In today's article, we disable our webcam.

KGIII

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This works on Lubuntu. It should work pretty well in most distros. I did not test this in other distros.


I do love me some feedback.
 


I successfully blacklisted my web camera, the duct tape stay there also
 
Yeah, tape works well enough - though it may end up with residue on the lens should you ever actually need the webcam. It can be a pain in the arse to clean the gunk off, especially if the tape was there for a long time. I'm not sure I'd recommend using naphtha on that or not - but maybe that 'Goo Gone' stuff would work and not cause any damage.
 
Webcam slides are a bit nicer way of doing it.

I actually mention those in the article. I suspect most people just use tape. I don't actually worry about it. I use Linux. I can barely make a webcam work. If you can make it work, all the better for you. (I kid, I kid... But, I really don't worry about it.)
 
Well, since I always run a desktop PC, my webcams are always USB types.

For years, I was after a Logitech c920 HD 'Pro'.....for a long while, their top of the range cam, primarily aimed at business types and streamers. But at 3 figures plus here in the UK, it was always a bit out of my reach.

Fast-forward to about 4 years ago; the Black Friday sale in 2018. Our local Currys/PCWorld were selling 'em off at less than half-price.....to make way for the then-new 'Brio' cam (which is ridiculously expensive). I always research any hardware I want to use in Linux; I'm not the type to be seduced by a lick of chrome and slick advertising.....I don't care what my hardware LOOKS like, so long as it does exactly what I want it to (with the minimum of fuss).

At GBP £49.95, it was too good to pass up any longer. So I grabbed one....

The c920, as it turned out, was supported, OOTB, by the Video4Linux kernel module driver. Which has been in the kernel for a LOOONG time. Plug it in; fire up GuvcView.....or Cheese.....or WebCamoid.....or (whatever takes your fancy, really), annnd.....it just works.

Perfect. And it really was worth the years of waiting for, too... :D

And of course, to disable it all ya gotta do is unplug it. Simples!!


Mike. ;)
 
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Works on Thinkpad T450 currently running on Endeavour OS!!!
Thank you, really simple and complete well explained article.
 
Thank you

You're quite welcome. I figured that'd be an article well-received by Linux users. Many are privacy focused and distrusting. So, this turns the webcam completely off at the system level.
 

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