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• PodNova 2.4 : Outdated.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There is an Podcatcher Matrix that would be very nice if not outdated and a bit closed !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is also a Wikipedia entry on aggregators, but it doesn't distinguish between text feeds, Podcast and Video and is a bit outdated and cumbersome.