In 2007, Netflix introduced video streaming to computer browsers. But not all operating systems got to enjoy the straight-to-DVD movies, Linux was noticeably absent. Now, seven years later and it looks like the open-source operating system is finally getting official Netflix support.
With Netflix moving away from Microsoft’s Silverlight media player plugin and embracing HTML5, the video streaming service is primed for the Linux community. In a post on an Ubuntu developers forum, Netflix Senior Software Engineer Paul Adolf posted the following:
Netflix will play with Chrome stable in 14.02 if NSS version 3.16.2 or
greater is installed. If this version is generally installed across
14.02, Netflix would be able to make a change so users would no longer
have to hack their User-Agent to play.
What is the process of getting a new NSS version into the update
stream? Or can somebody please provide me with the right contact?
Thanks!
-Paul from Netflix
NSS stands for Network Security Services, which helps developers build secure applications. Huzzah!
Of course at this point Netflix is on nearly every device in your home. But if you’re building a sweet Linux media-center rig, it would be nice to use the number one video streaming service.
We’ve reached out to Netflix for more details and will update this article when we hear back.
Update: Netflix has relied to our query with what is possibly the best, and most concise, comment ever:
Netflix on Linux = html5
