Watch LOVEFiLM, Maxdome And RedBox Videos In Ubuntu Using The Netflix Desktop PPA

The Netflix Desktop Ubuntu PPA has been updated with separate packages for LOVEFiLM, RedBox and Maxdome, three video streaming services similar to Netflix.

LOVEFiLM, Maxdome and RedBox, like Netflix, are on demand TV shows and movie streaming services that require Microsoft's Silverlight plugin to play so they don't work natively under Linux, but thanks to Erich Hoover's custom WINE build, it's now possible to use all these services on Linux.

Installing any of the four supported service packages: Netflix, LOVEFiLM, Maxdome and RedBox will automatically download and install Firefox for WINE (Windows) as well as Microsoft Silverlight, through a package called "wine-browser-installer", so the user doesn't have to configure anything.

Once installed, launch Netflix Desktop, LOVEFiLM Desktop, Maxdome Desktop or RedBox Desktop from the menu or Dash and a full-screen Firefox (under WINE) window will be launched with only one tab (and no chrome: no menu, titlebar, tabs, etc.), for the selected service. Then, you can log in and start watching your favourite TV shows or movies, in Linux.

In the screenshot above, I've unmaximized the LOVEFiLM Desktop window. If you want to do this, you can press F11 to exit full-screen.

Install Netflix, LOVEFiLM, RedBox and Maxdome Desktop in Ubuntu

The Compholio PPA, which provides the custom WINE build along with Netflix, LOVEFiLM, Maxdome and RedBox Desktop is available for Ubuntu Raring, Quantal, Precise, Oneiric, Natty, Maverick and Lucid. Add it using the following commands:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ehoover/compholio
sudo apt-get update

Then, install Netflix Desktop using this command:

sudo apt-get install netflix-desktop

For LOVEFiLM Desktop, use:

sudo apt-get install lovefilm-desktop

For Maxdome Desktop, use:

sudo apt-get install maxdome-desktop

And finally, for RedBox Desktop:

sudo apt-get install redbox-desktop

More about the Netflix Desktop PPA in our initial post: How To Use Netflix In Ubuntu Through Wine (PPA Available).

Report any bugs you may encounter @ Launchpad.

For other Linux distributions, you can get the patched WINE "Compholio" from HERE.