SimplePie Beta 2 had some bugs and issues.  Yes, we all know this.  SimplePie Beta 3 is 
much better, and the current trunk (to-be 1.0) is even better.

A blog posting at http://codeninja.de/b/?p=1 caused some FUD to be spread around about 
SimplePie's performance.  Although I'm not assigning blame to codeninja's author (as 
I'm sure these were the real results he got), there are several things that should be 
clarified and AMPLIFIED about his results:

- He only tested pure speed between SimplePie and MagpieRSS... nothing else (there are 
  other important factors besides speed alone).
- The feeds he DID test were remarkably "jacked-up"... to the point that you're not 
  likely to come across in 99% of test cases.

You can use the stats at the aforementioned blog posting to see how SP Beta 2 performed.  
The files in this folder will execute the exact same tests with the latest branch build 
of Beta 3.x and the latest trunk build.

Additionally, I would be genuinely interested in seeing the results of a "real" shootout, 
that tests more than one single thing in less-than-realistic circumstances.

This "shootout" should test the following:
- Ease of installation for experts AND newbies
- Ease of using the API
- Speed of parsing
- Compatibility and reliability of parsing
- Support for various feed types (formats like RSS and Atom, as well as complex vs. simple 
  feeds)
- Support for standards vs. non-standard feed elements (media and itunes namespaces, 
  enclosures)
- Documentation
- Active support community

I'd also like to see the shootout between more than just SimplePie and MagpieRSS.  If we 
want to stick to PHP, we could go with SimplePie, MagpieRSS, CaRP/Grouper, and lastRSS.  
If we want to transcend programming languages, I'd suggest SimplePie (PHP), MagpieRSS (PHP), 
Universal Feed Parser (Python), Feed Tools (Ruby), and more.

Even if SimplePie sucks in an area, it would let us know what areas to work on, so having a 
real, valid, FUD-less shootout would be in our best interests.  I would also like to see 
more than one independent party be involved.  Let's get multiple people from different 
programming backgrounds so that all parsers can get a fair test, fair rating, and a fair "shake".