Netflix Comes To Linux Web Browsers Via 'Pipelight' 303
An anonymous reader writes "With Netflix continuing to rely upon Microsoft Silverlight, the video streaming service hasn't been supported for Linux users as the Mono-based 'Moonlight' implementation goes without Silverlight 5 DRM support. However, there is now Netflix support for Linux-based web-browsers via the open source Pipelight project. Pipelight supports Netflix and other Silverlight-based web applications by having a Netscape plug-in that in turn communicates with a Windows program running under Wine. The Windows program then simulates a browser to load the Silverlight libraries. Netflix then works as the Pipelight developers implemented support for the Netflix DRM scheme within Wine."
Next step (Score:2, Funny)
When Microsoft abandons Silverlight, Windows users will still be able to watch Netflix through Pipelight through Netscape through Wine through Cygwin through, er, I must have missed a few steps or what ?
Re:Next step (Score:5, Funny)
Not only that, Netflix is abandoning Silverlight too.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9238421/Netflix_to_dump_Silverlight_Microsoft_s_stalled_technology [computerworld.com]
So we have....
HTML5 in a container in Silverlight through Flash through Netscape 4.7 running in Wine through Cygwin, through an HP41cx calculator.
--
BMO
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Microsoft didn't squish Netscape, they did it to themselves. It got slow, bloated, and buggy. People flocked away from it because it was so bad.
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NS was buggy and targeted by MS, both were true back then. Put another way, it was one of Microsoft's easier kills.
Re:Next step (Score:5, Interesting)
If it's any consolation, "Seamonkey" is actually a compromise with PR:
Seamonkey (with lower-case m) has been the codename for the Mozilla Suite for some time, though it originally was invented by Netscape management as a codename for the release later called Netscape 6 — they simply needed a "politically correct" version of the codename Buttmonkey (symbolised as *~ and making a "rheet" sound) their developers had actually voted for (and apparently Jenga was the run-in in this voting).
(source) [mozilla.org]
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Ah, thanks for that history lesson. I'd wondered about Seamonkey but had always been too lazy or it was too far down the to-do list to ever get to.
And then... (Score:5, Funny)
The little cage drops over the mouse, and you win!
Ridonculous (Score:5, Insightful)
At some point you just spend $130 and buy an Android tablet at wally world. Or a $50 Roku.
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Much simpler to just ignore Netflix entirely. You do not need to see that movie or show.
Get Netflix or turn in your geek card (Score:2)
You do not need to see that movie or show.
You do if you need to keep your geek card current [slashdot.org].
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Throw another $50 / $130 on top of Netflix's monthly fee, and it doesn't turn out to be a very good deal at all...
Besides, I already have my Linux box connected to my TV, handling all my TV/DVR, DVD/BluRay, Hulu, gaming, and other functions. Telling me I have to have a separate box just for Netflix just tells me I shouldn't get Netflix.
Hulu works well enough on Linux. Though they've since hidden the project, they eve
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Throw another $50 / $130 on top of Netflix's monthly fee, and it doesn't turn out to be a very good deal at all...
Are you kidding? I was paying that much per month for Cable...
Besides, I already have my Linux box connected to my TV, handling all my TV/DVR, DVD/BluRay, Hulu, gaming, and other functions. Telling me I have to have a separate box just for Netflix just tells me I shouldn't get Netflix.
I'm hard pressed to find a device *other than* your Linux box that doesn't do Netflix! In my large-family household, we have: My phone, Wife's phone, Son's phone, 3 Daughters' phones, my still-working, wifi-only old phone, my 7" tablet, Son's Xbox, PS3, Wif'e's iPad, and several laptops and desktops up to 3 or 4 generations old.
I love Linux. I use it for work, at which it does fantastic. Reliable, cheap, powerful; it's a programmer's paradise! Bu
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Netflix isn't cable, and the fact that you've wasted more money before, doesn't make wasting money NOW a good idea.
And you should be comparing Netflix to the real alternatives, not cable or other hypothetical options... Check the prices of Hulu, Amazon Video, Apple TV, etc. As I said, Hulu works extremely well on my Linux box.
It's insane to suggest spending MORE money on a product from a company that has made it clear THEY DON'T WANT YOU AS A
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Yeah, that'd be the easy way out. Linux is built by people who'd rather take the steep mountain pass with blizzards and danger of rock slides than pay a buck to drive the toll road, sometimes because they don't have a buck but more often on principle against "restricted roads". Whether it's rational is highly debatable, but eventually what was a WTF route becomes an easy road.
That unsupported device/application/service there, do you?:
a) Buy the supported platform
b) Buy a different product that does support
Put a Roku on a KVM (Score:2)
Maybe I'm the target niche market -- a Linux desktop user without a standalone TV
Then buy a Netflix compatible device and connect it to your desktop computer monitor's HDMI input. Use a KVM switch if needed.
A hack no doubt... (Score:2)
Drops frames on my AMD machine, but my roomie's nVidia is all smooth sailing even at SuperHD.
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"But the end goal is to get joe-on-the-street to watch NetFlix"
Sounds like something NetFlix should be interested in supporting. If they are not, why should I care?
Fails on multiple counts (Score:5, Insightful)
First of all, claiming to "come to linux" but only working under WINE is not really coming to linux at all. You can run Windows Notepad under WINE as well.
Secondly, WINE (with win32 compatiblity) is not officially supported on native 64 bit Linux systems unless you have 32-bit libraries installed. While this is probably fine if you are only installing binaries, but for distributions which install some applications by compiling them from source, it can cause some consternation when building some applications because the linker might end up trying to use the libraries in the 32 bit library directory instead of the 64-bit one which causes what's supposed to be an automated build process to fail, abruptly and unceremoniously. Although such errors are ultimately the result of faulty assumptions in the actual build script, and not the fault of actually trying to use both 32 and 64-bit libraries simultaneously on one platform, such errors are still frequent enough to be annoying... and I'd rather not deal with them.
Finally... it's Netflix. Their movie selection sucks.
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First of all, claiming to "come to linux" but only working under WINE is not really coming to linux at all. You can run Windows Notepad under WINE as well.
Microsoft Bob Comes To GNU/Linux Via 'Virtual Box'
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Sheesh, take your negativity elsewhere.
Re:Fails on multiple counts (Score:4, Interesting)
baloney.
A pc with a Linux OS that lets me stream netflix via any means including WINE is 2nd place behind native linux code, but the movie did indeed 'come to linux'. I don't have to reinstall my OS or run in a VM? It's on linux. And who the fuck cares about notepad; MS OFFICE RUNS UNDER WINE (some versions, YMMV, some limitations may apply).
Purism matters nothing in the crossover wars: if I can get netflix to stream on linux, it's better than if it won't.
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You can run Windows Notepad under WINE as well.
What?? Notepad already came to Linux?? Sweetness!
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The Inevitable (Score:5, Insightful)
Although having the word "Netscape" in there.....
compholio (Score:5, Insightful)
I watch netflix in ubuntu. I accomplished it by adding one rep and installing one package. It manages the wine version, the windows firefox version, the silverlight version, and whatever other unholy nonsense is involved in making it work. The only glitch is that sometimes the audio is on fastforward when I first start watching something and I have to wait for it to go back to normal, then start the show over. This is on a relatively ancient macbook (it has an ethernet port), and it is still fast enough.
seems like it would be easier (Score:5, Interesting)
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Couldn't they... (Score:2)
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The project is split in two parts: a shared library which is loaded into your Linux browser and a pluginloader which is executed in Wine. The shared library offers the Netscape Plugin API (NPAPI) to the browsers and acts like all other plugins, except the fact that it does not provide the API functions directly. When the library is loaded by the browsers it starts the pluginloader in Wine and sends all API calls to the plugin through a pipe. The loader will listen for this calls and send them to the Silverlight plugin. All handles, interfaces and objects which are only available at one side are recreated as fake objects on the other side, so that we can capture all calls and redirect them through the pipe. The real handles are replaced by fake 64 bit IDs during the transmission, which allows us to load 32 bit plugins into 64 bit browsers and vice versa without having to pay attention at the size of the real handles. The only real difference in the API between Linux and Windows is the handling of drawing and input events, which requires additional code inside the pluginloader.
Yes, it is. Stupid summary making it sound more complicated than it really is.
How is it played in smart appliances? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:How is it played in smart appliances? (Score:4, Informative)
I was under the impression that Bluray players and smart TVs (especially samsung) run an embedded linux. How are they able to stream netflix?
Netflix supports and has supported for a while now, non-Silverlight enabled playback. It even supports Windows 8.1 on IE11 via HTML5 rather than silverlight. I expect the Windows 8 modern UI netflix app also has no dependancy on silverlight.
But you raise an interesting question, rather than attacking linux playback by way of a Wine+Silverlight 'pipeline', would it not be more straightforward to pipe it through whatever is happening with a chromebook or android device??
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would it not be more straightforward to pipe it through whatever is happening with a chromebook or android device??
I assume that the player (proprietary) takes some steps to check its environment and look for signs of output redirection, rooting, or other 'unapproved' modifications. This may include some key exchange and authentication with the hardware, including the display.
If you could crack that and provide the player binary with a virtual Android environment, it might work.
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Right, that's more or less what i was thinking, but isn't android and in particular the the google nexus stuff reasonably open already? Surely it wouldn't be that much to defeat the DRM. Its just a 3rd party app after all, so it shouldn't have deep hooks beneath the regular OS like the software that runs the actual cellular radio etc.
And if so, it shouldn't be THAT hard to put the droid netflix code into a wrapper?
I wonder if the existing android emulators can play netflix? I'll have to look into that... an
Creative hack (Score:2, Troll)
I'll show my Netflix love when they are able to produce a native Linux binary.
What is the point of the DRM (Score:2)
I thought the whole point of these elaborate DRM schemes was to prevent the movies from being played in an emulated or virtualized envirnment where the video could be intercepted.
If it does, why bother?
Silverlight (Score:3)
On that note, has anyone else noticed Silverlight being pushed out to WSUS servers as another important Windows update? Three times?
As in, when we choose "Do not install, and don't tell me again", it re-appears in the subsequent two update runs. This is the second time this has happened in as many years.
How ridiculous can it get? (Score:2)
Send the encrypted content to the cloud on a Windows system running as a virtual machine in a Linux box. Have the Windows decrypt it and display it full-screen. Capture the output of the virtual machine and re-encode it. Finally, transfer the unencrypted content back to the user.
Netflix already works in Linux... (Score:2)
...if you run Android! I'm no expert on programming, but if works in Android's flavor of Linux, why can't it be ported to the other distros?
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it runs on android NON-ROOTED. if you are rooted, I think the app refuses to run.
many things do root-detection on android and refuse to run. this is one of them.
the bay is still our friend, for as long as DRM stays around.
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But Android really isn't Linux. But even the parts of Android that are linux (the posix API that apps can reach out to), it's not x86. Hence you cannot just port netflix from android to a Linux desktop.
Rube goldberg (Score:2)
only fittingly, the first content you should watch on netflix after setting this up is a marathon of rube goldberg cartoons.
So... a bit like Netflix Desktop? (Score:2)
Here's how I'd implement Netflix on Linux... (Score:4, Interesting)
... just to make a point:
1) Emulate a Windows browser in wine or similar (or even a full VM), complete with the DRM stack
2) Load Netflix and stream whatever it is you want to stream, but redirect the output to a framebuffer (netflix has no HDCP when run in a browser, does it?)
3) Recompress the contents of the framebuffer using some fast but inefficient high quality algorithm and save it to disk
4) Allow the Linux user to do whatever the fuck she wants with it, either watch it or reencode it for storage later
The DRM folks can't win. VM tricks aside, the real analog hole is open pretty wide for video. I have a consumer-level DSLR that will shoot 6000x4000 video at 6fps with no frame limit and negligible noise. It demolishes anything a HDTV can display as far as resolution goes. Getting one of those electronic shutter triggers ($25 from Nikon) and syncing it with the frame updates would let you scrape every frame displayed in 4 (24 fps) or 5 (30 fps) passes through the source. From there you've just got to do a curves adjustment to restore the original source pixel values (accommodating for calibration issues on your monitor and such).
Do this with a good monitor and I bet you could get really damn close to the original quality; modern SLR sensors and lenses are good enough for this. If you're too lazy to scrape it in stills mode, you can get a camera for under $1500 that will record near-losslessly-compressed 1080p video, and that you can use with reasonably inexpensive lenses that are essentially transparent.
And it takes *one* person to do this and torrent the result. Netflix can't stop this sort of thing.
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Easy solution: cut off your nose to spite your face.
Re:Easy solution (Score:4, Insightful)
"Easy solution: cut off your nose to spite your face."
Huh? How so?
Their product is not something that is going to get me ahead in any way, it's not something I have to have to survive, or to thrive. It's a source of entertainment. One among many. If they dont want my business I will spend my money elsewhere, simple as that.
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Their product is not something that is going to get me ahead in any way, it's not something I have to have to survive, or to thrive. It's a source of entertainment. One among many. If they dont want my business I will spend my money elsewhere, simple as that.
It's something that makes cutting the cord and cancelling your cable/satellite TV subscription significantly easier. While that's not something that you *need*, it is something that's immensely useful to have.
Personally, I consider the $8/mo I pay for Netflix to be well worth it, especially when compared against the cost of a TV subscription. Your own economics may differ. But given the very wide array of devices I have where it works perfectly (including my cell phone, my tablet, and game consoles), I'm qu
Re:Easy solution (Score:5, Insightful)
"Personally, I consider the $8/mo I pay for Netflix to be well worth it, especially when compared against the cost of a TV subscription."
The $8/month is not the issue. That part of the price I would be perfectly willing to pay, that would be reasonable, if the rest of the conditions were not unreasonable and unacceptable. And the alternative for me isnt a satellite or cable subscription. Seriously, it's not only possible to live without TV, it's actually something that will probably do you good.
Re:Easy solution (Score:4, Insightful)
Easy solution: cut off your nose to spite your face.
Correction: This nose smells funny, so detach it and use any of the other ones that work in browsers in Linux. Hulu, for example.
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Easy solution: cut off your nose to spite your face.
That's funny, I think going with netflix is cutting off your nose to spite your face. Go with the pirate bay and you get a wider selection, no worries about streaming hiccups and no DRM. All around a better solution.
Re:Easy solution (Score:5, Insightful)
I prefer to pay for what I use when those who are providing it ask for money.
Principles.. It's good to have them.
Re:Easy solution (Score:5, Funny)
I do? That's news to me.
I wish someone had told me that I hate paying taxes. I would have been angry at tax time.
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Any refund I may or may not get is tiny in comparison to how much I pay.
I have absolutely no problem paying my taxes. I look at my T4 slip and if the tax number is high then that means my earnings are high. I have plenty enough left over at the end of the year to enjoy a ridiculously comfortable life. Made far more comfortable because of what my taxes pay for.
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Why does every discussion about paying taxes have someone making this stupid point?
My internal combustion engine car only converts about 25% of the gasoline into work (ie. moving the car) the rest is dissipated as heat (ie. waste). Are you going to suggest that I just pour a bunch of gasoline on a bonfire too.. since the car is so wasteful of gasoline?
You seem to be of the (foolish) opinion that in order for me to have no problem paying taxes that not a cent must be wasted. Sorry.. but nothing is perfect.
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If paying $8 per month for more television and movies than I can actually watch in a month is being a sucker then I guess that's what I am. I use nextflix maybe 20 days out of every month. What kind of messed up worldview sees that as getting suckered? I pay more for bread and orange juice in a month than I pay for Netflix.
I see it as damned good value myself.
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I prefer to pay for what I use when those who are providing it ask for money.
Easy solution for you: pay for netflix and then download your content via torrent/netnews qualm free.
How is that easier? It's an extra step that gets me nothing useful.
I watch Netflix almost every day without a hitch or worry.
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I do not yet know Slashdot's policy on impersonating other users, but I intend to find out.
(Having said that, I agree with what this person wrote here.)
(post 2)
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Why do you assume that people who download the content for free do not have principles?
Because the vast majority I've met don't. They just want free stuff. A good portion of the ones who claim to have principles developed ex post facto as a justification for their desire to get free stuff. And I do include myself in that category.
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At any rate, how do you know this, exactly?
Because I talk to them and ask them. Remember this is qualified by 'people I know.'
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That would make sense if Netflix was the only streaming video service around, but it's not. Hulu works quite well on Linux, and its no more expensive than Netflix. They even made a HuluDesktop app for Linux and Windows (though they've stopped hosting it) with a 10' interface, remote-friendly navigation, and LIRC libs.
And Hulu is a better substitute for TV than Netflix. Can you get current world news every day with Netflix? How about popular TV shows fr
Re:Easy solution (Score:5, Insightful)
DRM, in the virtual rental situation is acceptable, I'm not doing anything like purchasing the content, so they get to retain control. In exchange it's pretty cheap for what you get (see also: Steam)
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DRM that doesn't affect your use of the product works just fine. (see also: Steam - They want our money so they went to Linux.)
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I'm pretty happy with NetFlix on the devices I can use it on, but I've been thinking about dumping it because of the lack of Linux support. It's very inconvenient using the workarounds (Wine, VMs, etc) as a paying customer. Torrents are looking pretty tempting.
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Why would you need linux support? Go spend the $70-$90 on a apple tv, roku, google tv, etc and hook it up to your monitor via a second hdmi port. Problem solved. Next issue?
Re:Easy solution (Score:5, Insightful)
DRM does affect your usage of a product sometimes (see Steam, you buy a game for a high price but then the system acts as if you only rented it). DRM systems should be upfront and honest that you're merely purchasing limited access to content, which is true for streaming television but not true for purchased song files or games or books.
Note also that in the US we've been able for decades to record television programs with the full support of of the Supreme Court. The new DRM streaming forbids this. You can ONLY see the shows as long as you continue subscribing and as long as the publisher allows it. In this sense, the rights that you are granted for streaming video is more like attending a movie theater than watching television. Ie, there is no equivalent of VHS recording in the secured digital video stream.
Just like Steam, the customers happily accept being branded with a hot iron as long as they're also given a carrot. The problem remains the same; most customers are excited to get the new content quickly but have no interest in access to their previously purchased old content.
These all seem like ways to get around the legal system or legal access to content, and ensuring that they have full control at all times. And this is just with their toe in the door, imagine how much further this will be locked down in ten or twenty years if no one objects today. What if George Lucas could have pushed a button and suddenly every single copy of Star Wars in existence was changed to show that Han did not shoot first, and no evidence remained anywhere that it used to be otherwise?
DRM is bad, but Steam seems fair (Score:2)
Just like Steam, the customers happily accept being branded with a hot iron as long as they're also given a carrot.
While I agree broadly with the main thrust of your argument (they should really stop fraudulently advertising that you 'own' digital products when you so clearly don't) I think your characterisation of Steam users here is inappropriate.
For a majority of Steam users, I believe, it is a simple matter of economics and convenience. The benefits can be rather compelling :-
1) During periodic Steam sales, the games could be substantially cheaper than a retail box. Sometimes up to 75% or more.
2) You can DL the game
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DRM that doesn't affect your use of the product works just fine.
I'm glad you agree that DRM is never OK.
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Can you record what you watch?
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Are you retarded? For the same reason that people "accept" paying their own Government to spy on them. For the same reason that we "accept" a boss that lies cheats and steals but will fire you for returning from lunch 3 minutes late. For the same reason that we "accept" gas prices. It's because it's that or nothing, and we'd rather have something.
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I do not yet know Slashdot's policy on impersonating other users, but I intend to find out.
(post 3)
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Boycott Netflix. They don't want the business, don't give them money. Send the message DRM is unacceptable.
How exactly is one to boycott those who choose to refuse your business in the first place?
The Studios are the ones asking for DRM (Score:5, Informative)
Boycott Netflix. They don't want the business, don't give them money. Send the message DRM is unacceptable.
Is Netflix the right target though? What makes you think they want to have DRM in their product? The answer is, they don't. Netflix was forced by its content providers to use DRM [dailytech.com].
Netflix is not the only online delivery service forced to use DRM. Lovefilm, which operates in the UK was also forced to switch from using flash to Silverlight by the studios [lovefilm.com].
I agree that as customers, we should not have DRM forced on us. And yes, a consumer boycott is a way to show our displeasure. But to be consistent, target the true masterminds behind the DRM scheme, the movie studios by refusing to watch their movies on any medium. Consider this -if you boycott and kill Netflix, the studios will be happier because they earned more from the old system pre-Netflix [cnet.com].
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Is Netflix the right target though? What makes you think they want to have DRM in their product?
It's the same in the games console market, targeting the console makers is useless, sure they implement DRM but compare that to the free and open PC market and who are you going to go after? Dell or HP or Apple over the DRM in EA, Ubisoft and Steam games? No you have to go after the content publishers. Even if Sony - for example - were to release the Playstation without DRM the content publishers would still just do what they do in the PC market, it wouldn't change anything.
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Is Netflix the right target though? What makes you think they want to have DRM in their product? The answer is, they don't. Netflix was forced by its content providers to use DRM.
So, "House of Cards" is DRM-free, I suppose?
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Yes, this is rather silly. I use my PS3, Tivo, and my Asus Transformer. They all work just fine with Netflix.
Re:Convoluted (Score:5, Insightful)
Makes me wonder... I somehow doubt that the PS3, Tivo or Asus Transformer have Silverlight so the DRM itself likely isn't a Silverlight exclusive. Why aren't there smart people foaming at the mouth to reverse-engineer that stuff? I guess Netflix is mostly a US service and countries where doing such reverse-engineering isn't illegal have no incentive? There are already plenty of people working on Blueray DRM and what not, I can't see this being as complicated.
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Anyone who is frustrated that they can't watch for-pay TV streaming is probably not doing a lot of hacking apart DRM algorithms. If it was a free encrypted stream they'd be all over it, just for the challenge.
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Makes me wonder... I somehow doubt that the PS3, Tivo or Asus Transformer have Silverlight so the DRM itself likely isn't a Silverlight exclusive. Why aren't there smart people foaming at the mouth to reverse-engineer that stuff? I guess Netflix is mostly a US service and countries where doing such reverse-engineering isn't illegal have no incentive?
More likely because you can already get the shows Netflix has by DLding, without depending on Netflix as the source.
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http://thepiratebay.sx/ [thepiratebay.sx]
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I wonder why they just didn't disassemble the DRM. Whack it in a debugger and see what it is doing.
That is how Bluray fell.
Sure it is hard, but decoding it via Wine isn't?
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cracking the DRM will only last to the next point release, which will be accelerated in response to the DRM being cracked
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The next point release of Silverlight? Don't hold your breath.
IMO, the way things look right now, Netflix is morely likely to switch off of Silverlight than Microsoft is to release a new version of Silverlight.
Windows RT (Score:2)
wine is semi-sustainable, short of a major change to windows architecture
Windows Runtime, the API that powers the interface formerly known as Metro, is "a major change to windows architecture".
and break in backwards compatibility
Windows RT, the Windows-like operating system for ARM tablets, runs only Windows Runtime applications approved by Microsoft. There's your "break in backwards compatibility".
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Honestly, it's more than likely the content holders' fault that the DRM binary has to be Windows only.
Yes, the DRM is windows only.
And Macs.
And iphones.
And xboxes
And playstation 3
And Wii
And Roku
And chromebooks.
And android tablets and phones.
Really its mostly a joke that there isn't a better linux solution at this point.
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And the FreeBSD that runs my BluRay player I use for Netflix...
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Real standards? Like what, HTML5 ECE? You're going to end up with a completely closed binary blob via that path as well. Of course, Netflix has already chosen which ECE module they're going to use -- Microsoft's. So zero problems solved, and now we have yet another plugin API.
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Real standards? Like what, HTML5 ECE? You're going to end up with a completely closed binary blob via that path as well.
Just compile or port the damn code they already have working on Linux Android Mobiles for Linux Destops. Some of us will use closed source crap if we have to, like GPU drivers, or games, etc. IMO, I have to have the OS stack open source for important things -- like making sure the software I write and use for work has a path forward without planned obsolescence -- but games and media? Meh. Netflix is just making it harder on us Linux Desktop Folks because of pressure from MAFIAA types who think "freeta
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If they want to take the black box route, then fine--they can write a native program with their DRM crap built in, compile it and package it for the major distributions (.deb, .rpm, .txz, .tar.bz2/.tar.gz). And keep the damn thing up to date, fully patched and supported, unlike Adobe's treatment of Flash on Linux.
I'd rather use that than a glorified set of hacks produced purely from reverse engineering a foreign black box like Windows and tricking it to think that it's running yet another black box (Silver
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They don't trust the environment that black box would be running in...
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Point is, "netflix-desktop" performance is craptastic at best. On an ION2 mobo that plays 1080p without issues I am lucky to get 15 fps on that thing.
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I've done this. Works if you enable hardware acceleration. I've got a decent box though (i7, 12G ram) and the experience was barely usable, so probably not the most practical solution.
I already pay for... (Score:2)
I already pay for an internet connection, so I'm not going to pay for netflix on top of it.
"I already pay for a DVD player, so I'm not going to pay for DVDs on top of it."
"I already pay for a game console, so I'm not going to pay for games on top of it."
"I already pay for a phone, so I'm not going to pay for international calling on top of it."
"I already pay for a car, so I'm not going to pay for gas on top of it."
Which of these sound unreasonable?
How does android/chromeOS manage to get netflix (Score:2)
ChromeOS/android are linux based. THey show netflix. so what's the issue here?
Re:How does android/chromeOS manage to get netflix (Score:5, Interesting)
Pipelight looks a handy bit of kit and a fine project.
But I've been watching Netflix natively on my Ubuntu desktop just fine since last year. See Compholio.
http://compholio.com/ [compholio.com] or search on "netflix linux" or similar to cast a wider net.
There are deb and rpm packages in 32- and 64-bit; you can subscribe to the ppa or compile as you choose. I don't know what distros this will work on as I've only used it on my host OS with Firefox. (I used to watch Netflix from within an XP vm using VirtualBox.)
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I expect Netflix has no choice but to DRM the content as part of its contractual obligations and therefore any platform which does not provide a suitably strong DRM cannot be supported.
In any even