, Canto's information is updated by a separate process, canto-fetch, which can either run as a daemon
Daemon (computer software)
In Unix and other multitasking computer operating systems, a daemon is a computer program that runs as a background process, rather than being under the direct control of an interactive user...
or as a cron
Cron
Cron is a time-based job scheduler in Unix-like computer operating systems. Cron enables users to schedule jobs to run periodically at certain times or dates...
-job.