Install Picasa 3.8 in Ubuntu/Debian

Some of us still can't let go of the beauty and perfection of Picasa. Even with the wide array of photo managers available in Ubuntu and Linux, many still would like their beloved Picasa to handle all their photos, and here i'l show you how!!!.
Now Google does offer a linux version picasa, but in its primitive 3.0 form.
But using a little wine magic , common sense and copy past commands you can get Picasa 3.8 to run smooth and cool on your *nux box.

Picasa in its 3.0 avatar

Disclaimer

Features such as

• Xinerama support.
• Mozilla/Firefox browser integration done via a plugin.
• picasa:// urls work in Firefox 3.
• Camera/media detection integrated with Gnome/KDE.
• Downloading albums from Picasa Web Albums launches faster.

will be missing, but what the heck , lets ge4t down to business

Install Picasa 3.8 over Picasa 3.0 

After you follow all the instructions Picasa would be in 3.8 :)

 
Step 1: Add the wine repositories( we will be using the wine emulator to run the windows version of Picasa 3.6 almost flawlessly in ubuntu).

Maverick and Natty  users can skip this step as wine repository is already enabled in your systems.

 - Ubuntu Karmic and Lucid:
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sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa

- Ubuntu Jaunty, Intrepid and Hardy:
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echo "deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-wine/ppa/ubuntu $(lsb_release -sc) main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys F9CB8DB0

As gorgeous as ever

Step 2: Install WINE

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sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install wine

OR

Goto the Synaptic Package Manager->Select Wine->Install

Step 3: Add the Google Testing PPA
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sudo sh -c "echo 'deb http://dl.google.com/linux/deb/ testing non-free' >> /etc/apt/sources.list" sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 7FAC5991

OR

Download the Picasa 3.0 from 

http://dl.google.com/linux/deb/pool/non-free/p/picasa/picasa_3.0-current_i386.deb for 32 bit intels or http://dl.google.com/linux/deb/pool/non-free/p/picasa/picasa_3.0-current_amd64.deb for 64 bit AMD's

Same old Picasa

Step 4: Install Picasa 3.0
If you added the Google Testing PPA: 
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sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install picasa

If you downloaded the "deb" file:

Install that "deb"  file by double clicking on it 

OR

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sudo dpkg -i  picasa*.deb

 

Even these complex features work smoothly

Step 5: Download and install Picasa 3.8 for Windows
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cd ~/Desktop && wget http://dl.google.com/picasa/picasa38-setup.exe

and

chmod +x ~/Desktop/picasa38-setup.exe 

this piece of code makes the "exe" actually "executable" in a linux system.

Now double click the picasa38-setup.exe file  and install Picasa 3.8 with the default settings.

Step 6: Now simply copy the Picasa 3.8 files over 3.0 using the following code:

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sudo cp -r ~/.wine/drive_c/Program\ Files/Google/Picasa3/* /opt/google/picasa/3.0/wine/drive_c/Program\ Files/Google/Picasa3/

Run Picasa 3.8 from Applications > Graphics > Picasa > Picasa and Enjoy!!!