RSSnR

RSSnR (Rich Syndication and Notification Registry) is a hypothetical open standard and software platform designed to extend RSS-based syndication with incremental updates and resource-relational metadata. It envisions delivering only changes to subscribers, along with information about related items, permissions, and dependencies.

Overview: The goal of RSSnR is to reduce bandwidth and processing by transmitting delta updates instead of full items, making it suitable for large-scale feeds, research aggregators, and distributed dashboards. It also aims to provide a consistent way to express relationships between resources.

Architecture: A central registry maintains feed metadata and delta blocks. Publishers push deltas and associated metadata to the hub, while subscribers retrieve and apply those deltas to local copies. The specification covers delta formats, versioning, access control, and error handling, with optional support for real-time push and offline synchronization.

Interoperability and tooling: RSSnR builds on the familiar RSS/Atom ecosystem by introducing a JSON-based metadata layer and standardized endpoints for deltas, authentication, and manifest information. Several reference implementations exist in common languages, along with client libraries capable of applying deltas and reconstructing full items.

History and status: The concept emerged in the early 2010s as an extension proposal to RSS, developed through a collaboration of researchers and hobbyists. It remains niche and is not widely adopted as a formal standard, though it is discussed in technical forums and pilot projects.

Reception: Proponents argue that RSSnR can improve efficiency for high-volume feeds and collaborative workflows. Critics note added complexity, potential interoperability challenges, and the risk of fragmentation among competing implementations.