Tools for managing the data behind the FCP site
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Dave Morriss db39655199 Additions to the database and feedWatcher
feedWatcher: added the parsing of HTML feeds to get the title tag in the
    <head> area; new database fields relating to the copyright check
    done, and why the feed was allowed in if done so manually; added dry
    run mode; changed the way -load and -delete work so each can be
    given URLs on the command line; starting to report settings at start
    time (needs work); -load and -delete not allowed together; more
    logging; addition of a _debug function; enhancement of reportFeed to
    show one feed and a summary of relevant details (more useful than
    dumping the entire database this way); added getHTMLTitle for
    parsing out the HTML title; enhanced checkCopyright to get a reason
    if in manual mode and a feed is allowed in; needs a lot of
    clean-up!

feedWatcher.{html,json,mkd,opml,pdf}: various reports.

feedWatcher_3.tpl: For making Markdown which is turned into PDF.
    'Licence' becomes 'Copyright'

feedWatcher_5.tpl: for dumping all the URLs in the database
    & regenerating everything

feedWatcher_schema.sql: new fields added
2023-01-14 23:13:49 +00:00
.gitignore Regenerated PDF 2022-11-20 22:49:57 +00:00
README.md Updates to README.md 2022-11-19 22:11:39 +00:00
db_regen first commit 2022-11-19 21:27:51 +00:00
feedWatcher Additions to the database and feedWatcher 2023-01-14 23:13:49 +00:00
feedWatcher.cfg first commit 2022-11-19 21:27:51 +00:00
feedWatcher.db Additions to the database and feedWatcher 2023-01-14 23:13:49 +00:00
feedWatcher.html Additions to the database and feedWatcher 2023-01-14 23:13:49 +00:00
feedWatcher.json Additions to the database and feedWatcher 2023-01-14 23:13:49 +00:00
feedWatcher.mkd Additions to the database and feedWatcher 2023-01-14 23:13:49 +00:00
feedWatcher.opml Additions to the database and feedWatcher 2023-01-14 23:13:49 +00:00
feedWatcher.pdf Additions to the database and feedWatcher 2023-01-14 23:13:49 +00:00
feedWatcher.tpl first commit 2022-11-19 21:27:51 +00:00
feedWatcher_1.tpl first commit 2022-11-19 21:27:51 +00:00
feedWatcher_2.tpl Regenerated PDF 2022-11-20 22:49:57 +00:00
feedWatcher_3.tpl Additions to the database and feedWatcher 2023-01-14 23:13:49 +00:00
feedWatcher_4.tpl first commit 2022-11-19 21:27:51 +00:00
feedWatcher_5.tpl Additions to the database and feedWatcher 2023-01-14 23:13:49 +00:00
feedWatcher_schema.sql Additions to the database and feedWatcher 2023-01-14 23:13:49 +00:00
make_reports Updates for FOSDEM 2023 2023-01-09 18:20:17 +00:00

README.md

Free Culture Podcasts

History

The project dates back to 2013 when the idea of keeping a list of Linux, Making, Hacking and other technical podcasts was suggested. Various attempts to build such a system were made, culminating in a Perl script called feedWatcher which maintained a SQLite database of podcast feeds.

For the FOSDEM meeting of 2020 a table was obtained to represent as many of the Free Culture podcasts whose details could be collected. The name Free Culture Podcasts was used, a website created (https://freeculturepodcasts.org) and feedWatcher enhanced to generate the HTML to populate it.

Other reports were generated for handouts, etc. The FOSDEM table was deemed a success as it created a fair bit of interest.

Post COVID

Another table was requested at FOSDEM for the 2023 meeting, which unlike the previous years, was in-person.

The feedWatcher script and the database

No significant development has been carried out since 2020. The script is still capable of generating HTML reports and other listings using TT² (Template Toolkit) templates.

More podcast URLs have been added to the database. Several were provided by the HPR host 'norrist'. A process of scanning the #podcast hashtag on Mastodon has also turned up some potential additions.

The original design of the script was to be able to scan feeds already in the database to determine their status. This was planned to enable deleted and fading feeds to be spotted. As feeds are loaded into the database details of their enclosures are also stored, so it is possible to give statistics about feed activity.

Unfortunately, the scan function was not implemented in 2020 and has not been added since, so this feature is not available yet.