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This post is an excellent explanation why Linux on desktops is as rare as unicorns. Imagine average computer user (consumer?), who see such post. Breaking new

by piokoch 14y ago

This post is an excellent explanation why Linux on desktops is as rare as unicorns. Imagine average computer user (consumer?), who see such post. Breaking news! Yada, Yada. And then ./configure && make && sudo make install From the PR point of view it would be better if such Netflix port was never done, such news would never be written. Someone potentially interested in installing Ubuntu would come accross such news and I bet this person would never look again at Ubuntu or any other Linux.

jiggy2011 14y ago
To be fair this isn't the usual way to install things on Ubuntu. It's a dirty hack for running a program intended for Windows. I've installed stuff on Windows in the past that was clearly developed with a Unix in mind and it's just as painful.
reidrac 14y ago
"Get Firefox and Microsoft Silverlight working in WINE." IMHO that's the stinky part of it. Saying "Netflix on Ubuntu is Here" is misleading when you're actually using a special version of a compatibility layer* to run the Windows version. That's far from Netflix supporting Linux. * that's what the compiling part is about, if you read the post there's a notice about packages being released soon. EDIT: WINE is not an emulator.
- lucian1900 14y ago
  I think it's because the person publishing this is excited for being able to finally watch the Netflix they pay a subscription for on their preferred OS.
ksikka 14y ago
This shows an excellent reason for why a consumer might want to run linux: you can drive your computer in stick-shift. It's not for most consumers, but for the few who use it, it works well for them.
vidarh 14y ago
And we all know cars are as rare as unicorns too because you can pop the hood and make changes.
rsheridan6 14y ago
From the article: "There is a PPA coming out soon to make installation much easier. If you are not comfortable with compiling software in linux, I recommend waiting for the PPA." Several months from now, if you google "netflix ubuntu," you'll get easy hand-holding instructions that don't involve the console at all.

by piokoch 14y ago

jiggy2011 14y ago

To be fair this isn't the usual way to install things on Ubuntu. It's a dirty hack for running a program intended for Windows. I've installed stuff on Windows in the past that was clearly developed with a Unix in mind and it's just as painful.

reidrac 14y ago

"Get Firefox and Microsoft Silverlight working in WINE." IMHO that's the stinky part of it. Saying "Netflix on Ubuntu is Here" is misleading when you're actually using a special version of a compatibility layer* to run the Windows version. That's far from Netflix supporting Linux. * that's what the compiling part is about, if you read the post there's a notice about packages being released soon. EDIT: WINE is not an emulator.

lucian1900 14y ago
I think it's because the person publishing this is excited for being able to finally watch the Netflix they pay a subscription for on their preferred OS.

ksikka 14y ago

This shows an excellent reason for why a consumer might want to run linux: you can drive your computer in stick-shift. It's not for most consumers, but for the few who use it, it works well for them.

vidarh 14y ago

And we all know cars are as rare as unicorns too because you can pop the hood and make changes.

rsheridan6 14y ago

From the article: "There is a PPA coming out soon to make installation much easier. If you are not comfortable with compiling software in linux, I recommend waiting for the PPA." Several months from now, if you google "netflix ubuntu," you'll get easy hand-holding instructions that don't involve the console at all.