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I loved the “Blue Iris” software for Windows. Unfortunately, their complex and seemingly arbitrary pricing scheme got out of hand about the same time Microsoft went crazy and started breaking my setup every 6 months.

In a pique I dumped the whole configuration and installed Linux Mint on an old machine I had laying around. I researched, tested and settled upon a free, open-source motion detection software system called, unsurprisingly, “Motion”. It installed without incident and began servicing my three wifi cameras almost from its default configuration. Documentation was perfectly adequate for a simple implementation but the software supports all-powerful customization if you are so inclined. The software includes a small web server so you can, with a simple router tweak (port-forward), stream your cam output to the internet. The motion detection system included area masking, automatic detection optimizations, and support for any simple or complex system of file archiving that you wish to devise. It even gives you calls to other software routines or system scripting as it detects movement. It has its own web page which is very capable, and includes controls for mechanical Pan-Tilt-Zoom if your camera has such.

For viewing movies, I found that a program called MPV works beautifully with digital pan and zoom and a large inventory of movie protocols.

I’ve spent a lot of time customizing it, including the development of my own webpage, but that’s just me. For a Linux novice it would work fine. I would suggest you become a little familiar with your Linux file system.

It has certainly cost less time (and much less money) then keeping Microsoft working.

If you have:
1. Approx 5 yr-old computer.
2. $15-$20 Chinese Cameras. (get ‘em quick b4 they’re tariffed.
3. Wifi router

The cost is $NOTHING$$$. (If you like it you may donate to the Motion people, Linux project, or other open source providers.)

For info see: https://motion-project.github.io/motion_guide.html

Don’t let the references to sudo, apt, ffmpeg, install, etc. discourage you. The package you need is in the Linux Mint “app store”.