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Netflix doesn't work out of the box, but does work with Pipelight and a browser user-agent override. Ease of setup approaches trivial. In my experience it's sta

by gnoway 13y ago

Netflix doesn't work out of the box, but does work with Pipelight and a browser user-agent override. Ease of setup approaches trivial. In my experience it's stable. The rest of your complaints are valid right now. I expect the game situation is going to change because of what Valve's doing w/ SteamOS.

freehunter 13y ago
I just searched for Pipelight. I found boat and trailer lights, something called FDS Team, eBay results, and something from the Arch wiki about Silverlight. Nothing about Netflix. How is this trivial? On Windows, I can go to Netflix.com and it starts working. Even if it needs Silverlight, it installs it for your automatically. Users don't know what Silverlight is. They don't want to search through Arch's wiki. They certainly don't want to figure out what the hell a browser user-agent override is. In reality, Netflix doesn't work on Linux.
- simoncion 13y ago
  Netflix does work on Linux in the same way that a program written for a device that doesn't yet have a C compiler does work. To wit: Netflix is (currently) harder to use on every Linux distribution than it is on Windows and Mac. It's probably too much hassle to be worth it for non-tech folks, but it does work.
  - freehunter 13y ago
    My point was, Netflix does not work. It can be made to work, but by default, it does not work. If someone on the street stopped you and asked "does Netflix work on Linux", would you tell them "yes, if you install Pipelight and hack your user-agent string" or would you just say "no, not really". I can't imagine that conversation. "It's trivial! You just go to fds-team.de... no, that's .de, not .com. Yup, fds-team.de slash cms slash pipelight... you know what, just search for Pipelight. It's like the third or fourth result down, just look for whatever doesn't have boats or trailers in the name. You'll install it with the command there, the sudo... no, that's sudo with an S, not psuedo. Ah, there's directions there, you can follow them. Now let me tell you about the user-agent string..." No thank you. Netflix does not work on Linux. It can merely be made to work.
    - simoncion 13y ago
      > I can't imagine that conversation. I can: "Does Netflix work on Linux?" "Yes! It's not officially supported, but it does work. Go here https://launchpad.net/pipelight https://launchpad.net/pipelight , click the 'Installation Instructions' link and follow the instructions for your distro. Don't know which one you're using? Here's how to find out..." As I mentioned in my reply to your comment: "[Netflix on Linux is] probably too much hassle to be worth it for non-tech folks, but it does work." > Netflix does not work on Linux. It can merely be made to work. I guess we don't speak the same language. :) If you can make something work on Linux, then it works on Linux. Your assertion to the contrary is confusing.
      - nemothekid 13y ago
        Its not confusing. hkmurakami clearly states he wants to know how he can ease the transition to Linux for the average user. The average user isn't going to bother with the steps you mentioned. Just because it can be made to work doesn't mean its an acceptable solution for the average user. Look at it this way - lets say I made, for example a fingerprint scanner for Windows, and you wanted to use it for Linux. I could say "yes! it works on Linux! You just have to write your own C driver!" You can clearly see this isn't an acceptable solution as writing a driver is needlessly complex especially if you don't have the proper documentation. Now you might argue that writing a driver and searching Google for pipelight are in way two different leagues - but to the average user, asking them to do that might as well be the same as asking them to write their own driver. Even the instructions you gave are confusing. Follow the instructions for your distro? Wait, you expect the average user to use the command line? What distro am I using? Linux? Should I follow AV Linux? Because you most likely work with computers everyday on a professional level, you are vastly overstating the know-how of the average computer user. So yes, Netflix does work on Linux - if you are a wiz enough to get it up and working. The average user? No.
        simoncion 13y ago
        You two are ignoring most of what I wrote my very first comment to freehunter. Let me put it into context for you with some quotes: F: "In reality, Netflix doesn't work on Linux." Me: "Netflix does work on Linux in the same way that a program written for a device that doesn't yet have a C compiler does work. ... [Netflix is] probably too much hassle to be worth it for non-tech folks..." F: "My point was, Netflix does not work. It can be made to work, but by default, it does not work... Netflix does not work on Linux. It can merely be made to work." Me: "If you can make something work on Linux, then it works on Linux. Your assertion to the contrary is confusing." 1) Do you still not see how the words he wrote are confusing? If you can make something work, then it works! 2) Where does freehunter restrict the scope of his assertion to the set of people who would never, ever, ever read HN or any other tech site? I don't see anywhere in his argument where he does that. As far as I can tell, he never says "Netflix actually does work on Linux for people who are technically inclined." The only thing that I see him saying about Netflix on Linux is that "...it does not work on Linux [unless you install the software needed to make it work]... [but even if you did that, that's not really Netflix working on Linux, for... reasons!]" Did I misread his posts?

by gnoway 13y ago

freehunter 13y ago

I just searched for Pipelight. I found boat and trailer lights, something called FDS Team, eBay results, and something from the Arch wiki about Silverlight. Nothing about Netflix. How is this trivial? On Windows, I can go to Netflix.com and it starts working. Even if it needs Silverlight, it installs it for your automatically. Users don't know what Silverlight is. They don't want to search through Arch's wiki. They certainly don't want to figure out what the hell a browser user-agent override is. In reality, Netflix doesn't work on Linux.

simoncion 13y ago
Netflix does work on Linux in the same way that a program written for a device that doesn't yet have a C compiler does work. To wit: Netflix is (currently) harder to use on every Linux distribution than it is on Windows and Mac. It's probably too much hassle to be worth it for non-tech folks, but it does work.
- freehunter 13y ago
  My point was, Netflix does not work. It can be made to work, but by default, it does not work. If someone on the street stopped you and asked "does Netflix work on Linux", would you tell them "yes, if you install Pipelight and hack your user-agent string" or would you just say "no, not really". I can't imagine that conversation. "It's trivial! You just go to fds-team.de... no, that's .de, not .com. Yup, fds-team.de slash cms slash pipelight... you know what, just search for Pipelight. It's like the third or fourth result down, just look for whatever doesn't have boats or trailers in the name. You'll install it with the command there, the sudo... no, that's sudo with an S, not psuedo. Ah, there's directions there, you can follow them. Now let me tell you about the user-agent string..." No thank you. Netflix does not work on Linux. It can merely be made to work.
  - simoncion 13y ago
    > I can't imagine that conversation. I can: "Does Netflix work on Linux?" "Yes! It's not officially supported, but it does work. Go here https://launchpad.net/pipelight https://launchpad.net/pipelight , click the 'Installation Instructions' link and follow the instructions for your distro. Don't know which one you're using? Here's how to find out..." As I mentioned in my reply to your comment: "[Netflix on Linux is] probably too much hassle to be worth it for non-tech folks, but it does work." > Netflix does not work on Linux. It can merely be made to work. I guess we don't speak the same language. :) If you can make something work on Linux, then it works on Linux. Your assertion to the contrary is confusing.
    - nemothekid 13y ago
      Its not confusing. hkmurakami clearly states he wants to know how he can ease the transition to Linux for the average user. The average user isn't going to bother with the steps you mentioned. Just because it can be made to work doesn't mean its an acceptable solution for the average user. Look at it this way - lets say I made, for example a fingerprint scanner for Windows, and you wanted to use it for Linux. I could say "yes! it works on Linux! You just have to write your own C driver!" You can clearly see this isn't an acceptable solution as writing a driver is needlessly complex especially if you don't have the proper documentation. Now you might argue that writing a driver and searching Google for pipelight are in way two different leagues - but to the average user, asking them to do that might as well be the same as asking them to write their own driver. Even the instructions you gave are confusing. Follow the instructions for your distro? Wait, you expect the average user to use the command line? What distro am I using? Linux? Should I follow AV Linux? Because you most likely work with computers everyday on a professional level, you are vastly overstating the know-how of the average computer user. So yes, Netflix does work on Linux - if you are a wiz enough to get it up and working. The average user? No.
      - simoncion 13y ago
        You two are ignoring most of what I wrote my very first comment to freehunter. Let me put it into context for you with some quotes: F: "In reality, Netflix doesn't work on Linux." Me: "Netflix does work on Linux in the same way that a program written for a device that doesn't yet have a C compiler does work. ... [Netflix is] probably too much hassle to be worth it for non-tech folks..." F: "My point was, Netflix does not work. It can be made to work, but by default, it does not work... Netflix does not work on Linux. It can merely be made to work." Me: "If you can make something work on Linux, then it works on Linux. Your assertion to the contrary is confusing." 1) Do you still not see how the words he wrote are confusing? If you can make something work, then it works! 2) Where does freehunter restrict the scope of his assertion to the set of people who would never, ever, ever read HN or any other tech site? I don't see anywhere in his argument where he does that. As far as I can tell, he never says "Netflix actually does work on Linux for people who are technically inclined." The only thing that I see him saying about Netflix on Linux is that "...it does not work on Linux [unless you install the software needed to make it work]... [but even if you did that, that's not really Netflix working on Linux, for... reasons!]" Did I misread his posts?