The Sysadmin’s Daily Grind: Surveillance with Motion
Fish Spotting
Commercial surveillance systems are expensive and typically involve maintenance agreements. I thought there must be a low-budget alternative.
Olli and Melanie, two good friends of mine, have three stores. One of the stores has been broken into many times. Of course, they are insured against break ins, but they were concerned by the fact that nobody had been able to nail the culprits. They wondered if a surveillance system might help. Of course, turnkey surveillance systems are expensive, so my friends asked me if an old PC and a webcam would do the trick. Now, I do own a webcam, but up to that point I had only used it to point at the aquarium in my living room. I had no experience whatsoever with surveillance applications. But hey, that’s what search engines are for. After a short search, I had soon found a useful application called Motion [1].
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Three Lines of Code Improve Linux Storage Performance
A developer changed three lines of code, giving Linux storage performance a 5% bump.
-
AUR Hit Again with Malicious Packages
Once again the Arch User Repository is plagued by a high volume of malicious packages.
-
Alpine Linux 3.24 Features Fresh Desktops and a Newer Kernel
If you're a fan of Alpine Linux, it's time to upgrade because the latest version has been released with KDE Plasma 6.6, Gnome 50, and Linux kernel 6.18 LTS.
-
EU Open Source Strategy Plays Key Role in Tech Sovereignty Package
Comprehensive measures adopted by the European Commission aim to reduce dependency on non-EU countries.
-
Linux Foundation Report Indicates AI Driving Tech Hiring
Within growing security and skills gaps, AI has been found to be a positive driving force behind tech hiring trends in Europe.
-
United Nations Open Source Portal Goes Live
A new open source portal seeks to coordinate and scale open source efforts across the United Nations system.
-
KDE Linux Drops AUR
KDE Linux developers have dropped the Arch User Repository from the build pipeline due to security concerns; other distributions should consider doing the same.
-
California May Exempt Linux from Its Age-Verification Law
After backlash from the Linux community, California may be backing off on its promise to force all operating systems to verify age, but one platform may still have to comply.
-
Another Logic Bug Found in Linux Kernel
Qualys has discovered a vulnerability in the Linux kernel that can be used to elevate standard user privileges.
-
Ubuntu Core 26 Offers Game-Changing Enterprise Features
Ubuntu Core 26 could be a game-changer for organizations looking for increased security and reliability.