Linux and webcams

[krstofer]

I'm contemplating running Linux (mandrake, if it matters) on my primary box. (IBM intellistation, dual xeon) It's got Win XP Pro on it right now, but the damn thing's been crashing about once a day (no it's not a virus) and I'm gettting tired of rolling over there and resetting it. (won't respond to Tight VNC commands (http://www.tightvnc.com/) when it's balled up wimpering in a corner)
But (you knew there was a "but" didn't you?) there's a problem. That machine is the one running Webcam XP (http://www.webcamxp.com/), allowing all y'all to have a peek into my living-room, talk trash about how I haven't cleaned the place, ogle my girlfriend, that sort of thing... So if I load it with Linux, I loose the webcam.
Anyone heard of decent webcam software for Linux?
Preferably one that doesn't need to be compiled, as I haven't any idea how the hell to do that, but if I have to I can prolly overcome that hurdle...

http://krstofer.org

[Steven Edwards]

The only thing that I could find was Camserv (http://cserv.sourceforge.net/). Some reports that I read say good things about it, though.

-Steven

[Jeff]

Krstofer - This image is from a web cam that looks out a Keck Center window. It is a view of the construction site across the street. They're building a new Life Science's building.
http://spine.rutgers.edu/upload/images/webcam.jpg

This image only changes every minute, for those who refresh it or reload it. Right now the web cam is being hosted on Windows. Dr. Hart here wants to move it to a Linux box. So we'll be figuring it out soon.

Open source possibilities....

http://sourceforge.net/projects/icam2/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/simplephpwebcam/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/uwcp/

And there's a bunch more depending on which camera you have. The most important standard to support is video4linux. BTW, do you run a webserver or are you uploading images to a host?

I think we will eventually have a web cam that looks into the lab, too. Could be interesting. We'll see....

~See you at the SCIWire-used-to-be-paralyzed Reunion http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/smilie/wavey.gif ~

[PN]

Krystofer:

I have been using Polycom ViaVideo for video conferencing and the video stream with audio is excellent. I have also been impressed with Yahoo Instant Messenger with its Web cam and voice option. I use Cable Internet and therefore, I do not notice any real delays or pauses. I have to reinstall my ViaVideo 3.0 software and this is turning out to be a little more difficult than I or Polycom Tech Support expected. I like your web site.

PN

[PN]

" I loose the webcam. Anyone heard of decent webcam software for Linux?"

I will see if I can find an answer for this question.

PN

http://www.mandrakesoft.com/partners/advertising

[krstofer]

"BTW, do you run a webserver or are you uploading images to a host?"

A little of both.
The server lives at http://209.142.13.96:8080/, (http://209.142.13.96:8080/) and the host is on http://krstofer.org
Hopefully soon the server will serve more stuff, as soon as I get a decent OS onto it, and figure out port address translation.

http://krstofer.org

[PN]

From the Screen Savers October 17, 2003.

LINUX NETCAMS
Ilan in Los Angeles is looking for a netcam for Linux.

We can't recommend a specific netcam, because we haven't tried any. If you want to do Web broadcasting, you should try using a digital video camera and a video capture card. Get a card with the Brooktree 848 chipset; there are
Linux drivers available for that chipset.

Patrick recommends visiting SourceForge for Linux drivers if you can't find them anywhere else:
http://www.sourceforge.net/

If you don't want to use a digital video camera and want a simple netcam, try the Philips netcam:
http://www.smcc.demon.nl/webcam/


PN

[mattblan]

Kris

I'm sure there is loads of software for webcams. If you dont wanna compile just get one of the distros that use apt-get.