vlc, cvlc, sout, command line, what please?

[ygoe]

Hi,

I'd like to stream the webcam's image and sound to somewhere else on a local network. The server is an ALIX box, I only have SSH access but no X or other GUI. Since the streaming how-to only explains the GUI and the command line documentation of VLC is merely a stub, I have nowhere to turn to use VLC. None of the examples I've found on the web seem to work or fit.

The VLC manpage doesn't even distinguish between vlc, cvlc and the other aliases. What are they good for, which do I need? It's really hard to use VLC if it's totally undocumented. Most of the in-programme documentation (vlc; help) seems to be for playing DVDs but nothing about webcams or streaming.

Also, I'm confused about how streaming with VLC works at all. I've seen examples that specify an IP address on the server side. Is the video sent from the server to a single defined client, or can any client connect to the server?

I have a /dev/video0 device but I recall having trouble accessing those v4l: URLs in VLC. Do I need other drivers? The OS is Ubuntu 11.10. The cam is a Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000 (USB). VLC version 1.1.12.

Unfortunately, MJPG-Streamer also fails at compiling and all, so I'm retrying to find some support for VLC now.