Rss 2.0 and Atom 1.0 Compared
TimBray has posted an excellent comparison between Atom 1.0 and Rss 2.0… as the title of this blurb suggests.
From what I can tell from skimming that document, Atom seems like a properly executed xml application while rss is kind of half-assed.
Uncfortunately, the comparison didn’t offer me much of a clue as to what all of this means. If the two standards are destined to compete, and it seems like they are, my prediction is that rss 2.0 is good enough and will prevail.
None of this matters to the end user, of course, since the user is as uncaring on what the format of the feed is as they are for what flavor of XML their favorite web site uses.
However, it seems to me that since Atom 1.0 is more XML-compliant than Rss 2.0, perhaps it will turn into a more fertile platform for extension. Perhaps tools that suck up Atom 1.0 feeds will light up their user interfaces with a little more magic as if they are energized by the extra content or flexibility of Atom.
More reading to follow…