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This is pretty cool

nickdalzell

Extreme Android User
Jun 17, 2011
6,601
2,098
Owensboro, KY
Linux toying around has landed me Android within Linux...one way to get Netflix to run in Linux is to run Android inside of Linux and use the Netflix app. but this is still too cool! something about using Linux ignites this itch in me to play around in it--sometimes bringing it to a grinding halt or finding neat ways to run operating systems inside of it and more--easier than running a VM in Windows. i couldn't pull this off easily in Win8

Screenshotfrom2013-01-12225424.png
 
the app installs and runs in the SDK emulator but i wonder if it will have sound. all the notification tones are nonexistant so i cannot test until i view a video through Android on top of Linux. not sure what is included in the SDK androids, if sound is even enabled or how i'd go about it. right now i'm just giddy that i got it to boot up

EDIT: Netflix does run, i get audio but NO video playback. the emulator is running Android 4.2 not sure if that has anything to do with it...i'll see if it runs in 4.0 and let you all know.

here's another screencap, looks more like i'm running a widget on top of Linux:

Screenshotfrom2013-01-12233800.png
 
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it would not work on my smartTV where most of my Netflix time is used though :(

i tried Hulu Plus which runs in Linux but it hasn't nearly the library of TV shows that Netflix does (it lacks Star Trek which is a deal breaker for me) plus Hulu Plus's bandwidth requirements are so high my internet connection (wireless system in the country) is not good enough and i lack the provisions for cable/DSL so i cannot get higher speed.

Hopefully the Moonlight plugin will get an upgrade soon though, but so far i've found the one thing an Ubuntu distro cannot do as of yet. i'm still converting some of my apps over...still trying to diagnose the lack of video playback on the Android app though...sound works great

Pear included a very nice CD burning application, has a great selection of current web browsers, and the version of Wine included may satisfy some of my games but i will need to find a faster hotspot first to find out
 
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Ah, I see. Oh well, I have Amazon Prime which includes streaming movies, TV shows, etc.--and it works on ALL computers. :D

Amazon Prime uses Flash, that's why it works on most major OSs. While Netflix uses MS's nasty Windows only Silverlight thing. Netflix is owned by Amazon....did MS pay Netflix a bribe or something?
 
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Sadly, Moody, the moonlight plugin does not work. i don't think it supports the method of DRM that Silverlight does--yet

Chances are Moonlight with never support MS's Moonlight Digital Restrictions Management(DRM). No doubt how it works and how to implement it is a Microsoft proprietary trade secret, and is subject to draconian NDAs. Like most things from MS. :rolleyes:

Moonlight is a community developed open source project, based on the public specification that MS publishes for Silverlight. it uses no MS code. Rather like what Mono is to MS's .NET framework.

Silverlight will install successfully in wine, but it will give a player error 1001 when attempting to play a video.

You could always run Windows in a virtual machine from Linux, like Virtual Box. Or boot into Windows when you want to watch Netflix.
 
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Amazon Prime uses Flash, that's why it works on most major OSs. While Netflix uses MS's nasty Windows only Silverlight thing. Netflix is owned by Amazon....did MS pay Netflix a bribe or something?

Is it really or is it that Netflix uses Amazon services for their IT infrastructure and probably pays a lot of money for it
 
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Although I'm an accomplished Linux user/admin, and have plenty of spare PCs that I could use for Netflix and other services like it, I've found that buying one of those little ~$50US video appliances that are sold everywhere from Best Buy to Wal-Mart save me the headaches of using a full-blown computer OS, and then having to stay vigilant about patching all of the vulnerable software (Flash, Java etc.) to keep the bad guys out.

BTW, if you haven't heard already, Java has been exploited, and you should turn it off in your browser until the next release comes out on Tuesday (which is what Oracle has promised).
 
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You could always run Windows in a virtual machine from Linux, like Virtual Box. Or boot into Windows when you want to watch Netflix.
I wouldn't do that. For several reasons. First, of course, I have no copies of windoze nor would I want any. :rolleyes: Not going to dirty my network with that garbage. :eek:

Second, I've been vigilant for decades about expressing my unhappiness with companies who were M$-centric. Remember when many web sites REQUIRED Internet ExploDer in order to access them? I wrote to every single one and told them I don't use M$ garbage, including its INSECURE, non-standards compliant, crap browser, and I wouldn't give them my business until they programmed their sites so all browsers could access them. I used to point them to the AnyBrowser.org web site, too. :D Do you know how long it's been since I encountered an IE only web site? Me either! It's been so long it's a vague memory now. But that's because people like me complained.

So when a company like Netflix refuses to acknowledge and program for Linux users, my choice is to protest by A) letting them know WHY I'm not a customer and, B) NOT using some workaround to use their service. I've been saying for eons that when Linux users do something like dual boot windows so they can access a particular site, all that does is ENCOURAGE that site's belief that Linux users are insignificant. You know what I mean? If all they see in their logs is M$ visitors--even though SOME of those are actually Linux users, only reluctantly booting windoze to access that one site--they're NEVER going to change.
 
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i am trying to ditch Windows in favor of Linux. and it seems a bit offstandish to have Windows running within Linux. what i do not understand is how the Android Netflix app gets around the DRM requirement. another thing i do not get is why it refuses to behave in the Android SDK emulator. everything else works, including the sound, games, other apps, etc. i get sound in Netflix, the pause/progress/volume bar but no video whatsoever.

i may not use it often but there are times when i'd like to finish watching something on there when i have my laptop with me, where a Roku won't exactly fit--such as on the go, at mom's, while at the laundramat, near a public hotspot, etc. for now i'll just have to use my Jelly Bean tablet.
 
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BTW, if you haven't heard already, Java has been exploited, and you should turn it off in your browser until the next release comes out on Tuesday (which is what Oracle has promised).
Or just leave it off for good :p I mean, we know it's only a matter of time (i'd bet not too long) until the next sploit comes out for it. :D ;)

As a user of ancient internet access, I am immune to these high speed streaming problems... but I do like the solutions you guys have come up with for working around the limitations of Netflix. :)
 
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i am trying to ditch Windows in favor of Linux. and it seems a bit offstandish to have Windows running within Linux. what i do not understand is how the Android Netflix app gets around the DRM requirement.

It does have DRM AFAIK. More than likely it's an encrypted H264 stream and the decoding is handled by the app itself. It doesn't use Silverlight, that's certain.
 
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I wouldn't do that. For several reasons. First, of course, I have no copies of windoze nor would I want any. :rolleyes: Not going to dirty my network with that garbage. :eek:

Second, I've been vigilant for decades about expressing my unhappiness with companies who were M$-centric. Remember when many web sites REQUIRED Internet ExploDer in order to access them? I wrote to every single one and told them I don't use M$ garbage, including its INSECURE, non-standards compliant, crap browser, and I wouldn't give them my business until they programmed their sites so all browsers could access them. I used to point them to the AnyBrowser.org web site, too. :D Do you know how long it's been since I encountered an IE only web site? Me either! It's been so long it's a vague memory now. But that's because people like me complained.

So when a company like Netflix refuses to acknowledge and program for Linux users, my choice is to protest by A) letting them know WHY I'm not a customer and, B) NOT using some workaround to use their service. I've been saying for eons that when Linux users do something like dual boot windows so they can access a particular site, all that does is ENCOURAGE that site's belief that Linux users are insignificant. You know what I mean? If all they see in their logs is M$ visitors--even though SOME of those are actually Linux users, only reluctantly booting windoze to access that one site--they're NEVER going to change.

I wonder if there's money or some other backhanders or kickbacks involved? Something like Micro$oft is paying $$$$$ to large commercial organisations like Netflix to use their Silverlight?

A few years ago when the BBC first started their iPlayer on-line viewing and streaming service. They were using Silverlight. There was one hell of a stink about it. I think even the UK Government became interested as well. About how a state funded public broadcaster was supporting Windows only. The BBC iPlayer now uses Flash, and AIR for off-line viewing, and works just fine with Linux, Windows and Mac OS X. They also have Android, Blackberry OS, Windows Phone, Symbian and iOS iPlayer apps as well.

From 2007.
What tricks is the BBC up to with Microsoft? ? The Register

"What tricks is the BBC up to with Microsoft?

Conspiracy, iPlayer, and DRM"
 
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Does Netflix not work on [Linux] browsers with Moonlight installed?
I believe Moonlight is a dead deal.

In December 2011 Miguel de Icaza announced that work on Moonlight had stopped with no future plans. He explained that, although there was always some bloat, complication and over-engineering in the Silverlight vision, Microsoft had "cut the air supply" to it by omitting cross-platform components, making it a web-only plugin, and including Windows-only features.
 
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I believe Moonlight is a dead deal.
In December 2011 Miguel de Icaza announced that work on Moonlight had stopped with no future plans. He explained that, although there was always some bloat, complication and over-engineering in the Silverlight vision, Microsoft had "cut the air supply" to it by omitting cross-platform components, making it a web-only plugin, and including Windows-only features.
Well, micro$oft needs to figure out--pretty soon, I'd say--that they are NOT god. Their mobile phone sales are in the toilet; holiday sales reports I read only discussed Android and Apple, they didn't even mention windows. Samsung recently canceled plans to release a windows RT device in the US because of "modest demand" for machines running the scaled-down version of the micro$oft operating system. I believe that Linux is now the most used operating system on the planet; of course that includes the wildly successful Android we all love here, but still, it is Linux.

M$ needs to wake up and smell the coffee. They're shooting themselves in the foot with idiotic decisions like the Moonlight issue. One of these days stupid sites, like Netflix, will realize that sticking with an M$-only model means they're shooting themselves in the foot, too. :rolleyes:
 
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Linux toying around has landed me Android within Linux...one way to get Netflix to run in Linux is to run Android inside of Linux and use the Netflix app. but this is still too cool! something about using Linux ignites this itch in me to play around in it--sometimes bringing it to a grinding halt or finding neat ways to run operating systems inside of it and more--easier than running a VM in Windows. i couldn't pull this off easily in Win8

Screenshotfrom2013-01-12225424.png

thanks
 
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don't thank me, this method did not work. it would let me use the Netflix app, it would load up, show my Instant Queue and let me select an episode. but all i would get is audio but a blank screen and no video. the playback controls would work but no video. never did figure out why.

neat if you want to mess around with Android and Android specific games while running Linux though
 
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do in-car (add on maybe) TVs offer an HDMI input? if so there are some Android tablets with HDMI out, assuming you can get a connection on them while moving, you should be able to stream that way?

RadioShack does offer an A/V to HDMI/HD converter for $80 you can use to make the same thing work in older vehicles with ye olde CRT screen (older full-size vans)
 
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In general, a TV, with a built-in ATSC tuner and/or DVD player, generally doesn't have HDMI inputs. But HD monitors that are meant for in-car installation often do have HDMI inputs.

To put it another way, factory-installed video screens: probably not. Aftermarket installed video screens: just specify that you want one with HDMI in.
 
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