I have been using Netflix for sometime now. Before I got this new computer I was using a 32bit operating system and I was able to get Netflix to run on it with ease, though not at 100% like it did on Windows. Since I am now using a 64bit OS, for some reason I am having a lot of trouble getting Netflix to work. So I just had enough. I could eventually get it to work but I was getting tired of it. During this time I had Windows 7 installed and only booted into it just to watch Netflix. I also got tired of that.

So I contacted Netflix. I asked them why Linux wasn't supported even though html5 was checked in my account. These are the answers I got when I asked why Netflix supported all these devices and operating systems but not Linux. I am not posting all of the chat, just a couple of things.

At this point I asked if I needed Silverlight even though I had the html5 box checked in my account. This is the answer for that.

Well those where the key points this person made. So I had mentioned that while I love Netflix I was tired of booting into Windows 7 just to watch it. So I left Netflix, canceled my account, and looked into several other areas, paid and non-paid services.

One of them was Hulu. I signed up for Hulu Plus. Now Netflix has a better set up. You don't get stuck with commercials with your subscription. Hulu Plus you pay the same price as Netflix but you are hit with a lot of commercials. Less than what is on TV but more than what I am use to with Netflix, which of course is zero. The good thing is you get a lot more complete TV series with Hulu but I am not seeing a lot of great movie choices compared to Netflix. But Hulu Plus does work on Linux. So for now I am staying with them. If Netflix wants me back than they will need to work out the Linux issue they have. If Hulu can stream protected content to Linux users than Netflix has no excuse, or no excuse I care to listen to. If they are worried about people recording protected content I am pretty sure there are a few TV devices out there that can do just that.

Now before anyone jumps in and says I can buy this device or that device and watch Netflix. That is not the point at all. Also I do everything on my computer and that is where I want to watch it. If it can work with MS Windows, Mac OS than they can get it to work with Linux or I just don't give them my money. Even without Hulu Plus there are many other options out there.

I sent them an email, after the above chat and after I signed up for Hulu Plus, asking why Hulu worked so well on all operating systems including Gnu/Linux yet Netflix didn't and they have all these problems with Linux. I didn't get a response yet and I really don't expect one.

With all of this said. If Netflix gets it together and supports Linux I will go back to them. Until than I will not even recommend them to anyone, let alone use them anymore.

Their answer is unsurprisingly stock BS. There is silverlight for Linux under the guise of moonlight; a project born out of the Novell-Microsoft relationship. Realistically, moonlight can be supported but it's the DRM that prevents Netflix (the service) from running in moonlight. If Netflix (the company) included moonlight for their DRM compatibility then it would likely work out of the box.

Is merely smoke and mirrors to avert the eyes of less informed customers. It's completely baseless and no permission needs granted by a OS Kernel to operate a web browser protocol. It is an orchestrated and purposeful design decision. The reasons for that decision are unknown but I guarantee you licensing has nothing to do with it (and is not even related in this context). Their answer kind of angers me however I don't plan on ever having a netflix account after their treatment and obvious discrimination.

You might like Amazon Prime. I've got that and it is commercial free. I enjoy the movies they put out while not as much variety as I would like. It does keep me entertained.

Before we hate or something. It was probably some helpdesk person that was drawing a conclusion based on what gibberish they were told. I can't uninstall netflix from my phone, android, i think its my carrier doing it though. I can uninstall it from my tablet that is also android but has no carrier.

LOL, Darn Linux not allowing me to do things. They only gave me a compiler, howtos and source code, WTFitsl "Why The F*ck it taking so long". I used netflix till they split the service up. It was Ok, lots of pixelated movies. I have been playing with amazon's service, I bought a couple movies. It works in Linux.

stoggy, For me it is not hating Netflix. As I said before I do love Netflix but I refuse to use them anymore, not until they get real Linux support. I don't think a lot of people hate Netflix but we can hate their business practices and how they refuse to support Linux, no matter what they say.

sag47, Yes I started to see the answers I was getting and decided I really didn't want to tell them how wrong they where. That is why I just posted those two key points that irritated me. I looked into Amazon Prime. It looks interesting but it is more convenient for me right now to do monthly payments, long story. However I will say it is cheaper. It averages out to about 6.58USD a month compared to 7.99USD and the extra Kindle e-books, 350,000+ titles, is a huge plus, well for me anyways. I am one of the few left that still reads these days ;-) I might give it a try some day as long as Linux is supported.

It's funny...Netflix has a dedicated app for android and the Chrome OS to play Netflix movies, additionally Chrome OS can play Netflix via the web browser. It's amazing how companies have double standards when it comes to making software for for linux. They will port their apps to android and the chrome OS BUT not gnu/linux. And yet, these two OSes are using a linux kernel.

@ Zyblin

There is a way to watch Netflix on distros based on Debian. Also instructions for Fedora users.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tfte5su5DIA/

Note: Click show more to see instructions on her video

Hope this helps

I watch LEXX on Hulu Free. I don't Netflix. But for those that do.

http://thelinuxcauldron.com/2013/08/...ith-pipelight/

Wow, that's just... wow.

Mostly it is the MPAA and Hollywood insisting on draconian DRM that dose NOT work
and the DRM needs "silverlight" ( MS's proprietary version of FLASH - remember the sun java and ms java days )
the same silverlight MS wants to kill off but can not do the the MPAA

This is the real story on why HTML5 Netflix is only available on Windows 8.

http://techblog.netflix.com/2013/06/...indows-81.html

And I do know that Android's drm support depends on having a locked bootloader. Windows 8 is the first version of Windows that supports locked bootloaders, and that probably has something to do with it.

1 members found this post helpful.

I watch netflix on my 64bit linux through pipelight, before pipelight there was the netflix desktop.

I have been using Amazon Prime for almost a year now. I have not had any problems with it. It works fine with Linux. No hoops to jump through to try to get it to work. Plus there are other benefits beyond just streaming movies and shows (like the free 2 day shipping on a lot of products).

Hulu is Linux friendly as well. I use the free version. I don't sign up for their Plus service because I think it is crazy to pay for the service, which costs as much or more than others, and still have to watch commercials.

I hear a lot of good things about Amazon. I might give them a try. I gave up on Hulu as well. It was fine at first, but paying for a service that is basically paying for commercials, is insane and not just one or two commercials either. At times it was every ten minutes. Besides the movies they had there, almost all of them, gave me a headache. Worst movies ever. The old movies where fine but I can find them anywhere, legally that is. It is not worth it at all. I did hope and I did give it a fair try. However, I never made it past the first few days of the one week free trial before I canceled.

Crunchyroll is also a good one if you're interested in Japanese animation at all. I like a lot of their shows.

It looks like it is worth checking out. Thanks.

Agreed!

It's Flash, so it works perfectly in Linux (well, in Google Chrome).