Digital World

Podcast Software

There are many podcast software programs available to

use. Many of them are even free. Because of the

decentralized, geek adopted nature of podcasting, a

wide variety of programs are available, from large

programs with a big footprint that do many different

jobs to tiny little software packages that do the bare

minimum. A package is available for podcast

subscribers of almost any type, and more are being

created everyday.

While some podcast software is designed for home user

computers, much of it is designed to be used online.

There are many packages created so that feed

subscribers can view the podcasts they enjoy from

within a web browser. These software packages contain

both the feed reader like the home user software does,

but usually also incorporate a way to view or listen to

the podcasts online from inside the browser. Much of

this software is used at the podcast directories that

maintain listings of podcast feeds.

Another type of online podcast software is the category

of feed creators. PHP scripting is usually used to create

the RSS file that tells the feed readers where to

download the podcasts from. The scripting can either

create a hard copy of the RSS file and write it to the

server disk when the feed is updated, or it can make it

virtually. When the RSS file is generated virtually, it

doesn't actually exist on the host's server. Instead, the

address of the PHP script is distributed as the address of

the feed. When the script is accessed, it generates the

file by looking at the recent posts at the site and sends

the results to the feed subscriber.