[gpodder-devel] Do we need a podcast directory?
- From: friedbunny at kulturny.com (FriedBunny)
- Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 01:25:51 -0800
On Tue, Feb 26, 2008 at 12:42 AM, Thomas Perl <thp at perli.net> wrote:
> Hello!
>
> I'm thinking about adding some kind of "directory" or "channel search"
> functionality to gPodder. The current support ("Import from Web") with
> the list at http://gpodder.org/directory.opml is a bit limited, so I'm
> thinking about what is the best way to get a list of interesting
> channels and present them in an useful way.
>
> Possible solutions:
>
> * Aggregate data from podcast directories (have to ask, etc..)
> * Add a "submit" functionality to gPodder
>
> The "submit" functionality would enable gPodder users to select some (or
> all) of their subscribed channels, add a note or some other details to
> the channel info and send it to the gPodder website where it could be
> added to the podcast directory. This directory could then be searched
> and displayed from within gPodder in a similiar way that the OPML
> importer currently does.
>
> Of course, the "submit" function is totally optional, i.e. you have to
> select it from the menu, then select your channels, add some info and
> then send it to the gPodder website.
>
> * Do we need such a function?
> * How do you discover new channels?
> * Would you be willing to contribute to the directory?
> * What would you like to see in terms of discovering channels?
> ? * What do you think of the idea?
>
>
> Thanks,
> Thomas
>
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> gpodder-devel at lists.berlios.de
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>
This is an ambitious idea, I would be willing to contribute
descriptions of the podcasts to which I listen to such a directory if
this feature were implemented.
That being said, it seems like a bit of a task to create and maintain
what would end up being a rather large and sprawling collection.
Maintenance in particular would seem like a big problem to me -- what
happens when a podcast goes dead? What if it has explicit content? It
would require a bit of administrative effort, I should think.
Some of the problems could probably be solved by clever coding and
crowd-sourcing, but it still appears to be an enormous burden --
especially considering gpodder's enthusiastic yet modest user base.
Might it be better to find an existing directory and integrate their
content via something similar to the current OPML-based "Import from
Web"? From a cursory search, it looks like http://podcast.com is a
fairly comprehensive directory and allows their lists to be exported
as OPML, such as this list of BBC Radio 4 programs:
http://opml.podcast.com/44343
I don't know if podcast.com is the ideal solution (only bottom-level
directories actually link directly to podcast feeds, top-level general
categories link to sub-categories' OPML within podcast.com -- perhaps
gpodder integration would involve traversing these various levels of
categories), but it may be an option.
I hope I don't sound too dour or negative, I certainly agree that a
feature such as the one suggested would be a great addition to
gpodder. For me, it often falls to luck or word of mouth when it comes
to discovering a new podcast, so a user-friendly tool would likely go
a long way to help.
This should prove to be an interesting discussion, I hope this feature
finds support.
Thanks as always, Thomas.
-FB
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