Watch Netflix in Ubuntu today • Hacker News Board

Re: Watch Netflix in Ubuntu today

#101

Post by riffraff » Sat, Oct 11, 2014, 9:15 AM UTC

api wrote: post #77

wmf wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OTOH, I don't think appeasing Hollywood will help anyone but Hollywood. Their thinking is grounded in ideology not economics; if their content is pirated they think the DRM isn't working so they demand stronger DRM. If their content isn't being pirated they think the DRM must be working so it should be maintained or strengthened.

I used to think this way until I met more people in music, art, entertainment, etc., and generally learned more about how the world actually works. These people aren't dumb, and they pay a lot of attention to customer behavior just like marketing professionals do in any industry. They also don't necessarily like DRM for intrinsic reasons. It's actually cumbersome. There are some interests in the industry that like it…

> But I guarantee you that if Netflix allowed HTML5 video with no DRM mechanism you'd have a direct scripted cron-jobbed pipeline from Netflix to Popcorn Time

you say that as if there wasn't one already.

Re: Watch Netflix in Ubuntu today

#102

Post by riffraff » Sat, Oct 11, 2014, 9:18 AM UTC

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #92

wmf wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody cares about cracking Widevine to extract 4 Mbps Netflix streams when Blu-ray rips are already available on the Pirate Bay. But if someone does crack it, Google will release a Chrome "security update" that makes it just different enough to make the crack not work, they'll tell Hollywood everything is fine, and the process will repeat until one side gets bored (see iTunes).

I thought Netflix was creating content now that isn't available through other streams; perhaps I'm mistaken I don't use it.

they are creating it, and it's being shared on torrent sites. DRM is effectively useless.

Re: Watch Netflix in Ubuntu today

#103

Post by jgalt212 » Sat, Oct 11, 2014, 2:11 PM UTC

jgalt212 wrote: post #45

When did Netflix not work under Ubuntu? I have never had an issue using Firefox.

The karma bullies can keep downvoting this all they want, but I definitely have had Netflix running in a browser on an ubuntu box without any modification before this announcement. The only thing I can think of that may have affected my box vis a vis Netflix was the installation of VLC which installs some proprietary codecs (e.g. libdvdcss)

Re: Watch Netflix in Ubuntu today

#104

Post by anonbanker » Sat, Oct 11, 2014, 5:15 PM UTC

asadotzler wrote: post #25

Why do these "Linux gets Netflix" stories not have the same bad attitude from folks as the "W3C caves to DRM" stories? They're the same topic, essentially.

HN's audience largely supports innovation and potential revenue streams above freedom. Complaining about DRM will inevitably get someone compared to RMS.

Re: Watch Netflix in Ubuntu today

#105

Post by api » Sat, Oct 11, 2014, 5:20 PM UTC

cpeterso wrote: post #97

api wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Marginally more effort makes a huge difference. Linux on the desktop takes marginally more effort to use than Windows or Mac. What difference does that make in popularity? Effort also introduces time lag. If the next episode of Walking Dead takes 24 hours longer to show up on TPB, I'll probably see a bump in legitimate streaming and rentals. I'm not arguing that DRM works, especially in the CS sense that it really ma…

> Effort also introduces time lag. If the next episode of Walking Dead takes 24 hours longer to show up on TPB, I'll probably see a bump in legitimate streaming and rentals. Popular TV shows are available on TPB within minutes, not hours or days.

Again I wasn't arguing that DRM works, just why people keep wanting to use it.