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by the-smug-one 1573 days ago
Axis cameras aren't open source, but they're just Linux running systemd and Axis (or other) software. You can ssh into them, write your own apps, etc. They're not particularly locked down. They support ONVIF and VAPIX, which are API:s that VMS's such as Milestone and Genetec target.

> poorly secured IoT devices will get repurposed for.

Don't let it have access to the outside net then?

2 comments

>Axis cameras aren't open source, but they're just Linux running systemd

How is this not a GPL violation?

I think (but don't know if i am correct) that the original commenter was referring to the custom software running on top of Linux?

If they just run "stock" Linux then they can point their users towards that? Or maybe they just don't care until they get sued, also an option of course.

Yeah, any changes to the kernel would obviously also get GPL:d :).
Axis cameras are the old-school corporate gold standard for doing a network video camera. Sadly, they're priced like it.

I can buy a half dozen to a dozen cheaper ONVIF-capable cameras from a well-known brand, for the same price I'd pay to get one Axis camera.

But then you run into the issue noted above, where virtually all Chinese cameras are made by a small number of companies, most of whom are implicated in the suppression of the Uighur people, and who frequently sell their core hardware to other companies to install their own firmware.

Sad, but true.