How to Easily Enable Silverlight

8/13/2019 How to Easily Enable Silverlight

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How To Easily Enable

Silverlight, And Watch Netflix,on Linux


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Danny Stieben

On 17thFebruary, 2014

Linux

Netflix depends on Silverlight; Silverlight doesnt play well with Linux. But Linux users have an

easy-to-use workaround.

Lots of progress has been made when it comes to watching Netflix on Linux, but now its even

easier than ever thanks to something called Pipelight. Heres what you need to do to get Pipelightworking on your Linux machine.

About Pipelight
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Pipelightis a project that aims to get Netflix (and other Silverlight applications) to work on yourLinux machine, inside your favorite browser. Its a lot easier to use thanNetflix Desktop,a

previous tool for the job that required you run a complete Firefox browser in Wine.

Pipelight allows you to use your favorite Linux browser andyou can use it for more than just

Netflix. Read more aboutwhy Netflix normally doesnt run on Linux,if youre curious.

Installation

Getting Pipelight is pretty straightforward. Except for the very end, all you need to do is copy

and paste some commands.

Ubuntu

The first thing youll need to do is add the necessary repository. In Ubuntu, you can add it with

this command:
https://launchpad.net/pipelighthttps://launchpad.net/pipelighthttp://www.compholio.com/netflix-desktop/http://www.compholio.com/netflix-desktop/http://www.compholio.com/netflix-desktop/http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/netflix-doesnt-run-linux/http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/netflix-doesnt-run-linux/http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/netflix-doesnt-run-linux/http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/netflix-doesnt-run-linux/http://www.compholio.com/netflix-desktop/https://launchpad.net/pipelight


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sudo add-apt-repository ppa:pipelight/stable

Then, install Pipelight using the command:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install pipelight-multi

Fedora

In Fedora, youll first need to install the Microsoft Core Fonts (fonts like Arial and Times New

Roman) manually:

sudo yum install cabextract && sudo rpm -ihttp://sourceforge.net/projects/mscorefonts2/files/rpms/msttcore-fonts-installer-2.6-1.noarch.rpm

Once this has completed, you can add the Pipelight repository and install the package:

sudo wgethttp://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/DarkPlayer:/Pipelight/Fedora_19/home:DarkPlayer:Pipelight.repo -O /etc/yum.repos.d/pipelight.repo && sudoyum install pipelight


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Other Distributions

If youre a user of a different distribution than the two mentioned above (or their derivatives),

then just go tothis page,where you can find the instructions for your distribution. The generalflow of commands will remain the sameits just different links and syntax.

Finishing It Off

Once Pipelight has been installed, you need to configure it and enable Silverlight using the

command:

sudo pipelight-plugin --enable silverlight

Congratulations! Once you launch your browser, Silverlight should now be functional on your

computer! This includes all Silverlight applications that you come across, and not just Netflix.

If you happen to come across any SELinux issues (and Fedora users might) while using

Pipelight, you can make SELinux play nice with this command:

sudo setsebool -P unconfined_mozilla_plugin_transition 0

Getting Netflix to Work

If you stopped here to go try out Netflix, you may have noticed that Netflix still doesnt allow

you to watch any of their content, even though you have Silverlight ready to go. Netflix stillchecks your user agent and recognizes that youre using a Linux machine, and therefore
http://fds-team.de/cms/pipelight-installation.htmlhttp://fds-team.de/cms/pipelight-installation.htmlhttp://fds-team.de/cms/pipelight-installation.htmlhttp://fds-team.de/cms/pipelight-installation.html


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continues to block you.

This can be easily circumvented, however, by installing an extension to your browser that can

alter your user agent. Id recommendUser Agent Switcherfor Firefox (whichwe reviewed here)andUser-Agent Switcher for Chrome.The ideal setting seems to be Firefox 15 Windows forNetflix to allow you to continue, but any setting that switches your user agent to

Windowsshouldwork. The extensions apply the changes to all tabsnot just individual tabs

which is something to take note of. Thankfully, this trick is only needed while you use Netflixits not needed by any other major Silverlight applications.

Conclusion
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/user-agent-switcher/https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/user-agent-switcher/https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/user-agent-switcher/http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/impersonate-browsers-user-agent-switcher-firefox/http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/impersonate-browsers-user-agent-switcher-firefox/http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/impersonate-browsers-user-agent-switcher-firefox/https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/user-agent-switcher-for-c/djflhoibgkdhkhhcedjiklpkjnoahfmghttps://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/user-agent-switcher-for-c/djflhoibgkdhkhhcedjiklpkjnoahfmghttps://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/user-agent-switcher-for-c/djflhoibgkdhkhhcedjiklpkjnoahfmghttps://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/user-agent-switcher-for-c/djflhoibgkdhkhhcedjiklpkjnoahfmghttp://www.makeuseof.com/tag/impersonate-browsers-user-agent-switcher-firefox/https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/user-agent-switcher/


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Im really glad that Pipelight came out and is working well although Netflix Desktop was a

good temporary solution, I much rather prefer Pipelights implementation. HopefullyNetflix isstill planning on making an HTML5 playerthat doesnt block Linux in the same way they

currently do for their Silverlight player.

How have you been accessing Netflix from Linux so far? Are there any other Silverlightapplications you like that this would enable? Let us know in the comments!

Image Credits:Penguins in AntarcticaVia Shutterstock
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/netflix-announces-plans-to-switch-to-html5-video-streaming-updates/http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/netflix-announces-plans-to-switch-to-html5-video-streaming-updates/http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/netflix-announces-plans-to-switch-to-html5-video-streaming-updates/http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/netflix-announces-plans-to-switch-to-html5-video-streaming-updates/http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=97741352http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=97741352http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=97741352http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=97741352http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/netflix-announces-plans-to-switch-to-html5-video-streaming-updates/http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/netflix-announces-plans-to-switch-to-html5-video-streaming-updates/

Documents

How to Easily Enable Silverlight