Native(ish) Netflix!

Shawn Powers — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 19:01:43 +0000

The folks over at https://www.iheartubuntu.com recently put up a challenge to the Linux community to get Netflix to work natively under our beloved OS. Thankfully, Erich Hoover stepped up to the challenge and patched the Wine Project in a way to allow Firefox/Silverlight to be installed and actually work with Netflix's DRM'd Silverlight!

Screenshot from

The process is a little complex, and it involves patching source code before compiling, but Erich plans to create a PPA with all the compiling already done. Eventually, he intends to create a standalone Netflix-playing app that incorporates all the pieces of Wine and Silverlight. Thankfully, Erich didn't wait until the project was complete before sharing his success. If you want to play native(ish) Netflix on your Linux desktop without virtualization, check out his instructions at: https://www.iheartubuntu.com/2012/11/netflix-on-ubuntu-is-here.html.

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Interview with Cory Fields of XBMC

Steven Evatt — Wed, 05 May 2010 15:37:34 +0000

by Steven Evatt

I recently had the honor of spending time with Cory Fields, the Public / Business Relations Manger for XBMC. XBMC is the premier free and open source, cross-platform home entertainment system. XBMC was originally created for the first-generation Xbox, but has evolved to now be primarily available for Linux, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows. As proof to their success, the XBMC project has recently been accepted by the SFLC as clients. A perfect way to test XBMC is to download the live CD.

LJ: How are you doing?

Cory: I'm good.

LJ: How do you describe XMBC?

Cory: First, it's a shining example of open-source collaboration. Second, it's one hell of a media center.

LJ: What is your involvement with XBMC?

Cory: I've become the Public Relations person, as well as the Business Relations Manager. Basically I do the behind the scenes stuff, though I help with the server and web administration as well. So mainly social, but some technical to keep myself connected as much as possible. In the past year or so, we've seen a sharp rise in corporate interest in XBMC. When a large company wishes to present a road map for integration, I'm usually the primary (at least at first) contact.

LJ: How did you get started with XMBC?

Cory: Reporting bugs, troubleshooting, and submitting patches.

LJ: XBMC is available for many platforms... including Linux, Windows, Mac, Apple TV. Does it still work on the Xbox or Xbox360?

Cory: We cut ties with the Xbox ages ago, and have never been interested in the Xbox 360.

LJ: Interesting. I didn't realize XBMC was no longer supporting the Xbox.

Cory: Nope. There have been no official Xbox releases since Atlantis. One developer still merges some code to the Xbox branch from time to time. It will soon be branched out into a completely separate project to help avoid exactly that confusion. Also, at this time, almost all of the team has zero interest in supporting the Xbox anymore. It's ancient hardware with limitations that were hit long ago.

LJ: Approximately how many people are working on XBMC?

Cory: That one's always hard to answer. We have an enormous community. You can grep the commits for a more concrete answer. In the past, something like 15-20 active developers at any given time. But the community provides patches, addons, etc. so the small number of active developers is not a true reflection of the effort that's gone into XBMC.

LJ: That is a very healthy size and there are patches sent in by even more people.

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