[lug] poor man's surveillance using Linux and cheapo consumer grade cams?

[siegfried]

How effective is linux for dealing with web cams?

Where can I find some software to display multiple consumer grade web cams
on a web page without polling?

I've been playing with the free trial software (for windows) at
http://www.321cam.com/videosolutions/SurveillanceSoftware.htm and that
kinda works. Their free software implements a web server. Some browser
resident javascript logic (ugly...) can then poll the pseudo http
server to get crude animation.

How can I implement a poor man's surveillance system and use cheapo
consumer grade web cams and using something a little nicer like a
flash player? As I recall, one of our own Boulder locals has ported the
flash player to linux and gave a presentation on this topic in the last year
or so.

I want to plug multiple USB web cams into a single PC and transmit the
multiple audio/video streams to a public web server where a user can view
multiple cams on a single web page.

Can I do this without writing software?

Thanks,
Siegfried