Is there a way to stream Netflix?

Question

Is there a way to stream Netflix content to my Ubuntu using something like Moonlight?

Looks like there is a ppa now : http://www.iheartubuntu.com/2012/11/ppa-for-netflix-desktop-app.html and omgubuntu's write up - http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/11/how-to-use-netflix-on-ubuntu

Answer 1

As of December 7th, 2012 the following works on 12.04 and 12.10 (at least).

Open a terminal (Ctrl-Alt-T), an type:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ehoover/compholio
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install netflix-desktop

• Are "PPA's" safe to add to my system, and what are some "red flags" to watch out for?

This will install around 254MB of packages, mainly it will install wine-compholio (a custom version of wine that is able to run Silverlight) and dependencies. If wine is not installed already you may need to agree to use Microsoft fonts (in the text mode window use arrow keys or tab to reach the red "ok" button in text mode when it appears). The download/installation takes around 15 minutes.

Then run the newly installed "netflix-desktop" application from the menu (or from the command line).

If something went wrong in the installation (third party links are involved), don't panic: netflix-desktop will detect that something is missing and try to reinstall it, if that also fails, start over.

When you run it for the first time it will initialize wine and probably ask about installing Mono and Gecko wine packages (I accepted and installed them just in case).

The netflix-desktop application opens up, login to your Netflix account.

The window will open in fullscreen, which is very elegant, but if you want to have control over the window press F11 right away to exit fullscreen mode. (It may also ask to install a Firefox extension --specially designed-- that makes fullscreen mode more friendly.)

Use Netflix as you would normally do.

It worked flawlessly in my Ubuntu 12.04 and 12.10 (I have a Core i7).

(As you may have realized at this poin, the netflix-desktop is really Firefox 17 running on wine without menubars. Press F10 to gain control over the Firefox menu and navigation.)

Credits and references: This information was originally taken from http://www.webupd8.org/2012/11/how-to-use-netflix-in-ubuntu-through.html. Although this is a result of a campaign initiated by www.iheartubuntu.com in http://www.iheartubuntu.com/2012/02/netflix-on-linux-contest.html, resulting in this achievement http://www.iheartubuntu.com/2012/11/ppa-for-netflix-desktop-app.html (by Erich Hoover) which also contains a link for donations to support the development. There is also https://launchpad.net/netflix-desktop

Bonus: By running this you have a fully functional Firefox 17 (Windows version) with working Silverlight that can be used to navigate other sites, by pressing F10 -> View -> Toolbars -> Navigation menu on the main window you can access any site and be able to use Silverlight.

Answer 2

The following blog post from a Moonlight developer gives a nice explanation of the issue and points to several alternatives :

http://jacksonh.tumblr.com/post/965806498/how-to-watch-netflix-streaming-movies-on-linux-with

Answer 3

Actually - to address your question. PlayOn the service which drives Netflix (and Hulu) will be rolling out an HTML5 client which should negate the need for Silverlight (and Moonlight). It's out for the iPhone now - but I assume that shortly will be used to stream PlayOn services to Linux Machines.

Answer 4

I read a while ago that it might be possible to run a Wii emulator instead of virtual box, but I don't think that would be an improvement for most people. I've been meaning to try Netflix in an android emulator since the app came out, however I still need to test if it will actually work. The problem is that the app is only "approved" for certain phones. There is a hack that is suppose to work for rooted phones, So I think there's a good chance this could be a better solution than virtual box, but it's hard to say for sure.

If someone else gets this working please let me know.

Answer 5

Not directly, at least not yet.

There have been rumors of Netflix instant support for Linux for over a year, but it has not come. It's clearly not a technical problem, as some of the set-top boxes that deliver Netflix to televisions are based on Linux. More likely it's a licensing problem.

Hulu works fine (with the right plugins) and you can always use a VM. Not the solution anybody wants, but sadly, that seems to be the current situation.

Answer 6

Moonlight, while it is an open-source alternative to Silverlight, does not work for Netflix. The reason that this does not work for Netflix is that Netflix also requires DRM support, which Moonlight does not give.

There IS a way to watch things on Netflix through Ubuntu though.

You will want to virtualize Windows XP/Vista/7 on Ubuntu. I would recommend Virtualbox, but you are free to use whatever you want. Under the virtual machine, you can use the real Silverlight and DRM-support and watch Netflix.

Answer 7

There is no way to do it on Ubuntu, but there is a workaround highlighted in this video below. Using virtual box.

Youtube

Answer 8

No because silverlight will not work, and moonlight will not work for netflix so the only way currently is to run a Vm

Answer 9

Try running these commands:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ehoover/compholio

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install netflix-desktop

Then find netflix in the launcher and it should work.

BUT if it doesn't work the first time, like it didn't for me, try this:

rm -Rf ~/.netflix-desktop

sudo apt-get install netflix-desktop

I got my answers from here: http://www.iheartubuntu.com/2012/11/ppa-for-netflix-desktop-app.html

It has some further troubleshooting notes that I didn't post here so check it out if this doesn't work for you.

Answer 10

this link has step by step instructions:
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/opensource/how-to-get-netflix-streaming-on-ubuntu-1210/4019

Answer 11

The CORRECT answer is to download and install Hulu Desktop, which can be found at:

http://www.hulu.com/labs/hulu-desktop-linux

Cheers, Al