Install Google Earth Properly in Ubuntu
Note:
This procedure is no longer applicable since Medibuntu has Google
Earth in it's repositories. Refer to Medibuntu's website to
enable their repositories and type the following in a terminal:
sudo apt-get -y install googleearth
Installing Google
Earth should
be a simple matter and it really is.
If you go by the
directions
on Google Earth website the application will be installed in your
/home/<your_name>/google-earth
folder. This is OK,
but there
is a better
way to install Google Earth. The problem lies that Google
Earth
can be accidentally deleted and never heard from again. Trust
me,
I had an episode with my brother when he called me to tell me his
Google Earth was not working. I went over and it was GONE, of
course I got the famous "I don't know". I said to myself
there
has to be a better way.
The following page is written to do
just
that. I have laid out a procedure to install Google
Earth
so that it won't be accidentally deleted. In order for Google
Earth to run properly your PC must have an OpenGL driver installed.
If you have either an ATI or Nvidia card follow my procedure here
to install OpenGL drivers od Edgy. If you have Feisty or better
then simply enable the Restricted Driver in the Restricted Drivers
Manager under System--->Restricted Drivers Manager.
Another benefit by installing Google Earth this way is that it is
accessible by all accounts on the computer.
Lets begin shall we.
- Go
to to Google Earth
download site and download the installation software. You can
get it by clicking here.
- Be
sure to select the
Linux version and then press the Download Google Earth button.
- You
will be prompted
to save a file called GoogleEarthLinux.bin, save the file where you
normally save files.
- Once
the file is
downloaded open a terminal in the folder that contains the Google Earth
installation file.
- Now type
the following: sudo sh
./GoogleEarthLinux.bin in the terminal.
- This
will start the
installation of Google Earth. You will
be prompted to select a location for Google Earth to install.
Let the installer install Google Earth to the /opt/google-earth
folder. The installer will
also put a googleearth
shell script in /usr/local/bin
for command line
execution.
- Since
you must be root
anywhere else besides your /home folder you
won't accidentally erase the program.
- If
you prefer you can
put a launcher in your Applications--->Accessories menu by doing
the following:
- Right mouse click on your Applications menu and select
Edit Menus. This will launch the Menu Layout app.
- Select Accessories then New Item.
- Type the name in the Name area and enter this in the
Command area: /usr/local/bin/googleearth
- You can select an icon of you wish by clicking the Icon
button
and selecting the googleearth-icon.png from the /opt/googleearth folder.
- Click Close and it is done.
- Once
this is completed
you will have Google Earth properly installed and ready for use.
I hope this helped.