A few months ago I installed Debian Wheezy on an old unused PC. The idea was to use this PC on a home server and thus be able to have more control of my data and personal information. So far, I am more than happy with the experiment. Slowly, I was replacing all the services that I used before (dropbox, gmail, calendar, contacts, etc.). Maybe the only one I hadn't been able to replace yet was google reader /Feedly, to read my RSS subscriptions.
What is Miniflux?
I had read that Tiny Tiny RSS was a good alternative, but after several attempts it was impossible to install it as it is only available in the Debian Sid repositories (unstable) and not in the Wheezy repositories (stable). It was then that I came across this little pearl: mini flux. It is a free and open source project distributed under the AGPL v3 license that allows you to read and synchronize RSS subscriptions from your web browser. It uses Apache and PHP, and as a database SQLite.
General characteristics of Miniflux
Optimized for reading
The page layout, fonts and colors were chosen to be readable on a screen. Ultimately, the most important thing is the content.
Download the full content of the articles
Do some of your subscriptions only show a summary? Miniflux will search for the original article automatically.
Quick, easy and efficient
You can use keyboard shortcuts to quickly read all the articles.
Does not include support for social networks
These centralized websites make money from your private life. Miniflux does not include support for Facebook, Google+, Twitter or similar.
No advertising or tracking
Nobody likes advertising. Miniflux automatically removes ads and trackers.
Super easy installation
All you have to do is copy and paste the source code on your server. You do not have to touch any configuration, not even the database, nothing.
Free and open source
Other characteristics
- Responsive design - looks perfect on any device (smartphone, tablet, or desktop).
- Compatible with the Fever API, which allows you to read your feeds through mobile and desktop clients.
- It is possible to subscribe to a website directly from any browser.
- You can import and export your subscriptions using the standard OPML format.
- Update feeds in the background.
- There are several visual themes available.
- External links open in a new tab with a rel = »noreferrer» attribute to respect your privacy.
- API to programmatically interact with your feeds and articles.
- It is available in 8 languages: English, French, German, Italian, Czech, Spanish, Portuguese and Simplified Chinese.
Installation
1. Download the source code by Miniflux.
2. Unzip the content in your www folder.
For example, in my case I use Debian and Apache as my web server. The www folder is located at / Var / www.
3. In order to synchronize RSS subscriptions and update your SQLite database, the file of which is located in the folder date, it is necessary to give the web service user / group write permissions on this folder. In Debian + Apache that means that you have to give it write permissions on the folder date To the group www data.
sudo chgrp www-data / var / www / miniflux / data sudo chmod g + w / var / www / miniflux / data
4. Open web browser and enter http://ip_de_tu_servidor/miniflux. A login screen should appear. Enter the following information:
user: admin
password: admin
5. Recommended step: change your username and password. This is done from the tab Preferences.
That's it. By having an adjustable design, this page will be perfectly accessible from any mobile device. There is also a application for Android on Google Play, which while it works perfectly is not dazzling. Miniflux also supports API Fever, so it will work with any RSS client that supports them.
More information: mini flux
Hello:
Very interesting your article, I did not know miniflux. I use inoreader and I am very happy. Do you know him?
Greetings and happy new year,
@internetlan
Try tiny tiny rss because it is infinitely better. Try downloading the code from github
like this one i didn't try, i can't tell if tt-rss is better or not, but a few days ago i installed tt-rss on my linuxmint by hand and jot down the steps, so if they work for you usemoslinux, they are all yours:
a) as they are also miniflux dependencies, I suppose you have apache and php, you would need to install mysql or postgree (I use mysql in the guide)
b) download the code from the official website: tt-rss.org
c) unzip and rename the folder to "ttrss" for simplicity
d) move to the / var / www / html folder:
sudo mv ttrss / var / www / html
e) create a database and a user:
from the console enter mysql: mysqp -u root -p
create the database: CREATE DATABASE ttrss;
create the user ttrss and give it privileges in the database: GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON ttrss. * TO 'ttrss' @ 'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'YOURPASSWORD';
close mysql with: q
f) go to http://localhost/ttrss/install/ and complete the installation from the browser
g) when going to http://localhost/ttrss It will tell us that you need new permissions, so we give them:
sudo chmod -R 777 / var / www / html / ttrss / cache / images / / var / www / html / ttrss / cache / js / / var / www / html / ttrss / cache / export / / var / www / html / ttrss / cache / upload / / var / www / html / ttrss / feed-icons / / var / www / html / ttrss / lock /
h) log in http://localhost/ttrss with user: admin, password: password
i) for the feeds to be updated (it should be put at the beginning of the system):
start-stop-daemon -x /var/www/html/ttrss/update_daemon2.php -S -b
source I relied on: tt-rss.org/redmine/projects/tt-rss/wiki/InstallationNotes
Yes, as I said in the article, I tried to install it but it is quite difficult in Debian stable due to the lack of packages in its repositories.
Hug! Paul.
Newsbeuter.
Hello, on that home server that you use to replace your calendar, contacts, etc, what programs do you use?
in the case of contacts, how do you synchronize your mobile contacts with that application?
I have been using selfoss for years and it works very well. There is also an application for Android.
Website: http://selfoss.aditu.de
Interesting! I did not know him. Thanks for the information.
Hug, Pablo.
Finally someone does not praise and go crazy for google and give a free alternative congratulations that they continue to give alternatives to google (androis, gmail, google + etc) as they give alternatives to microsoft since they are the same and even google is worse
It would be interesting if you said that you were replacing each of the services you use (dropbox, gmail, calendar, contacts, etc.). so this article would be a help for those who want to reuse old PCs.
Yes, yes ... it's in the plans. 🙂
I need time to be able to sit down and write.
Hug! Paul.