[clug] Biometrics and Linux

[James McNeill]

IIRC Thinkgeek.com used to sell a USB fingerprint reader that worked by 
sensing the tiny air bubbles that are trapped in the ridges and valleys 
in your fingerprint. /I /think/.

a quick look failed to turn it up though. They might not sell it anymore.

I also seem to remember that it was fairly platform independent (there'd 
be bloodshed in the tea rooms if Thinkgeek sold anything but).

-JAmes

Andrew Pollock wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I'm looking at developing an application, and I'd like use fingerprints for
> authenticating users of the application.
> 
> A while ago, I did a lot of research into fingerprint readers, but didn't
> find any that openly claimed Linux support.
> 
> The other thing is, does anyone know how they work? Are the identifying
> features of the fingerprints stored in the reader itself, or does it just
> spit out the equivalent of a checksum to the application for
> comparison/verification?
> 
> Thanks for any advice.
> 
> Andrew
>