Darius Kruythoff
eri 
hacker: i am spying on you through your webcam
linux user: omg you got it working?
linux user: omg you got it working?
JP
hanshi
Lilith
Eric G.
Kate Hildenbrand (DE)
🌈☔🌦️🍄🌱🍉@rootsandcalluses @ericg @eri it's a 20year old joke, haven't had webcam issues in the last 15years? 🤷🏼♀️
Gid
Ludovic Archivist Lagouardette@Mr_GHARice @ericg @eri yeah, I share that experience. My webcam has been slightly less cooperative on Linux, but honestly I have had very little frustrations with peripherals on Linux. Nvidia GPU? Drivers worked first try with every install. Printer? It was detected as soon as I remembered that I had murdered CUPS. Webcam? Yeah once it picked a weird matrix shape and the colours were very wonky but it has not done that since
LisPi
HowToPhil@howtophil it really depends. almost all USB webcams tend to work without issues on account of USB having a standard for it, but built-in cameras on devices are a crapshoot if they aren't connected over USB internally.
@eri Like I said, my experience has never been that one didn't work, laptop inbuilt, or USB, or serial cable... Seems it must be a rare occurrence to me, but I also just might be the luckiest person for the last ~30 years
🇳🇿 
💉*9 Roger@howtophil @eri mine all work. I have laptops w builtin cams, monitors and USB cameras. All working. We run variants of Ubuntu (xubuntu and lubuntu). I don't recall having to do anything special. Just lucky too I guess.
Rachel Wil Singh ~ Moos-a-dee@rogerparkinson @howtophil @eri
The one thing that doesn't work on my laptop in Linux is the built in webcam. 🙈
The one thing that doesn't work on my laptop in Linux is the built in webcam. 🙈
@Moosader @rogerparkinson @eri I have a netbook with an on/off button for the webcam and sometimes have to turn it on... I do not know if this is your problem
cyCC: @rogerparkinson@mastodon.nz @howtophil@oldbytes.space @eri@mk.moth.zone
Not such a bad thing, all things considered! A lady working at the therapy place told me the other day "We're doing therapy sessions over Zoom, now! ^_^" and after I despaired for the future of humanity, I told her "Well gee sorry, but I don't even have a webcam."
Her response: "Just use your laptop's webcam."
Me, thinking myself clever: I didn't buy a laptop with a webcam.
Her: Just check, I'm sure it's there.
Me, looking at all laptops for purchase anywhere, without exception every single one of them with a camera that stares at you when you open it like Hal 9000:
Not such a bad thing, all things considered! A lady working at the therapy place told me the other day "We're doing therapy sessions over Zoom, now! ^_^" and after I despaired for the future of humanity, I told her "Well gee sorry, but I don't even have a webcam."
Her response: "Just use your laptop's webcam."
Me, thinking myself clever: I didn't buy a laptop with a webcam.
Her: Just check, I'm sure it's there.
Me, looking at all laptops for purchase anywhere, without exception every single one of them with a camera that stares at you when you open it like Hal 9000:
@cy@fedicy.us.to @Moosader @rogerparkinson @howtophil oh, our laptop has a physical slider that can go in front of the webcam. it's nice.
Yeah, and it's easy to "fix" with a bit of tape. Still, the fact that you c-a-n-n-o-t buy a laptop without a webcam anymore is crazy.
CC: @howtophil@oldbytes.space @Moosader@mastodon.gamedev.place @rogerparkinson@mastodon.nz
CC: @howtophil@oldbytes.space @Moosader@mastodon.gamedev.place @rogerparkinson@mastodon.nz
@cy @eri @howtophil @Moosader you can buy neat little sliders that stick in place over the Webcam. I can't find the link just now but I got mine from aliexpress. A pack of ~10 for cheap.
Janne Moren@howtophil @eri
I've encountered a couple that didn't work at all; but several that would get you a basic picture, but not support many of the more advanced features (high-res or high framerates, adjustable focus and so on).
I've encountered a couple that didn't work at all; but several that would get you a basic picture, but not support many of the more advanced features (high-res or high framerates, adjustable focus and so on).
Jeremy List@howtophil @eri a lot of built-in ones are internal USB.
DrYak@howtophil Indeed, you're insanely lucky:
- Early 2000s, UVC didn't exist as a standard yet and each webcam USB module vendor had their own weird protocol, further tweaked down by the final product maker. We had to hunt drivers (I was semi-lucky that my Logitech did work as-is after compiling spca5xx)
...
- Early 2000s, UVC didn't exist as a standard yet and each webcam USB module vendor had their own weird protocol, further tweaked down by the final product maker. We had to hunt drivers (I was semi-lucky that my Logitech did work as-is after compiling spca5xx)
...
@howtophil
...
- Nowadays embed camera on ARM device (which aren't USB, but directly talk to some video interface of the SoC like CSI, and are controlled by something like I2C) are a mess. (Again semi-lucky: by the time I needed to use the one on my Linux phone, the community had figured out the kernel drivers, libcamera did support it, and there was an app using this library)
...
- Nowadays embed camera on ARM device (which aren't USB, but directly talk to some video interface of the SoC like CSI, and are controlled by something like I2C) are a mess. (Again semi-lucky: by the time I needed to use the one on my Linux phone, the community had figured out the kernel drivers, libcamera did support it, and there was an app using this library)
@howtophil Haha, I started roughly at the same time as you. I guess Microsoft managed to get quite a lot of users pissed off with Win95 and running to better OSes.
I guess you therefor also remember the "recompile your own I2C drivers to get the TV out working on your GFX card" era.
Ángela Stella MatutinaWhy would they use anything else? I mean, twenty-odd years ago it could have been reasonable , USB wasn't ready for prime time, but today it smacks of perversity.
llewelly@eri @howtophil
real reason webcam doesn't work under linux is because the linux user
wrote cron job which deletes device every 30s
put tape over camera
scratched out traces on the motherboard
removed camera and repurposed it to watch the bird
Poll ended at .
Louis@llewelly @eri @howtophil that reminds me of a video call I had with a client months ago. I invited her in a talk room on my Nextcloud instance. She couldn't get her webcam to work. I feel embarassed and after 5 minutes trying to make it work, I send her another link using another video call solution. Same issue. We decide to chat anyway and after 1 hour, when we're just about to finish she realizes she had some tape on it...
The Doctor
🐧DaveNull🐧 ☣️pResident Evil☣@llewelly It lacks one answer "It works perfectly fine but I fail to see why I need to waste bandwidth by sending and receiving useless video traffic from webcams during remote meetings. So I actually use the built-in webcam as a codebar scanner on my library card to avoid typing my identifier manually"
Corvus@llewelly @eri @howtophil
Instead of tape I use the little round bandaids. It always looks like my laptop has a boo-boo.
Instead of tape I use the little round bandaids. It always looks like my laptop has a boo-boo.
vxo@eri @howtophil yeah or they have weird... side channel stuff... where something like i2c / smbus magicgrams have to be passed to it to configure it and turn it on
schrotthaufen@eri @howtophil Indeed. E.g. current Dell Latitudes use these new Intel webcams that do their own thing, and last time I checked there wasn’t a Linux driver, yet.
Lee@eri @howtophil Thank you for the info, it seems the most probable cause of the confusion!
Elio Campitelli@howtophil @eri I'm currently sitting in an office with at least 2 laptops with ubuntu without a working webcam.
Alpha Male Martha Stewart 🍉🌈@howtophil you aren't the only lucky one, I've never had problems with a webcam in linux either. TBH I haven't had any issues with device drivers and the such for over 10 years. It's all comity hardware at this point.
nowhereman (nicht der andere!)@fiend_unpleasant @howtophil
I switched to linux 20 years ago because there were always driver issues on my ThinkPad after each official update, while everything works fine with booting from a linux-stick.
I switched to linux 20 years ago because there were always driver issues on my ThinkPad after each official update, while everything works fine with booting from a linux-stick.
Natasha Nox 🇺🇦🇵🇸@Nowhereman @fiend_unpleasant @howtophil There's just too much variety out there (and especially too many cases of non-standard implementations in production hardware). Some will never have problems while others can't even get stuff to boot.
In general it would be nice if a culture of emphasizing the value of native linux devices takes hold. It's not an issue with Linux when random device vendors do some weird shit with their hardware without providing any sufficient patches or even information.
In general it would be nice if a culture of emphasizing the value of native linux devices takes hold. It's not an issue with Linux when random device vendors do some weird shit with their hardware without providing any sufficient patches or even information.
@Natanox @Nowhereman @fiend_unpleasant Sufficient right to repair laws would solve 99%+ of those problems
@howtophil @Nowhereman @fiend_unpleasant Depends what your definition of 'sufficient' entails. Weirdness on laptop mainboards would persist, so would hatdware manufacturers who don't care to properly document or patch their shit.
@Natanox @Nowhereman @fiend_unpleasant "Sufficient" would entail documentation as you can't repair easily what is not well documented
D. B. Stuck@Natanox @howtophil @Nowhereman @fiend_unpleasant
I believe at some point Linux users researched what brand and model of PC and laptop will just work due to their adherence to standards.
I'm flawlessly using 12 yr old laptops. It could be that Linux drivers have just caught up to whatever weirdness might be happening as well.
Thank goodness that many Linux distros stopped insisting that all of the drivers they'd provide you be open source. Ubuntu in the day could be a nightmare.
@MyWoolyMastadon @howtophil @Nowhereman @fiend_unpleasant If you want to experience that nightmare again you may want to try either FreeBSD or OpenBSD. 
@Natanox @howtophil @Nowhereman @fiend_unpleasant
No thanks!
I almost gave up on Linux in the 00s until I found Puppy Linux and then Mint.
I appreciate that at the time Ubuntu was trying to push open drivers but that's not the way to get Linux desktops everywhere.
@MyWoolyMastadon @Natanox @howtophil @Nowhereman I've never really had the money to be picky. I used a lot of "broken" computers and bought whatever was cheap af the big box store.
@fiend_unpleasant @MyWoolyMastadon @Natanox @Nowhereman I've used a lot of curb finds, discounts, etc
@howtophil @MyWoolyMastadon @Natanox @Nowhereman Oh totally. I used to get a lot of windows boxen that had viruses that "could not be removed".
@Natanox Lack of information is definitely against right to repair since it's required for both repairability and interoperability.
Also, lack of interoperability is incompatible with right to repair since using other OSes than M$ crap is one of the many requirements to make computers last long.
This is far from being a complete and exhaustive definition of right to repair since it's doesn't adress all the other issues, but anything less is a joke.
Daniël Franke 
@Natanox @Nowhereman @fiend_unpleasant @howtophil 100% this, I've been using hardware with official Linux support ever since Dell launched the XPS developer edition, and this ended the hardware roulette you get when you don't pay attention to this.
I don't want to dive deep in mailing lists, patch sets, and what not to see if the HP JunkBook I am considering to buy is properly supported, and then lie about me having Linux installed if I need support.
Buying from vendors that actually support Linux has improved my life, and it would honestly be nice if Linux support was more openly advertised in places where normal people bought computers.
@ainmosni @Nowhereman @fiend_unpleasant @howtophil Unfortunately we won't see that kind of ads, as that industry is utterly incompatible with any slither of morality. The moment you'd see a Tuxedo Computers or Slimbook ad in "normal places" you'd know they've engaged with the worst of the worst. There are only very, very few exceptions to this - mostly direct ad contracts with places (with no profiling, targeting etc) or sponsoring contracts with very selective video producers / artists.
@fiend_unpleasant @howtophil same here, switched to Linux in 2012 (Ubuntu then Fedora) and I never had issues with webcams, printers or any device generally speaking.
dallo@louischance
On how many devices? Like 4 to 5 computer or 40 to 50?
@howtophil
Seems that enough :)
@louischance
Small sample but I am glad that you didnot face any major issues :)
Sebastian Krzyszkowiak@howtophil @eliocamp @eri Non-working laptop webcams is a recent phenomenon, as these cams started to resemble smartphone cameras more than USB webcams. Support is arriving though, it just takes some time for the whole stack to adapt.