GoogleEarth now working for me

[GreyGeek]

I installed GoogleEarth back in January and it ran until an update removed it a month ago. I hadn't been able to install GoogleEarth (ia32lib requirements) since, even though Skype installed and runs well.

This afternoon I tried the googleearth package in the repository again. No icon appeared in the menu and trying to run it from a console failed. I did
locate bin/google
in a Konsole and didn't find an executable. So, I ran Muon and read the installed file sections of the "googleearth package". It showed make-googleearth-package as the binary. I opened a Konsole and ran it using sudo. Lo and behold, it built a googleearth deb package. I installed it with dpkg -i and GoogleEarth installed fine and runs great. In fact, it is VERY fast, much faster than it was before.

[SteveRiley]

That's even more convoluted than flashplugin-installer! This:

1. downloads and installs a package
2. extracts the package, which puts a shell script in /usr/bin
3. runs that shell script, which:
4. downloads a binary image
5. creates files with XDG menu entries and MIME types and icons
6. wraps those up with an installer script into a .deb file
7. poops out the .deb file that you then have to manually install

Sheesh!

[GreyGeek]

Exactly!
Have you installed it or was that just a quick study?
Anyway, your description is better than mine!

[SteveRiley]

I downloaded (but didn't install) the packge, opened it up in Ark, and read the script. TBH, it looks like the route Google took to get Earth into the repositories using this method is more complicated than just creating a normal installable .deb -- I don't get it.

[GreyGeek]

I don't either. The package "used" to be installable from the repository, IIRC, so I don't know what proprietary secrets they are trying to keep. All the graphical data is on their severs anyway, and my resolution won't increase if I don't purchase their pro package.

[GreyGeek]

GoogleEarth is playing cat&mouse with me!

I've been using GoogleEarth since I installed it on the 19th. It ran OK yesterday.

Today, I wanted to run it but I couldn't find it! This was right after I did an apt-get update & upgrade.

The upgrade went without errors or warnings, but apparently it also silently removed Google Earth!

I re-ran the "make-googleearth-package" and it dutifully reinstalled GoogleEarth, which ran well and lightening fast.

Out of curiosity I ran "sudo apt-get autoremove -s" and "ldd /usr/lib/googleearth/googleearth-bin"
Here is what it returned:

$ sudo apt-get autoremove -s
[sudo] password for jerry: 
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
You might want to run 'apt-get -f install' to correct these.
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 googleearth : Depends: libfreeimage3 but it is not installed
               Depends: ia32-libs-gtk
E: Unmet dependencies. Try using -f.



$ ldd /usr/lib/googleearth/googleearth-bin 
.....
        libgoogleearth_free.so => not found
....
        libcurl.so.4 => not found
....
        libQtWebKit.so.4 => not found
$

ia32-libs-gtk isn't in the repository, AND, it is the wrong architecture. The ia32-libs(multiarch) won't install.
libgoogleearth_free.so isn't in the repository, but I didn't expect it to be.
libcurl.so.4 is not in the repository but libcurl3 is.
libQtWebKit.so.4 is not in the respository but libQtWebKit.so.4.9 is., I could make a link from the so.4.9 to so.4 but I don't want to do that.

Even though, during install, GoogleEarth claims it has "unmet dependencies" and doesn't appear to complete the install, it does install and it runs very well, or, at least the parts I use run very well.

So, if you are on a 64bit system and install GoogleEarth by running the "make-googleearth-package" expect it to be removed because of unmet dependencies with every update.
Fortunately, the deb package that was made with "make-googleearth-package" isn't deleted and can be used to reinstall GoogleEarth if it gets deleted during an update.

[SteveRiley]

I bet if Google would just follow normal .deb packaging guidelines, they wouldn't be thrusting these goofy problems onto their users.

[GreyGeek]

IIRC, it used to be that GoogleEarth was installed from the repository. They are using Qt. I don't know why they keep their panties in a wad about it being in the repository.

But, a nice side effect of compiling GE for my 64bit box is that it runs like lightening! In fact, I've never had it run so fast as it is running now.

[GreyGeek]

Two updates came in today. The first one removed GoogleEarth, as I suspected it would.
I re-installed GE from the deb package I made on the 19th using "make-googleearth-package".

A few minutes ago the update icon appeared. I opened the update manage and a dialog appeared saying additional packages needed to be installed. I opened that up and noticed that ia32-lib was among those listed. That's one of the requirements to install the GoogleEarth 64bit Debian package offered at GoogleEarth's webpage.

I installed the updates and sure enough, my GoogleEarth was removed.

I used GDbi to install Google's deb package and for the first time since early Feburary it installed without problems. Runs fast, too!

[SteveRiley]

Google Earth really doesn't want to stay on your computer, does it? Next time you'll come here and tell us that Google Earth spontaneously uninstalled when you got up to pour yourself another glass of wine.

[GreyGeek]

My limit is a glass of White Wine once or twice every five years.

But, I don't need any help from Wine to "inadvertently" remove a package!

[SteveRiley]

My limit is a glass of White Wine once or twice every five years.

Too busy hammering down that homemade Nebraska hooch, eh?

[GreyGeek]

LOL!!

It shows in my writing?