2009-11-03

Podcatcher

I tried many podcatcher on Linux recently and it is a long journey:
  • gtkpod 0.99.14: just to synchronize iPod. Allow to copy playlist and so on. Old and rough but stable.
  • gPodder 2.0 : podcatcher, manage OPML. This new version is my favorite !
  • Floola 5.3.1 (proprietary) : hard to run, many dependencies. Buggy and cumbersome UI. No OPML. Good iPod integration.
  • BashPodder : command line and minimal GUI. No OPML. simple shell script. Create one folder per day.
  • SongBird 1.4 : Podcast doesn't seem to be on their roadmap. It is sad, because it would make a good web integration with show notes and forums.
  • Exaile 0.2.14 : No OPML. Almost good, but I couldn't synchronize. Uses a hashkey as file name: unreadable. Python/GTK. (There is a new 0.3 version that is a complete rewrite. I still have to check the new version)
  • PenguiTV 4.0 : buggy ; Closely tied to Gnome (Python/Glade). Does OPML. Create one folder per day.
  • PodNova 2.4 : Outdated. a bit hard to run, many dependencies. Python/wxWidgets and a local web server. The integration with the PodNova site is good, you can share, vote and backup your podcast list. But it lacks features and robustness.
  • Media Chest Java
  • myPod (2003) Java but uses ligpod from gtkPod
  • GNUpod Perl pure iPod manager.
  • Amarok more a music collection manager than a podcatcher, but could do the job.
  • As usual there are also many dead projects, not updated for years, but still referenced in a lot of places.

I created an open SpreadSheet for everyone to update : Linux Podcatcher.

There is an Podcatcher Matrix that would be very nice if not outdated and a bit closed !
There is also a Wikipedia entry on aggregators, but it doesn't distinguish between text feeds, Podcast and Video and is a bit outdated and cumbersome.

2023 summary

  Life is bigger than what you can imagine.  Still using Roam  http://www.roamresearch.com/  to take notes Still using Mastodon mainly, but ...