Using Netflix on Linux

Netflix can be used on Linux for quiet some time now since Firefox supports DRM. But some additional requirements must be fulfilled.

First of all, DRM must be enabled in Firefox. Usually Firefox asks to do that once you enter a DRM page, but you can also change the setting in the preferences:

Preferences -> General -> Play DRM-controlled content

Most importantly you have to have the correct video coded installed on your system. It usually comes down to installing the proper ffmpeg/libavcodec version support h.264. In OpenSuse, use the packman repository and change the version of libavcodec to the packman version (H.264_Video_Support).

An easy way to check if your browser supports all the important codecs is to go to https://www.youtube.com/html5 and check if H.264 and MSE & H.264 is available. If so, Netflix should just work.