Show HN: Forked and updated the Chrome RSS subscription extension Google removed (opens in new tab)

(chrome.google.com)

35 pointsjustinkelly13y ago18 comments

18 comments

Hi Guys

Like many on the list I'm a heavy chrome and rss user. Though the demise of Google Reader is no great surprise I was grumpy that Google removed the RSS Subscription extension from the Chrome webstore.

I've forked Google's extension, updated it and loaded back into the Chrome webstore.

Added support for Feedly, NewsBlur and The Old Reader. Removed Google Reader, iReader, My Yahoo

Also code is now up on github

* https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/rss-subscription-e...

* https://github.com/justinkelly/chrome-rss

Cheers

Justin

webwanderings13y ago

Nice effort. Have decided to move off of Chrome, so preparing Firefox and all.

ishansharma13y ago

Me too. Already jumped and Firefox is quite fast and light as compared to Chrome. You'll enjoy it.

justinkellyOP13y ago

thanks - i think alot of others will join you in jumping ship

mindcrime13y ago

Awesome, thanks! Can this also bounce the subscribe request to an offline reader like RSSOwl? If not, how hard would it be to implement something like that?

justinkellyOP13y ago

this extension can't at the moment, but there is an extension that does

* https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/rss-subscriptions-...

josteink13y ago

At this point, it seems like working with Google technologies (like Chrome and reader) is turning more into doing a uphill battle where you have to hack your way to an end, as opposed to just doing what you want.

At that point, why not just use something open and welcoming instead?

platinum113y ago

How is being able to fork an open source extension to an open source web browser an "uphill battle" and not "open and welcoming?"

josteink13y ago

Currently Chrome is not an open-source browser. Chromium is.

As for Chrome, unless you are willing to go through hoops, it is only willing to install extensions from the Chrome Web Store.

You are now jumping through hoops to reinstall something you had installed which Google removed from their web-store.

Now Google which is your application (Chrome) and service (Reader)-provider, is working against you instead of enabling you. It didn't use to be that way, but now Google has changed.

That's the uphill battle. That's the not enabling part. That's the not open and welcoming. Contrast that to for instance Firefox and you will find a completely different picture.

Firefox has no mixed interests here, and that means they wont pull moves like this.

latraveler13y ago

I asked this question on SO the other day, perhaps someone here knows a solution ...

For the past few years I've been using Google Reader to archive my Twitter and Facebook history for various reasons. Obviously yesterday's news really threw a wrench in everything.

My problem ...

I need a way to export every 'article' from 3 subscriptions I have (not just the subscription URL) and import those into a good RSS reader (open to suggestions). Anyone have any advice?

http://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/41671/google-read...

tomschlick13y ago

facebook and twitter both allow you to export data directly from them in a human & machine readable format (nice html pages along with json)... why would you use rss instead?

RexRollman13y ago

It the case of Twitter, that is a really recent development. Perhaps the poster's workflow predates that?

crazysim13y ago

Any idea on the licensing issues? It would be great if Google "released" the source.

justinkellyOP13y ago

Google's Chrome extensions are BSD like license

Assuming you've installed the extension you can grab its source from Chrome .config directory * which I imported and updated to github: https://github.com/justinkelly/chrome-rss

The actual original source in SVN/Git may already be public but i've no idea where it is - somewhere deep in the chromium repo??

crazysim13y ago

I wouldn't call the Google Talk extension to be under the BSD license even though it is Google's. This extension is far simpler than that though.

As for the original source, it's not in the Chromium repo:

https://code.google.com/p/chromium/codesearch#search/&q=...

1 more reply

nsmartt13y ago

It isn't that I don't believe you, but I don't see a license file in any of the Google-owned extensions I have installed. Source?

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

18 comments

justinkellyOP13y ago

Hi Guys

I've forked Google's extension, updated it and loaded back into the Chrome webstore.

Added support for Feedly, NewsBlur and The Old Reader. Removed Google Reader, iReader, My Yahoo

Also code is now up on github

* https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/rss-subscription-e...

* https://github.com/justinkelly/chrome-rss

Cheers

Justin

webwanderings13y ago

Nice effort. Have decided to move off of Chrome, so preparing Firefox and all.

ishansharma13y ago

Me too. Already jumped and Firefox is quite fast and light as compared to Chrome. You'll enjoy it.

justinkellyOP13y ago

thanks - i think alot of others will join you in jumping ship

mindcrime13y ago

Awesome, thanks! Can this also bounce the subscribe request to an offline reader like RSSOwl? If not, how hard would it be to implement something like that?

justinkellyOP13y ago

this extension can't at the moment, but there is an extension that does

* https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/rss-subscriptions-...

josteink13y ago

At that point, why not just use something open and welcoming instead?

platinum113y ago

How is being able to fork an open source extension to an open source web browser an "uphill battle" and not "open and welcoming?"

josteink13y ago

Currently Chrome is not an open-source browser. Chromium is.

As for Chrome, unless you are willing to go through hoops, it is only willing to install extensions from the Chrome Web Store.

You are now jumping through hoops to reinstall something you had installed which Google removed from their web-store.

Now Google which is your application (Chrome) and service (Reader)-provider, is working against you instead of enabling you. It didn't use to be that way, but now Google has changed.

That's the uphill battle. That's the not enabling part. That's the not open and welcoming. Contrast that to for instance Firefox and you will find a completely different picture.

Firefox has no mixed interests here, and that means they wont pull moves like this.

latraveler13y ago

I asked this question on SO the other day, perhaps someone here knows a solution ...

For the past few years I've been using Google Reader to archive my Twitter and Facebook history for various reasons. Obviously yesterday's news really threw a wrench in everything.

My problem ...

I need a way to export every 'article' from 3 subscriptions I have (not just the subscription URL) and import those into a good RSS reader (open to suggestions). Anyone have any advice?

http://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/41671/google-read...

tomschlick13y ago

facebook and twitter both allow you to export data directly from them in a human & machine readable format (nice html pages along with json)... why would you use rss instead?

RexRollman13y ago

It the case of Twitter, that is a really recent development. Perhaps the poster's workflow predates that?

crazysim13y ago

Any idea on the licensing issues? It would be great if Google "released" the source.

justinkellyOP13y ago

Google's Chrome extensions are BSD like license

Assuming you've installed the extension you can grab its source from Chrome .config directory * which I imported and updated to github: https://github.com/justinkelly/chrome-rss

The actual original source in SVN/Git may already be public but i've no idea where it is - somewhere deep in the chromium repo??

crazysim13y ago

I wouldn't call the Google Talk extension to be under the BSD license even though it is Google's. This extension is far simpler than that though.

As for the original source, it's not in the Chromium repo:

https://code.google.com/p/chromium/codesearch#search/&q=...

1 more reply

nsmartt13y ago

It isn't that I don't believe you, but I don't see a license file in any of the Google-owned extensions I have installed. Source?

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse