back to article Linux-using mates gone AWOL? Netflix just added Linux support

If your Linux-using mates suddenly disappear for a day or two, we can explain why: Netflix has just revealed it's fully and formally available on the OS. As the streamer points out, Chrome's worked for in-browser playback since 2014. But not officially. As of Tuesday, however, “users of Firefox can also enjoy Netflix on Linux …

  1. Mikel

    Yay

    Netflix took forever to be available on Android for good reason. Reed Hastings had to suffer some business setbacks and resign from his position on Microsoft's Board "to focus on the needs of my own company" first.

    Netflix has gone gangbusters ever since.

  2. a_yank_lurker

    Interesting

    Slurp should be worried as more online services support Linux and other OSes. The major reason many hold onto Bloat whatever is that some sites and services only support Bloat.

    1. Geoffrey W

      Re: Interesting

      Sorry? I'm afraid I just don't understand your hip jive talk. What is this Slurp of which you speak? Bloat? I think I will never be able to get down with the kids...innit...alas...where are one's slippers...?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Interesting

        He puts Slurp in every comment. It's as predictable and tedious M$ and CRApple.

        He could post something really interesting and original, but soon as I see keywords like that, I just zone out.

        1. Ben Tasker

          Re: Interesting

          > It's as predictable and tedious M$ and CRApple.

          But less meaningful. I went from Slurp, to sucks up data, to Google. Didn't fit with the context of his post, but I don't think it was an unreasonable leap.

          For that matter, in the context of streaming video, I assumed Bloat == Flash too.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Interesting

            Slurp = Google (slurps all your data / personal info), Bloat = Android (full of Google crapware).

    2. Not That Andrew

      Re: Interesting

      Isn't Slurp another term for The Chocolate Factory, not Microsoft?

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Interesting

      Why would Google be worried? Half their stuff is based on Linux...

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Awesome. Netflix is about to get another 3 customers...

    1. P. Lee

      >Awesome. Netflix is about to get another 3 customers...

      It isn't really about a few more customers. Its about platform independence and it probably isn't a large cost for them. Probably more about removing dumb errors and testing, than new coding.

      1. bombastic bob Silver badge
        Linux

        Re: >Awesome. Netflix is about to get another 3 customers...

        ack on platform independence. This is THE NEXT roadblock removed for widespread Linux takeover on the desktop, while Micro-shaft sleeps in the Win-10-nic wheelhouse and fails to see the iceberg in time...

        It's all good!

        1. Geoffrey W

          Re: >Awesome. Netflix is about to get another 3 customers...

          Yay! The year of Linux on the desktop! Where have I heard that before?

    2. Captain Hogwash

      Probably not. It's more likely that me and the other two will just uninstall Chrome.

      1. Swarthy
        Thumb Up

        Probably not. It's more likely that me and the other two will just uninstall Chrome.

        Yep, I'll be testing in in Vivaldi on Linux this evening.

        Thanks!

    3. Lord_Beavis
      Linux

      "Anonymous Coward

      Awesome. Netflix is about to get another 3 customers..."

      Well then, you can refer to me as Linux Customer #1 you pretensious twat.

    4. Chemical Bob
      Thumb Up

      "Awesome. Netflix is about to get another 3 customers..."

      And all 3 of them upvoted you!

      1. Jos V

        3?

        That's a lie. I just installed mint 18 while reading through this comment thread, on a second laptop. So it's at least 4 now. :-p

    5. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      "Awesome. Netflix is about to get another 3 customers..."

      And think of all the new customer when the WindowsPhone (or whatever it's called this week) version is released.

      (And no, that wasn't a typo)

    6. keithpeter Silver badge
      Windows

      Client?

      Cheap tablet running a locked down Linux with a browser pointing at Netflix servers (branded alternative to ChromeOS)?

  4. sean.fr

    What hardware Intel and ARM?

    Netflix be supported linux cross platform or just Intel Linux? . I can do this with my Pi3? How is the rights management done? Cause under linux I have low level access to the screen as I can recompile the OS if I need to. I would expect high quality ripping to be a problem for Netflix.

    1. Paul Crawford Silver badge

      Re: I would expect high quality ripping to be a problem for Netflix

      Lets face it, you can already get high quality rips of practically everything on the torrent sites. This is unlikely to change those dedicated pirates one bit.

      But for the rest of the world it makes sense, if you can get stuff legally and without hassle its worth paying a modest amount for.

    2. Bucky 2
      Trollface

      Re: What hardware Intel and ARM?

      Netflix worked on Linux before, but only via Chrome. Now it continues to be available on Linux, but via Chrome and Firefox, now that Firefox/Linux ships with DRM.

      So, I guess the next question is why you haven't been getting up to your exciting criminal activity already. I guess living under a bridge and antagonizing goats takes up a lot of time.

    3. bombastic bob Silver badge
      Pirate

      Re: What hardware Intel and ARM?

      " I would expect high quality ripping to be a problem for Netflix."

      if it can be displayed on a TV screen, it can be ripped. You know, HDMI 'wye' adaptors, extra cables and a DVR. right? I could purchase the gear for under $200 on amazon.

      but most people would just buy the DVD or Blu-ray when it comes out.

  5. MartinB105

    I use both Linux and Firefox, but I have no interest in streaming or renting TV shows and movies, nor services that don't work on my Linux-based Kodi HTPC.

    I'm willing and ready to give money to whichever company is first to offer me the option to purchase, download and keep TV shows and movies on my media server and add them to my Kodi library. I recently put a lot of effort into finding such a service, but it seems that no such option currently exists.

    It's no wonder people just pirate the content when the industry aren't even bothering to offer it in a format that's compatible with one of the best media systems out there (Kodi).

    1. P. Lee

      re: I have no interest in streaming or renting TV shows and movies

      Agreed. Linux users are probably more anti-streaming/anti-cloud than OSX/WinX. Which is interesting since that's what the cloud is built on.

      1. astrax

        Re: re: I have no interest in streaming or renting TV shows and movies

        "Agreed. Linux users are probably more anti-streaming/anti-cloud than OSX/WinX."

        I don't understand that statement; why would your choice of OS have any bearing on whether you decide to use streaming services or "duh cloud"? The only possible correlation I see between Linux users and these technologies is that they are more likely to implement such services themselves.

      2. lybad

        Re: re: I have no interest in streaming or renting TV shows and movies

        Why? Most of the people I know who use linux on the desktop stream from Netflix, Prime, or the "free" services like iPlayer.

        If you add on Chromebook users, as well as the various Sky/Freesat/Freeview boxes based on linux as well, there's a massive amount of linux based platforms that use Netflix.

        1. MartinB105

          Re: re: I have no interest in streaming or renting TV shows and movies

          Because the vast majority of my entertainment media consumption is games, and as such I sometimes go months without watching any new TV shows or movies, so a subscription service makes no sense to my situation.

          I just want to pick the episodes and movies I actually want to watch, pay for them once so I can watch them whenever I feel like it (I tend to watch a lot of comedy TV shows and documentaries multiple times, so I feel they're worth keeping).

          And it must work on Kodi too because that's what I'm using, and that's not going to change any time soon.

          For what it's worth, I had a one-month trial of Netflix on my Gear VR and I found the content selection extremely limited. I couldn't really find any of the stuff that I normally want to watch. I cancelled it the same day.

          1. Geoffrey W

            Re: re: I have no interest in streaming or renting TV shows and movies

            @ MartinB105

            Isn't the option you're looking for called "The DVD/Blu-Ray"? It seems to fit all your criteria. Buy once, watch whenever? Yep. So buy the DVD, rip it to your disk, and sell on the DVD, or give it to your granny. She'll love you forever.

            Otherwise just stay as you are and come to terms with the fact that you and the world don't match or mesh in any significant way. That's what I did. If only big companies catered more to the edges of the bell curve instead of concentrating on the lucrative centre.

            1. MartinB105

              Re: re: I have no interest in streaming or renting TV shows and movies

              @Geoffrey W

              I'm not going to pay for the inconvenience of having to rip physical media myself (and I haven't owned an optical drive in years anyway). They can either offer a digital distribution option, or they can come to terms with the fact that people like me will never stop pirating their content. THIS is the world we live in, and it's their loss, not mine.

              1. bombastic bob Silver badge
                Facepalm

                Re: re: I have no interest in streaming or renting TV shows and movies

                "they can come to terms with the fact that people like me will never stop pirating their content."

                I was going to say something snarky, and then I decided it wouldn't make a difference...

          2. Leathery Hawkeye

            Re: re: I have no interest in streaming or renting TV shows and movies

            It's almost like individuals have their own personal utility and preferences. You pay your money and make your choices.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "the industry aren't even bothering to offer it in a format that's compatible with one of the best media systems out there"

      Not only are they not supporting it, the content & rights owners are probably looking on with interest at prosecutions of people who sell hardware loaded with 3rd party software, rather than going for those who actually make the materials available. If it is an offence to provide something that someone else could use for an illegal act, without offering proof of specific illegal acts, then shops that sell knives will be in trouble sometime soon, as will car dealers, certain garden supplies companies, telephone manufacturers, and so on. Alternatively, the law is not just an a$$ but a very lazy one.

  6. wolfetone Silver badge

    Well you're too kind Netflix, far too kind.

    But I'm still not giving you £6.99 a month after you pulled the entire collection of Thomas The Tank Engine from me.

  7. LeoP

    Not about the 3 users

    IMHO this is not about Captain Hogwash, me and the third Linux desktop user. This is about HTPCs, whether they come from geeky friends or from chinese manufacturers.

    I have yet to see a sub €100, easy to setup, easy to use media player device (such as the one I installed at my MIL to allow her to watch Images of her grandchildren made with one of these new digital cameras, that do not actually give you a paper copy), that is NOT based on Linux. And more than half come with a HTML UI.

    Now think what a market his is for Netflix.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Netflix - The facts.

    4k is only available through tv app, xbox or windows 10.

    Windows 7 - 1080 only through silverlight and IE.

    Linux - Previously no HD when I tried it.

    Therefore I welcome this news with a huge pinch of salt. The above is down to DRM but to be honest it's a waste of time as you can download Iron Fist in UHD with 5.1 sound quite easily via torrent.

    1. MrXavia

      Netflix once said they would never offer downloads, now they do..

      Who knows, maybe at one point, Netflix will offer DRM Free downloads, atleast of their own content?

      Since their entire business model seems to be based on regular new content to keep subscribers, and the fact that their content is already ripped as soon as its released, allowing DRM free downloads would not be detrimental to their business and would not increase piracy..

      They just need to limit the downloads to the top tier, I would hapilly upgrade for the convenience this would add!

  9. Paul

    I've not installed Adobe Flash on linux for a long time. Nor Skype either.

    Netflix has worked just fine on my linux laptop for quite a while.

  10. Christian Berger

    Well they'd gain more Linux users if they dropped DRM

    Seriously there is no reason why they have DRM on their own shows. And DRM is malware. DRM acts against my wishes and runs on high privilege levels. DRM systems also had security bugs (harming the user) in the past. Combine that with high privilege code and you get a disaster.

    However one advantage is clear, it'll mean that you can run a modified Linux inside a virtual machine (or on separate hardware) which simply records the streams DRM-free so you can watch what you pay for even on hardware you still want to own.

    1. rmstock

      Re: Well they'd gain more Linux users if they dropped DRM

      Opera Stable 44, 45 and now 46 on Linux (Ubuntu 14.04 and higher), does DRM nicely

      when installing the Widevine component from the Chrome Browser for Linux :

      [acer20:stock]:(~)$ rpm -q -a | grep opera

      opera-widevine-58.0.3029.110-1-mdv2011.0.x86_64

      opera-stable-45.0.2552.881-2-mdv2011.0.x86_64

      [acer20:stock]:(~)$ rpm -q -l opera-widevine-58.0.3029.110-1-mdv2011.0.x86_64

      /opt/google/chrome/libwidevinecdm.so

      /opt/google/chrome/libwidevinecdmadapter.so

      [acer20:stock]:(~)$

      and of course make sure chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra_58.0.3029.81 is installed as well : /usr/lib/chromium-browser/libffmpeg.so

  11. This post has been deleted by its author

  12. David A. Smith

    Engineer

    This is about time. I have been messing around with Pipelight to get M$ Silverlight to work with Firefox for Linux to use Netflix. While Pipelight was working quite well, it's nice not to need all that extra bage to view Netflix on Linux. Also, I find Firefox easier to use than Google Chrome. Now if only Comcast/XFinity would add HTML5 video streaming support for Linux. After all, Linux is just as important as Mac OS/X and I am an advocate for Linux.

    David A. Smith

  13. kschrock

    I will be happy.

    I have watched Netflix on Linux for some time now, however, to do so, I have had to buy a machine with a quad core processor, 16 gig of memory, etc., and run Firefox on Windows 7 in a Virtual-box.

    Netflix was, for YEARS now, the ONLY reason I ever booted Windows from the hard drive. Since I have had this setup (about a year) native Windows has not run.

    To run Netflix natively on Linux will make me very happy, even if I am the only one doing so.

    BTW... As of right now, 10 pm on March 22nd, this is vaporware and smoke and mirrors. Netflix does NOT at THIS TIME, run natively on Linux using Firefox.

    Not that I care a lot, I am Windows free either way.

  14. albegadeep

    Netflix on Linux nothing new.

    I've been using Pipelight to watch Netflix with Firefox on Ubuntu for quite some time. Recently (month or two ago?), I found that it's no longer necessary - just turn on a user agent switcher to make Netflix think it's Windows. Sounds like now that isn't necessary either.

    Now if only I could play my Flash games in Firefox without Pipelight...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Netflix on Linux nothing new.

      "Now if only I could play my Flash games in Firefox without Pipelight"

      As impressive as it is that you got flash games to work on a Silverlight library id have to advise you try flash?

  15. Jonathan 27

    I have a Linux laptop I use when I'm travelling. I didn't even know Netflix didn't support Linux because I've been using it via Chrome. I would guess most people who wanted Netflix on their Linux systems just installed Chrome to watch it.

  16. Not That Andrew

    At least in the UK, Netflix has a remarkably crap selection of movies and an awful UI. It reminds me of visiting a crappy video rental place in the 80's, they probably have a couple of good movies, but you get cheesed of by the mountain of crap & the clerk's attitude long before you find them.

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    What about the kiwi variant?

    They need their Nit Flux.

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