Pipelight
Silver Screen
© Lead Image © Ali Ender Birer, 123RF.com
Video-on-demand services often don't play well with Linux because they depend on Microsoft's Silverlight browser plugin. Luckily, you can call on the Wine offshoot Pipelight to rescue your next home movie night.
Video-on-demand services such as Netflix or Hulu are so firmly established in the United States that they actually produce their own exclusive series, such as the political thriller House of Cards. For many users, video-on-demand is the new TV, and millions of modern couch potatoes are actually cancelling conventional cable television services so they can watch their favorite programs on their computer or mobile devices.
Unfortunately, most video-on-demand services do not officially support Linux because they rely on the Silverlight browser extension [1]. Silverlight was developed by Microsoft and is only available for Windows and Mac, with no plans to support free operating systems. The Linux alternative, Moonlight [2], once developed jointly by Microsoft and Novell, never did support the same DRM functions used with Silverlight and has since been dropped.
The good news is that this lack of Silverlight support doesn't mean Linux users won't have their cozy video evenings. A Linux tool called Pipelight [3] lets browser plugins designed for Windows – including Silverlight, Flash, and Shockwave – run on Linux.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Nitrux 6.0 Now Ready to Rock Your World
The latest iteration of the Debian-based distribution includes all kinds of newness.
-
Linux Foundation Reports that Open Source Delivers Better ROI
In a report that may surprise no one in the Linux community, the Linux Foundation found that businesses are finding a 5X return on investment with open source software.
-
Keep Android Open
Google has announced that, soon, anyone looking to develop Android apps will have to first register centrally with Google.
-
Kernel 7.0 Now in Testing
Linus Torvalds has announced the first Release Candidate (RC) for the 7.x kernel is available for those who want to test it.
-
Introducing matrixOS, an Immutable Gentoo-Based Linux Distro
It was only a matter of time before a developer decided one of the most challenging Linux distributions needed to be immutable.
-
Chaos Comes to KDE in KaOS
KaOS devs are making a major change to the distribution, and it all comes down to one system.
-
New Linux Botnet Discovered
The SSHStalker botnet uses IRC C2 to control systems via legacy Linux kernel exploits.
-
The Next Linux Kernel Turns 7.0
Linus Torvalds has announced that after Linux kernel 6.19, we'll finally reach the 7.0 iteration stage.
-
Linux From Scratch Drops SysVinit Support
LFS will no longer support SysVinit.
-
LibreOffice 26.2 Now Available
With new features, improvements, and bug fixes, LibreOffice 26.2 delivers a modern, polished office suite without compromise.