Do webcams and microphones work on Linux?

Webcams connect using a standard called USB Video Class, and Linux handles them through its video system, V4L2. The kernel documentation describes these devices as ordinary video capture devices that any app can read from, and it treats USB webcams as exactly that. The upshot is that a camera from Logitech, Microsoft, Razer, Elgato or an unbranded one from an online marketplace generally behaves the same way, and the camera built into your laptop lid does too.

Microphones go through ALSA, the Advanced Linux Sound Architecture, which provides audio and MIDI for the system and supports interfaces from consumer sound cards through to professional multichannel gear. A USB microphone, a headset, and the microphone in your webcam all turn up in the sound settings as input devices you pick from a list.

Two honest limitations. First, the companion software does not come with the camera. Logitech's tuning app, Razer's control panel and the rest are Windows programs, so options like adjusting field of view or saving a custom colour profile may not be available in the same way. The camera itself still works, and Linux exposes brightness, contrast and exposure through its own settings. Second, some laptop cameras that are wired for Windows Hello face recognition use an infrared sensor alongside the normal one, and that infrared half is a separate question covered on the fingerprint and face login page.

Background blur and virtual backgrounds depend on the app rather than the camera. The browser versions of Zoom, Google Meet and Teams handle this themselves and behave the same on Linux as on Windows.