NetFlix Talks the Cloud and HTML5
Netflix's Director of Web Engineering discusses HTML5, but not for video.
Adrian Cockcroft, Director of Web Engineering brought up the viability of the HTML5 canvas for designing rich user interfaces and the scalability of the Amazon cloud in a blog post late Wednseday night.
Cockroft talked up the cross-platform and device abilities of HTML5, but was quick to quiet speculation from Hacking Netflix and TechCrunch that HTML5 would be used to replace Microsoft's proprietary Silverlight codec as the video platform for Netflix's popular Instant streaming feature.
"The basic HTML5 doesn't have a viable DRM solution at this point," Cockroft said in an update to his original post.
This statement echo's Hulu's earlier statement regarding the lack of features in the HTML5 that limit the wider corporate adoption of the format. But given the format's increasing popularity, open format and recent release of open players such as the JW Player for HTML5, that will likely change.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 is Available
Linus Torvalds has announced that the latest kernel has been released with plenty of core improvements and even more hardware support.
-
Kali Linux 2025.3 Released with New Hacking Tools
If you're a Kali Linux fan, you'll be glad to know that the third release of this famous pen-testing distribution is now available with updates for key components.
-
Zorin OS 18 Beta Available for Testing
The latest release from the team behind Zorin OS is ready for public testing, and it includes plenty of improvements to make it more powerful, user-friendly, and productive.
-
Fedora Linux 43 Beta Now Available for Testing
Fedora Linux 43 Beta ships with Gnome 49 and KDE Plasma 6.4 (and other goodies).
-
USB4 Maintainer Leaves Intel
Michael Jamet, one of the primary maintainers of USB4 and Thunderbolt drivers, has left Intel, leaving a gaping hole for the Linux community to deal with.
-
Budgie 10.9.3 Now Available
The latest version of this elegant and configurable Linux desktop aligns with changes in Gnome 49.
-
KDE Linux Alpha Available for Daring Users
It's official, KDE Linux has arrived, but it's not quite ready for prime time.
-
AMD Initiates Graphics Driver Updates for Linux Kernel 6.18
This new AMD update focuses on power management, display handling, and hardware support for Radeon GPUs.
-
AerynOS Alpha Release Available
With a choice of several desktop environments, AerynOS 2025.08 is almost ready to be your next operating system.
-
AUR Repository Still Under DDoS Attack
Arch User Repository continues to be under a DDoS attack that has been going on for more than two weeks.