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Practical Information for Using Linux To Get Things Done
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 Subscribe To The Podcast

Have you been wondering how to actually receive each episode of this (or any other) podcast automatically? Although it is called "subscribing," you are really just adding the podcast to your podcast receiving software... and of course it's free. 

Using one of the feed links at the left, follow the instructions for your podcast receiving software (podcatcher). Instructions for several Linux, Windows and Mac podcatchers are given, below.

What Is A Podcast?
We could never define it as simply as Lee and Sachi of CommonCraft. Watch this simple, 3 minute video. It explains it all:
Podcasting in Plain English
How To Subscribe
All podcasts will have a link to their feed published somewhere on the website or blog page for the podcast. Usually the link is easily spotted, and is marked with an orange and white RSS or XML logo. Recently, Mozilla.org has proposed a common icon for these feeds that has become quite popular.

It looks like this:

The RSS feed icon.

You'll see this icon for the Going Linux feeds at the left. Sometimes a feed icon looks a little different, and sometimes it's just a regular text-based web link! Regardless of how it appears in your browser, here are instructions for subscribing once you have found the link to the feed's URL. The instructions below are valid as of the "Updated" date at the bottom of the page.

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Linux Podcatchers
We illustrate, below, how to subscribe to this podcast using some of the most popular podcast receiving software (podcatchers). 

AmaroK Software (iPod and non-iPod players)
  1. Right-click the link (or the feed icon) and copy the URL path for the podcast feed. This is usually a standard URL that begins "http://" and often ends with a file name that has the extension "xml" or "rss".
    Copy feed link
  2. Open the Playlists panel in amaroK.
  3. Right-click Podcasts in the list.
  4. Select Add Podcast from the list. It's the icon labeled with a plus sign.
    Add podcast
    The Add Podcast dialog box opens.
  5. Type or paste the URL from step 1 into the Enter Podcast URL field.
    The Amarok add podcast dialog box
  6. Click OK. The podcast is located and the episodes are added to the playlist. You can play them right away, but they are not actually downloaded to your hard drive until you complete step 7.
  7. (Optional) Right-click the name of the podcast in the list and select Configure to change how and where the episodes are downloaded.
If you are looking for information on how to manage your music on an iPod from AmaroK, see this article on the HowToForge website.

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Rhythmbox Software (iPod and non-iPod players)
  1. As in step 1 for Amarok, right-click the feed link from the website and copy the URL path for the podcast feed.
  2. Click Podcasts in the source panel in Rhythmbox.
  3. Select New Podcast Feed in the tool bar. The New Podcast Feed dialog box opens.
    New podcast feed button
  4. Type or paste the URL from step 1 into the URL from podcast feed field.
    The Rythmbox new podcast dialog
  5. Click Add. The podcast feed is located and the episodes are added to the playlist. Rythmbox immediately begins downloading the latest episode into the player.
If you are looking for information on how to manage your music on an iPod from Rhythmbox, see this article on the HowToForge website.
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Banshee (iPod and non-iPod players)
  1. As in step 1 for Amarok, right-click the feed link from the website and copy the URL path for the podcast feed.
  2. From the button bar at the top of the Banshee window, click Subscribe to Podcast. A dialog box opens.
  3. Type or paste the URL from step 1 into the URL field. You can optionally change how the episodes are downloaded. 
    The Banshee subscribe to new podcast dialog
  4. Choose the directory where you want the episodes downloaded.
  5. Click Subscribe. 
If you are looking for information on how to manage your music on an iPod from Banshee, see this article on the SimpleHelp.net website.

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Songbird Music Player (iPod and non-iPod players)
  1. As in step 1 for Amarok, right-click the feed link from the website and copy the URL path for the podcast feed.
  2. From the Songbird menus, select File, New Subscription.
  3. Type or paste the URL from step 1 into the URL field. You can optionally change how the frequently Songbird looks for new episodes. 
    The Banshee new subscription dialog box
  4. Choose the directory where you want the episodes downloaded.
  5. Click OK. 
If you are looking for information on how to manage your music on an iPod from Songbird, see this article on the HowToForge website.
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Windows Podcatchers
OK, so you haven't made the switch yet. Don't let that stop you from listening to the Going Linux podcast!

iTunes Software (iPod players ONLY)

Podcasts listed in the iTunes Music Store
  1. Make sure you have the latest iTunes and iPod software installed. (You will need at least iTunes version 4.9.)

    If your podcast's website display's an iTunes icon like this...
            iTunes icon
    ...then just click it and skip to step 4.
  2. Select Music Store in the Source list.
  3. Click the Podcasts link icon (in the Source list on the left) to open the podcasts portion of the iTunes Music Store.
  4. Click a podcast to select it. A list of podcast episodes appears.
  5. (Optional) Double-click an episode in the list to listen to it.
  6. To receive new podcast episodes automatically, click Subscribe. iTunes will automatically download episodes of the selected podcast to your computer.
  7. Click the Update button in the upper right corner of iTunes to download the most recent episode immediately.
Podcasts NOT listed in the iTunes Music Store
Many podcasts (like this one) are listed in podcast directories, or are designated by an icon on a web or blog page. If the icon is labeled as a 1-click iTunes subscription button, and you have iTunes (4.9 or later) installed, simply click the button. Otherwise, here are the instructions.
  1. Right-click the feed link and copy the URL path for the podcast feed.
  2. From the menus in the iTunes software application, select Advanced, Subscribe to Podcast. A dialog box opens.
    iTunes advanced subscribe
  3. Type or paste the URL from step 1 into the URL field.
    iTunes URL dialog
  4. Click OK.
  5. iTunes will automatically download episodes of the selected podcast to your computer.
  6. Click the Update button in the upper right corner of iTunes to download the most recent episode immediately.
iTunes Notes
    1. Changing Settings: Click the Podcast icon in the Source list to see the Settings button on the bottom of iTunes. Change the settings to indicate how often you want to check for new episodes, and to set which podcasts will be copied to your iPod. (Note: The Autofill feature does not add podcasts to an iPod Shuffle. You must add downloaded podcasts manually to your iPod Shuffle by dragging them to the Shuffle's playlist.)
    2. To view and download previous podcast episodes, click the Podcasts icon in the Source list. Click the arrow to the left of the podcast name to show all downloaded and available episodes. To download a particular past episode, click the Get button
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Juice Podcast Receiver (For players other than iPods)
Podcasts listed in the Podcast Directory tab
  1. Select the Podcast Directory tab.
  2. Click the name of a category to expand the section and display the names of podcasts.
  3. Select the name of the podcast you want and click the Add button to subscribe.
  4. Click the Subscriptions tab.
  5. Click the green Check for new podcasts button to download the episodes.
Podcasts NOT listed in the Podcast Directory
Many podcasts (like this one) are listed in podcast directories, or are designated by an icon on a web or blog page. If the icon is labeled as a 1-click subscription button, and you have a podcast receiver software installed simply click the button. Otherwise, here are the instructions.
  1. Right-click the link and copy the URL path for the podcast feed.
  2. Select the Subscriptions tab in the Juice receiver.
  3. Click the Add new feed icon. It's the green icon labeled with a plus sign. The Add a Feed dialog box opens.
  4. Type or paste the URL from step 1 into the URL field on the General tab.
  5. Click Save.
  6. Click the green Check for new podcasts button to download the episodes.

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Updated 23-Sep-2010

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