There are many podcast software programs available touse. Many of them are even free. Because of the decentralized, geek adopted nature of podcasting, awide 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 bareminimum. A package is available for podcastsubscribers of almost any type, and more are beingcreated 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 tothe podcasts online from inside the browser. Much ofthis software is used at the podcast directories thatmaintain 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 itvirtually. When the RSS file is generated virtually, it doesn’t actually exist on the host’s server. Instead, theaddress of the PHP script is distributed as the address ofthe feed. When the script is accessed, it generates the file by looking at the recent posts at the site and sendsthe results to the feed subscriber.