Internet Radio for LINUX Users

As a longtime Internet radio fan, being able to continue listening was critical when I decided to switch to LINUX for my online activity. When I installed LINUX, I installed Adobe Flash, MP3 support, and other plugins for streaming media. With these I was able to access many, but not all sites I listened to/watched. Several radio stations I listen to require you to use a plugin called "Silverlight".

Silverlight is a microsoft browser plugin that many Internet radio stations use for their streaming media. It also supports graphics, multimedia, and interactive content. Windows users may use it with several browsers including Firefox; mac users can use it if they have Firefox.

Open Source to the rescue - again
For us LINUX users, there is "Moonlight". Moonlight is the open source option for LINUX/UNIX users. Check out these sites for the scoop on "Moonlight".
* Moonlight's Website - http://www.mono-project.com/Moonlight
* Moonlight Wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonlight_(runtime)

I got mine here from their LINUX Download site:
http://www.go-mono.com/moonlight/download.aspx

What To Do and What Happens:
Once on the site, click the download link to install the plugin. You will very likely be prompted by your system to enter the root (superuser) password. The download and install should proceed from there. As the Wiki page points out, the plugin does NOT include the actual codec, but the next time you navigate to a page that requires Silverlight, you will be prompted to download the codec FREE from Microsoft. Again, you will likely be prompted to enter the root password. Both downloads took less than 30 seconds at 300+ kbps speeds.

With Moonlight I was able to access those Internet radio stations which require the Silverlight plugin.


If you want more information on Silverlight, check out the following sites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Silverlight
http://support.spacialaudio.com/wiki/Silverlight