I am curious, how come when I install the Official Mozilla Snap from the Ubuntu Software store on Ubuntu 18.04.3, I can watch DRM content, but when I use the build that comes with Ubuntu I can't watch DRM content even AFTER enabling it in Firefox?
I am using Firefox 70.0.1 on both versions
There are differences between how software is packaged and distributed when comparing snaps with traditional Debian packages (like those in Ubuntu repositories)
A snap is a universal Linux package that bundles the app with all of its dependencies. Snaps are also container-like, being somewhat isolated from the base system.
When you install a package from Ubuntu repositories via apt or the GUI package manager, you are installing a standalone package (although the package manager will generally resolve required dependencies for you).
The Google Widevine HTML5 DRM decoder is not automatically included in the firefox package in Ubuntu repositories. It can be installed as a plugin, which will allow decoding of HTML5 DRM content (the type of DRM used by Netflix) .
To the question as to why the snap might include it likely has to do with a few things:
The source code for Widevine is not publicly available and does not have a copy-left license. Firefox is currently in the main Ubuntu repository, which is for open source software only.
Snaps are also somewhat isolated from the rest of your system, so including "potentially dangerous" proprietary software in a snap poses less of a risk.
Snaps are intended to be all-encompassing, without needing additional software, so the developers/publishers of the snap have likely decided to include HTML5 DRM support by default.
I just discovered a Chromium plugin which allows me to play DRM video right away.
Install IdeaNova DRM Extension. In the Netherlands, where I live, our national broadcast company, NPO, provides only DRM video. I was installing Ubuntu for a friend. I thought I had adjusted and personalized everything when I noticed I can't play NPO video! Bummer! But for now it works and I hope the plugin keeps up to date!
