How-to Install Google Earth 5 on Ubuntu

How-to Install Google Earth 5 on Ubuntu | Tombuntu
(I used this how-to on FoxU, HL 20100109)

Google Earth puts the world's geographic information at your fingertips. There's a native Linux port of the latest version, Google Earth 5.

Here's how you can easily install Google Earth on Ubuntu.

Install Google Earth

1. Download and save the Google Earth installer for Linux.
2. The file you downloaded should be called GoogleEarthLinux.bin. Find this file, right mouse click on it and select Open with Other Application.
3. Click to expand the Use a custom command section of the Open With dialog. Type sh, and click Open.
4. The Google Earth installer will decompress itself, and in a few seconds the Google Earth Setup window should open. The default options should be fine, so click Begin Install to continue.
5. Once the installation is finished, click Quit to close the installer, and press return to close the terminal that the installer opened. Start Google Earth from the Applications->Internet->Google Earth menu.

Troubleshooting
If Google Earth opens, shows the splash screen, and then crashes, you're probably experiencing a common issue. Running ~/google-earth/googleearth in a terminal will show this error:
./googleearth-bin: relocation error: /usr/lib/i686/cmov/libssl.so.0.9.8: symbol BIO_test_flags, version OPENSSL_0.9.8 not defined in file libcrypto.so.0.9.8 with link time reference

To fix this, browse to the folder you installed Google Earth into. By default this will be google-earth in your home folder. Find the file libcrypto.so.0.9.8 and rename it to something else, like libcrypto.so.0.9.8.bak. Google Earth should now start correctly. [related bug report]

Add Shortcut To Your Home Directory On Ubuntu GNOME Panel

Add Shortcut To Your Home Directory On Ubuntu GNOME Panel

(There is a far easier way to do this. Click Places, then drag & drop "Home Folder" to the panel.)

To add the shortcut in Ubuntu to the panel, right click anywhere on the Panel and click on Add to Panel…

In the Add to Panel window, click on Custom Application Launcher

In the Create Launcher window, select and enter the following information shown in the screen shot below, and substitute the path to your Home directory in the Command: field in the following syntax:

nautilus /home/yourusername (path to home directory is case sensitive)

Clicking the Browse… will allow you to select any icon that will be displayed on the Panel.

Click OK and then close the Add to Panel window. You should now have an icon on the Panel, and with one click your Home directory will open.

If you want, you can add shortcuts to other directories that you access frequently using the nautilus command.