Linux Boxee Users Get Hulu Relief 78
DeviceGuru writes "The Linux version of Boxee's eponymously-named multimedia platform has finally been updated to include several new features introduced into the OS X and Windows versions over the past few months. Key additions include an App Box and restored support for Hulu, which disappeared several months ago. Still lacking in the latest Linux release, however, is the long-awaited addition of Netflix movie and TV show streaming for subscribers to Netflix's monthly service."
Lead, follow, or get out of the way (Score:5, Insightful)
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That Ayn Rand, she sure could type!
Re:Lead, follow, or get out of the way (Score:5, Funny)
the vast majority of us want to be able to throw up the latest episode of family guy
Just like Seth MacFarlane does every week!
(kidding, I love the show)
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(kidding, I love the show)
I thought so, too. Then he got extra lazy by giving us +5min of fucking Conway Twitty music.
It was hardly amusing the first time, for the first 10 seconds. When it goes ON and ON, I just want to send him hatemail for being so goddamned lazy.
And I realize they like to irritate everybody, but the "shaken baby" comedy was just a smidge out of line.
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Re:Lead, follow, or get out of the way (Score:5, Insightful)
With more and more content being sent via internet connections rather than traditional connections, ie cable, phone, satellite, pony express, Operating Systems in order to provide mainstream support will need to be able to provide support for these types of media.
Which is why we must force them to use open standards. The problem today is everyone and their dog has their own streaming implementaion, for whatever reasons. Which is of course incompatible not only across operating systems in general, but often across Windows versions as well.
We just need to make the producers realize this.
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What incentive do they have to use open standards? Unless it makes them more money, they will not do it.
Re:Lead, follow, or get out of the way (Score:5, Interesting)
By providing open-standard compression/decompression media libraries from the community, the content producers can focus on, you know, content. Media producers are media producers, not software developers, so anything that allows them to focus on "core competencies" instead of flitting about with things they shouldn't have to care about should be a win for everyone.
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Who says they are developing software now? ABC uses Move Media player [movenetworks.com]. They didn't develop their own, they contracted out. No real focus shifting for ABC, they're still focused on content.
The difference open standards would make would be felt by companies like Move Networks who really are and should be focused on how the content is delivered. To ABC its not that relevant as long as they get some level of assurance from Move that their content is somewhat secure. Judging from the content you see on torr
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I'd be willing to bet that the main reason that torrents are coming from cable tv rips is not because of the security. Usually cable gets the content before the streaming networks. It is also often of higher quality than streaming video. However, all of these things being equal (release time, quality), cable tv rips will probably still prevail due to the security.
tl;dr version: The security is mostly unnecessary as everyone just rips the videos from cable since it is out sooner and is better quality. Puttin
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What incentive do they have to use open standards? Unless it makes them more money, they will not do it.
Reaching the ever-growing crowd that's not win32-based. Also, standard tools make for better applications, and ultimately, happy users.
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So... the share of the market that is using Windows has dropped from 88% to 87.9%? Oh... don't forget the 10% that OSX has.
Which open standard are they going to adopt? Or are they going to create a new one, like MS did with Silverlight?
Before the concern to reach that "ever-growing crowd that's not win32-based", that same Ever-growing crowd is going to have to start worrying about Virus infections, Spyware, and Malware. If that Ever-growing crowd becomes a viable option for the majority... those scumbags
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Who wants to bet that the 2% who use Linux are disproportionately over-represented in the folks who watch TV over the internet?
I mean just saying, the vast majority of Linux desktop users will be techy sorts who are comfortable with online media. The same can't be said of the 88% or so who use Windows. Not to say that Linux is bigger than Windows or anything ridiculous like that- just that Linux users are probably a fairly rich seam that online content providers will want to cater to.
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You are assuming that the "ever growing crowd" are all running the exact same platform. This is obviously wrong, even according to your figures it is 90% OS/X and 10% Linux, and you are not counting all the cell phones which are a far bigger part of it than either.
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I prefer the content providers stop wandering around with their heads firmly planted inside their rectum and give a completely ope and standard way of delivering the media instead of these stupid games they play to protect their precious content from YOU viewing it on a E V I L television.
It has nothing to do with the OS, and everything to do with the morons running the content companies.
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Seriously...
My daughter now has a 42" television which looks exactly like a monitor to the computer.
So there is absolutely no way to prevent displaying content on a television in the living room any more.
All you need is a TV with PC video inputs.
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Told it before and telling it again : when you serve content depending on IP address localization, you are doing something wrong on the Internet.
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Except for those of us who gave up on television years ago and don't miss it.
Hell, I hardly even find *movies* a compelling use of my time anymore.
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The classy repartee keeps bringing me back. Call me a fool -- but I just can't get enough of the insightful and thought-provoking discussion that epitomized the Slashdot community. :-P
Great (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Great (Score:5, Informative)
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This has nothing to do with Boxee. Hulu does not stream content outside the United States because the content is provided by US television networks. (I'm not saying I agree with this, but that is certainly the rationalization.)
Ouch! Not sure how you got modded down with the OP as a 5!
In fact, the article mentions no latest hulu improvements, it merely mentions it is now supported on Boxee for Linux.
Secondly, you are absolutely correct. The ball is not in Hulu's court to be supported outside of the US. In order to provide their FREE content they have to abide by the content provider's requirements and restrictions. I'm certain if they were allowed to they'd open it up in a heartbeat. Hence, it's also not technically a H
Hulu needs to spawn localized ones. (Score:2)
Hulu should spawn localized ones for other countries. Hulu could make $$$ with localized ads. and getting rights too.
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Hulu does not stream content outside the United States...
Well Boxee should use something that does. I'm here getting binspammed about Hulu and it does me no good at all. If Slashdot is going to continue to advertise these services, they should at least do one that isn't playing all these stupid games. I'm tired of spending half my day busting through firewalls just to watch some TV.
Up to Netflix (Score:5, Informative)
Still lacking in the latest Linux release, however, is the long-awaited addition of Netflix movie and TV show streaming for subscribers to Netflix's monthly service.
According to this thread, the ball's in Netflix's court to get their streaming service running on Linux: http://forum.boxee.tv/showthread.php?t=3385 [boxee.tv]
Re:Up to Netflix (Score:5, Funny)
The posts in that thread make me just about lose all hope for humanity.
Re:Up to Netflix (Score:4, Funny)
According to this thread, the ball's in Netflix's court to get their streaming service running on Linux:
I'd be happy if they got their streaming service working on Windows.
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Hulu, on the other hand, often requires cursing, reboots, and sacrificing the occasional goat in order to properly display full-screen on my TV.
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I saw a netflix channel in my boxee release (I just installed it last night). But I don't have a netflix account, so I haven't used it.
XBMC, MythTV? (Score:3, Interesting)
Now to see if the XBMC and MythTV plugin (MythVodka) are working again, so far a quick google search is bringing up pages upon pages of posts of when it stopped working in February....
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The XBMC threads are still "we're working on it." I wish Boxee would play nice and roll out the source of the updates.
Hulu Development Thread [xbmc.org]
Hulu Release Thread [xbmc.org]
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You can find a link to the sources in this forum post. [boxee.tv]
You'll need to create an account.
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The Next "Killer App" (Score:2)
Applications Like Boxee are a chance for Linux to make major inroads to becoming more widespread. The convergence of TV, Movies, and Internet content represent a major shift in the way people get entertained, and when traditional broadcasting through Cable TV and Satellite providers takes a backseat to interfaces like Boxee and MythTV, here's to hoping that Linux leads the pack.
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I run Boxee on a Mac Mini, despite being a Linux fan. It just works.
I've run Ubuntu Hardy with Boxee on a low-end Mac Mini for months: it works fine too.
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Applications Like Boxee are a chance for Linux to make major inroads to becoming more widespread.
How do you figure? This "Killer App" you speak of has Windows and OSX versions. There is little reason to use Linux. To add insult to injury, the Linux version is the one that lags behind in features and development. So where is the "Linux" advantage again?
Oh, right, MythTV. Are you serious? Do you think the average person wants to go through this much hastle [ubuntu.com] just to watch TV? SQL Database required. That takes the cake right there.
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I guess Boxee or MythTv on top of Linux has an advantage in that, if all you want is Basically a DVR that can maybe also browse the internet, you're not shelling out an exta $80-$100 (what does Vista Home Premium sell for these days?) for the OS, for a system that could otherwise probably be built for under $500.
Of coures, the "average" person doesn't want to hastle w/ building thier own DVR in the first place, regardless of what OS they use, and will just buy one for less than the build cost above anyway.
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The average person won't care about doing crazy stuff like DVR on their PC -- they'll just use a real DVR like everybody else.
Now, the average "power user" or whatever they're called would have to be pretty lame if they couldn't go through the wizards and junk in Mythbunutu. I've probably set up two databases in my entire lifetime, but in Mythbuntu it wa
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Yes, there is a Windows version - I use it on a daily basis. It is currently in private alpha, with a public beta release coming (possibly) in June.
Upgraded this weekend... (Score:2)
As an added bonus, since I started actually poking around Boxee again after the upgrade, I discovered a couple of new apps that will replace the prism apps I'd created before, notably Pandora and RTVE. Oh, and Last.fm finally works again.
Boxee is not good. (Score:2)
Maybe just on the Mac, but I recently built a HTPC out of an old Mac Mini--a project I started after reading about Boxee here on Slashdot--and I've found that VLC works great at playing stuff off the network, while Boxee stutters and then crashes. Also, the "social networking" angle is irritating.
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DId you follow all of the instructions... you may need to install the Perian set of video codecs as well. It comes as a control panel BTW so you can turn it on/off and set preferences easily. It's a standard part of the AppleTV download but something that could be missed by those installing on a Mini or other Mac.
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Hey, thanks for the suggestion. I'll look into it.
Or maybe I won't. I ended up just picking up a Logitech diNovo Mini, so I now have easy, full, wireless control of the computer, so I've been just browsing my NAS and desktop in the Finder, firing the video up in VLC, and clicking the fullscreen button.
It's worked great so far.
But Boxee is a lot prettier, so I don't want to give up on it.
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Install XBMC live instead.
It get's rid of all the silly "social" parts of Boxee.
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Hear, hear!
I ran Boxee for long enough to find out that all I cared about was XBMC, so that's all I run now.
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Thanks for the suggestion!
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64 bit? (Score:2)
Any news on a 64 bit version of boxee? I signed up, but the only system I have that has everything needed to run it is my 64 bit laptop. So, I remain unable to easily check it out. I'm not going to spend money on another piece of hardware just to test this.
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It is a hack, but it does work quite well for me.
http://forum.boxee.tv/showthread.php?t=4980 [boxee.tv]
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I need better proxy support (Score:2)
I've subscribed to a UK proxy so I can watch the BBC here in the states, and while boxee lets me enter a web proxy, it doesn't have any provisions for entering a username and password. At least it didn't a couple weeks ago. I really would love that capability...
Sheldon
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I've subscribed to a UK proxy so I can watch the BBC here in the states, and while boxee lets me enter a web proxy, it doesn't have any provisions for entering a username and password. At least it didn't a couple weeks ago. I really would love that capability...
Sheldon
ntlmaps should do the trick
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I've contacted the BBC and asked to pay for access. They currently do not offer anything for me. It's a market with no product. My two options are go with watching the BBC or get a proxy. The proxy costs me about the same as you are paying, and I'd be glad to send that straight to the Bebe if I could.
Sheldon
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You have other options, at least for some shows...
1) buy/rent the DVDs
2) get BBC America from your cable/satellite provider
64 bit for linux? (Score:2)
Apparently you can't just compile the source because there are some closed-source components.
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Closed source media players suck (Score:1)
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