Using Audacity on headless linux boxes

Hi,
I have ArchLinux running on a Arm5 computer. The computer is headless, so only shell interface is available.

I was wondering if Audacity could be used to monitor audio output from a USB webcam (with mic), and start a recording when audio level exceed a certain level (level for a smoke alarm for example). Eventually, I’d like to jerryrig a way to send myself an email when the fire alarm goes off. But first, I need to find a program that can monitor the audio input from a USB webcam and do something when the sound level exceed a threshold.

Can Audacity be used exclusively via shell commands and config files?

Can Audacity monitor audio from a USB webcam?

Audacity doesn’t much like running over a network. It doesn’t understand network delays. Also, I think Audacity is married to its GUI. Some of the other elves may have a way to force this to work. Koz

Audacity can run without a monitor, but you will run into a lot of problems.
Audacity is designed as a graphical application and there are very few command line options.
I hear that one user managed to get Audacity running on an ARM machine - I have no details - it may be an urban legend.

A better bet might be SNARP: https://github.com/MerlijnWajer/SNARP

Ok, thanks. If anyone in the future reads this post and gets some ideas on command-line programs that would fit this application, please quote me and reply.

Thanks!