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Newsletters and RSS feeds are not the same thing. If I send a newsletter to a list of subscribers then, as long as their email server receives the email, they c

Newsletters and RSS feeds are not the same thing. If I send a newsletter to a list of subscribers then, as long as their email server receives the email, they can retrieve it and read it whenever they want. But most importantly, if I don't set up an archive of all the newsletters, then only the people who subscribed will ever be able to read it. On the other hand it's impossible to achieve the same level of one-timeness with RSS. You either publish the feed for a limited amount of time (and the subscribers have to get lucky and synchronize their feeds during this time window), or you publish the feed indefinitely (which maybe you wouldn't want to do)

kevincox 4y ago
This is a very niche difference. In general once you send something "to the public" you can't expect that it stays private. So if you need to keep items on your feed for a few weeks after publishing it will have a near-zero difference to the availability of that piece and be picked up by almost all subscribers.
charles_f 4y ago
> it's impossible to achieve the same level of one-timeness with RSS. No it's not (not that I can really think of why you'd want that). Generate user-bound rss feed urls with GUIDs or a signed "start date" that provides only entries since that date. That can also allow you to track how many times that url gets retrieved and eventually block it if it's too many. Or have the rss reader only send an excerpt and have people auth before they access the content on your website. >most importantly, if I don't set up an archive of all the newsletters, then only the people who subscribed will ever be able to read it. On the other end once the email left your box, you don't control it anymore, and I can give you a well hidden hack that allows someone not subscribed to read it if they know someone subscribed.

kevincox 4y ago

This is a very niche difference. In general once you send something "to the public" you can't expect that it stays private. So if you need to keep items on your feed for a few weeks after publishing it will have a near-zero difference to the availability of that piece and be picked up by almost all subscribers.

charles_f 4y ago

> it's impossible to achieve the same level of one-timeness with RSS. No it's not (not that I can really think of why you'd want that). Generate user-bound rss feed urls with GUIDs or a signed "start date" that provides only entries since that date. That can also allow you to track how many times that url gets retrieved and eventually block it if it's too many. Or have the rss reader only send an excerpt and have people auth before they access the content on your website. >most importantly, if I don't set up an archive of all the newsletters, then only the people who subscribed will ever be able to read it. On the other end once the email left your box, you don't control it anymore, and I can give you a well hidden hack that allows someone not subscribed to read it if they know someone subscribed.