Want to install and use Google Sketchup on Ubuntu 13.04 Raring? Well, this simple tutorial will show you how to do it. With the help of Wine software, you can install and use Windows software easily in Ubuntu.

Wine is a compatibility layer capable of running Windows applications on several POSIX-compliant operating systems, including Ubuntu Linux. It’s free and open-source software. Wine now is getting a lot better at handling Windows software on Linux systems.

To get started with installing Sketchup 2013 in Ubuntu, download the lastest version of wine. To do that, press Ctrl + Alt + T on your keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run the commands below to add its PPA.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa

Then run below command to update package lists and install wine1.5 (Now the latest wine1.7 is recommended):

sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install wine1.5

Once wine is installed, run below command to configure it so that Sketchup could be installed. You may need to log out and log back:

winecfg

Next, navigate to Libraries tab, then select ‘Riched20’ library from the drop-down list and add it. When done, click OK

Download Google Sketchup from http://sketchup.google.com/intl/en/download/gsu.html. Then navigate to the Downloads folder and right-click on the EXE to ‘Open with Wine Windows Program Loader’.

Follow the setup wizard and finally you’ll get the shortcut on the desktop and Unity dash.

That’s it. Enjoy!

UPDATE: If Sketchup hangs after choosing a template, try launching it with /DisableRubyAPI as a workaround. Or read the new post about install Sketchup 2014 in Ubuntu 14.04.