It’s a real surprise that Microsoft supports a technology that works on Linux. But we don’t have to wonder, since Silverlight as a technology relies on it’s user base to end up as success or failure, it makes perfect sense. And that’s likely the only reason Microsoft has worked with Novell / Mono to create a Silverlight plugin for Linux.
Moonlight is an open source implementation of Silverlight for Linux/Unix systems. It comes in the form of a Firefox plugin, version 2 is currently in beta 3 and available in 32bit and 64bit versions. Simply download the *.xpi to your Firefox plugin directory (if Firefox doesn’t automatically detect and install it correctly for you) and you’re good to go.
I have come across some sites where the detection of Silverlight is negative, and as a result keep prompting the user to install Silverlight. As soon as I find a solution or workaround I will update this post.
I’m also getting a false negative on some websites. A solution would be very useful.