How To: Watch Netflix on Ubuntu

Watching Netflix on Linux has always been tough. The major constraint to being able to watch Netflix on Linux has been the lack of Microsoft Silverlight, and while Microsoft Silverlight still isn’t available for Linux, watching Netflix just became a whole lot easier for Ubuntu users. An unofficial Netflix app for Ubuntu that was recently released now makes it easy to install Netflix and start watching movies right away.

How does the app work?

The app packages WINE and Netflix into a desktop app, which you can install through a Ubuntu repository with two simple commands. In order to get the app installed, perform the following commands below.

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ehoover/compholio
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install netflix-desktop

Once the app finishes installing, search for “Netflix Desktop,” or launch it from the terminal using the command: netflix-desktop. The first time you open the app, it will complete the installation, and when it’s done it will launch into full screen mode and let you start watching movies. To exit full screen mode, press F11 (you can also exit the app entirely with Alt+F4).

Currently it appears that you can only install this app on Ubuntu, but hopefully someone will find ways to get it installed on other Linux-based operating systems in the near future.