Play Sirius Internet Radio on Linux Computer

I am posting this because I finally found a solution to a problem that I have been unable to solve for some time. The Sirius Internet Radio player uses an ActiveX plugin to stream audio over the internet. Since computers that use Linux do not have this ActiveX plugin, I thought it was impossible to use Sirius' Internet player. I have since seen some crazy hacks in the Ubuntu forums where people bend over backwards to get it working. Recently though I found a very simple solution which uses a Mozilla Firefox Extension to redirect the audio stream to a media player within Linux and it works perfectly.

These instructions are a slightly modified version of what is found in the Ubuntu Guide which is a very useful resource for setting up an Ubuntu installation.

Enable Sirius Internet Radio for Firefox

• Install VLC
• Install the firefox media player connectivity plugin
• Launch the Sirius Player

After authenticating, you will now be able to select which stream to play. Selecting the stream will launch VLC automatically (if you have configured the plugin to do so).