How to watch Netflix on Ubuntu (for technotards)

Don't Panic!

Netflix has not released an official app for Ubuntu yet. However, there is an unofficial Netflix app that works well and can be installed very easily. The install takes a while as it has to download quite a bit. Also, the very first time the app is run it takes quite a while for the initial configuration.

Note: Check out So I installed Ubuntu... Now what? for a one-shot command that will install Netflix as well as perform several other common (and important) tasks for a freshly installed Ubuntu.

Install Netflix

1. Open Dash (the top left-most button in Launcher)

2. Type Terminal and then open it by hitting the <enter> key (or clicking the icon)

3. Copy and paste all of these lines (all at once) into Terminal

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

4. Hit the <enter> key and type your password if asked (you won't see any *s, but that's okay)

5. Wait until those commands complete (Terminal will exit unless there was an error)

6. Open Netflix from Dash (just like you did with Terminal)

7. Wait until Netflix opens. It will take a long time the very first time because the installation isn't finished yet.

Watch Netflix

1. Open Netflix from Dash (just like you did with Terminal)

2. Search for movies and watch them. Duh.

References

• http://lifehacker.com/5963726/netflix-finally-comes-to-ubuntu-in-the-form-of-an-unofficial-desktop-app

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