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Google Earth v4 Released - Linux Support at Last
chrisd writes "We're very happy to announce that the a new version of Google Earth has been released. It features 3D textured buildings, some neat UI updates, better internationalization and, with this release, a native Linux version is available for download as well. The Google Earth team (with the help of Ryan Gordon) worked very hard to make this possible. Please see the Earth support site and check out the BBS for more information."
For finally making a Linux version. Downloading it right now...
Also today - Google's free version of Sketchup for the Mac is available: Download here
More info on Sketchup - it's basically a super-intuitive CAD program for quickly getting 3D ideas down on paper.
HIV Crosses Species Barrier... into Muppets
Did anyone follow the link over there to Google SketchUp? I am amazed that this program hasn't gotten any publicity. Some details from the site:
"SketchUp is a simple but powerful tool for quickly and easily creating, viewing and modifying your 3D ideas.
* Click on a shape and push or pull it to create your desired 3D geometry.
* Experiment with color and texture directly on your model.
* Real-time shadow casting lets you see exactly where the sun falls as you model.
* Select from thousands of pre-drawn components to save time drawing.
And once you've built your models, you can place them in Google Earth, post them to the 3D Warehouse, or print hard copies. Google SketchUp is free for personal use. No registration is required."
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
IF you go to this WindWindCentral page, you'll learn that Google Earth's open source competitor is readying Linux and Mac versions of NASA World Wind. You can learn a lot about WW here and a lot about GE here.
"NASA is currently making plans for World Wind 1.5. This version will be available for multiple platforms, including Windows, Linux and the Macintosh."
Animoog.org
If you never go outside, it can show you what the world looks like.
For the rest of us, take a GPS datalogger when boating, biking, driving, etc. Then import the data into Google Earth to have a satellite image with your trek pre-drawn on it.
Actually it can be done, i did it some time ago but the peculiar behaviour of the actual viewing portal and the toolbars made it pretty cumbersome, http://appdb.winehq.org/appview.php?versionId=3254 had some tips.
Still, i'm very pleased that google have chosen to put the time and effort they have into their recent linux ports, this will be far more useful... ok, maybe just fun then, than picasa.
Software Freedom Day!.
When run "sudo GoogleEarth . . . " it creates a directory in /usr/local/google-earth. That directory is chock full of .so files, not .DLL files. Also Icculus (Ryan Gordon) is "not a big fan of wine". Ryan and most of the folks who hang their hats at icculus.org are former employees or had connections to Loki Software, a company that made NATIVE PORTS of games.
One other chap who worked at Loki then moved on to Epic Software and brought us NATIVE ports of UT2003 and UT2004.
It's definitely native.
Thanks to Gordon and I hope you had fun working with the folks at Google.
This is indeed a great day, google earth was the only app I ever used on my laptop under Windows.
Yeah, it's not perfect yet, read the forums, play around with it, tweek it and it'll go.
(I COULD be wrong, of course, but icculus is a fairly major native Linux porter, so I'd doubt that he'd be working on a wine port.)
Yes, you're missing something. But a lot of people are, believe me ;-)
There are 4 versions of Google Earth. Most people know about the free version only. The other Google Earth versions gives you way more features, including GIS-like features.
Animoog.org
Wow... the percentage of my country covered by the highres aerial photos has gone up massivly. This *really* adds to the usefulness of it. -Qyiet
Ok, so now we've got Ubuntu Dapper Drake 6.06 (among other excellent distros), FireFox, Thunderbird, and now Picasa and Google Earth. In the foreseeable future we'll have an OpenOffice suite that runs a little faster and we'll have a legitimate iTunes competitor, Songbird.
:-)
Things are looking up for the Linux desktop, and for best-in-class software that runs on it. It's an exciting time to be a Linux fan, no?
Chris
Co-Editor, Open Sources
Open Source Program Manager, Google, Inc.
This would mean you're not running it under KDE then. In this case, try running `qtconfig` first and play with the settings, you might be able to get a slightly better look.
This will work, but you need to also make sure to undo the LD_LIBRARY_PATH damage that the googleearth script does so that the system Qt is found.
/branches/qt/3.3) appears to run Google Earth just fine.
Or, you can rename the libqt-mt and libqui.so in the googleearth directory. Do *not* remove these files: I have heard that the system Qt crashes Google Earth for some other KDE developers. On the other hand, qt-copy (from the KDE SVN repository,
Regards,
- Michael Pyne
I'm curious to see if Earth is native.
It is, I just downloaded it and it installs and runs beautifully without any Wine (even checked for them hiding it with ps).
Hi all,
/usr/local/google-earth /usr/local/bin, but does not say which command (googleearth) /etc/X11/xorg.conf
- This seems to be a binary package only, which uses a few common libraries beneath it
- Installs without a hitch on my system, defaults to
- Runs very smooth in Ubuntu 6.06 AMD 64 bit with nvidia driver, but it seems to need root permissions to start (installed with sudo on the 'binary' installer)
- No real desktop integration yet (at least with Gnome)
- Asks to install symlink in
- Probably not a good idea to run with nv driver in X, chech your
- Comes with nice Icon that works in Gnome in root of installation folder
Oh, I got a rather new 3GHz AMD 64/1 Gig, budget (fanless) videocard and 6 Mbit download. Not top of the bill, but quite nice anyway, your experiences may differ.
Unfortunately, it does not seem to be open source. A bit of a shame, the real work is in the infrastructure and obtaining the maps anyway.
Yes it's native. Google Earth was originally coded using the QT(opia) library so no WINE stuff was needed.
I've installed it and it runs amazingly smooth and looks great.
"I filter at +6, and have yet to miss out on an important comment." (#822545)
It uses Qt. Gives it that nice cross-platform property. Additionally Picasa was ported to linux using wine-libs not necessarily wine the program itself. The Linux Picasa does have some native dependencies such as libgphoto for direct access to cameras, and it integrates into your notification area in Gnome (and I believe KDE also [untested for me]). Also, they committed over 200 patches to the wine codebase which is great. Furtheremore, thank you Google!!! It works great on Gentoo with ATI 9600. I requested it a long time ago, and it was a long time coming but it works and looks great. googlegoodwill++
Occam's razor is the blind faith in the natural selection of least resistance and in universal oversimplification. -- EF
OK, first things first. I am serving in the Army as an enlisted Military Policeman. Currently stationed at Fort Hood in the 1st Cavalry Division, I came back from a 1 year tour in Iraq in early/mid 2005. In Baghdad the military is using a "new" tool (that DARPA has been working on for a number of years) that easily allows collaborative efforts and battle tracking. (I just googled for it, and the name is out in the open with a nice description of it on defense-update.com ... so it _appears_ that I am not "talking out of school" here.)
Anyway, last year around April/May the Cav returns back to the states, we get a little down time, turn most of our trucks and tanks to be "Reset" (rebuilt/refurbished/updated) ... and catch a nice little breather when Katrina hits. The 82nd Airborne gets to New Orleans first (after the National Guard and reserves) and then the Cav.
Being an enlisted Military Policeman gave me a unique perspective to what was going on... and more importantly what was NOT going on. When I worked in Baghdad my job was to coordinate efforts between the Coalition Forces and the Iraqi Police. We tracked what the Iraqi Police were seeing on the Streets and what the military was seeing on the streets and tried to keep everybody on the same page.
Low and behold when I get to New Orleans I discover that I have the PERFECT skill set for this disaster. Military and Law Enforcement experience, VERY knowledgeable on how to push and pull information to and from everybody who needs it, dealing with ALL flavors of law enforcement and coordinating efforts on the fly.
One problem. I don't have a tool to put the coordination together. However, most places (hospitals, Police Stations, FBI, DEA, NYFD, Customs, and the FEMA coordination centers) all have Internet access. Guess what. We have the perfect tool... Google Earth.
Google had recently worked there ASSES off putting current and updated flood information into Google Earth, you could pull up where downed power lines and flooded roads were at, you could transpose the "pre flood" and the "post flood" images, and the downtown area even had 3D models of the buildings.
Oh, and IT WAS FREE... and easy to use... And you can EASILY share information between other people. I put an icon in my Google Earth .KML describing a dead body that needs to be picked up and the proper agencies (who are "subscribed" to my .KML) see that information in SECONDS (or minutes at the latest). There were a limited number of people there who could legally move bodies according to LA law so it was a constant effort to get them to where they needed to be.
You add a VOIP aspect to it and POOF! Instant command and control for the different agencies. It is nigh-impossible to crash google's servers and as long as you had power (which was rapidly becoming a NON issue) and Internet access (same thing) you were able to talk and coordinate your efforts.
The beauty of the system is that as long as each agency updates their little piece of the pie everybody can see and use that data... Even if they don't update it, there was so much overlap that someone would see and report an incident.
One other problem. We are dealing with the CIVILIAN government and FEMA here. They have a major case of "It wasn't grown here"-itis. Everybody I showed it to was amazed and astounded with how easy and efficient it was... and the power of collaboration was something completely new and foreign to almost EVERYBODY involved... except for the 1st Cav. FEMA seems hell bent to spend MILLIONS of dollars setting up a command and control center that only talked to itself... AMAZING. I showed their tech people and some higher ups what Google Earth could bring to the plate and they were impressed. The tech types were ready and willing to embrace the tool, but hesitant because t