Grr this took hours to figure out. I was trying to install MJPG-streamer and running VLC command lines and all this crap but nothing worked.
First install motion
:
~> sudo apt-get install motion
Then create a config file:
~> mkdir ~/.motion
~> nano ~/.motion/motion.conf
In it, the bare minimum to run a web server and view it on other computers:
webcam_port 8081
webcam_localhost off
Then run motion:
~> motion
Now you can view the webcam at http://hostname:8081 If it doesn't work, try rebooting between steps or something.
Isn't that easy? >:(
See also: How to run webcam software only when I am not home
while this DID work.. please not it fills whatever folder you put .motion into with EVERY frame that the camera shoots... for me this was 100's of single .jpg files after only about 15-20 seconds of the camera running - BUT IT DOES WORK!