How do I install the google-talkplugin?

Starting in Ubuntu 11.10 multi-arch is used for applications that formerly used ia32-libs.

gtalk & Google plus are the same plugin. They are are comprised of a 64-bit plugin plus a 32-bit daemon - and use the deprecated ia32-libs, it will be up to Google to update their package at some point.

Under Ubuntu 11.10 amd64 users should continue to use the 64-bit .deb available from http://www.google.com/chat/video on amd64 systems, as the 32-bit .deb cannot be used without additional modifications to the system at this time.

Once downloaded the plugin can be installed by either:

1. Clicking open in the browser;
2. Open the file manger, navigate to ~/Downloads and double click on the google plugin deb file;

Either method will open the Software Center to complete the installation. If you receive a dependency error, make sure you have selected Universe in your software sources.

Here is a hacky way to handle this:

1. Download the 64-bit .deb from: http://www.google.com/tools/dlpage/res/talkvideo/hangouts/

2. Create a tmp dir:

   mkdir tmp
   

3. Extract the contents of the .deb to the tmp dir:

   dpkg-deb -x google-talkplugin_current_amd64.deb tmp
   

4. Extract the control files:

   dpkg-deb --control google-talkplugin_current_amd64.deb tmp/DEBIAN
   

5. Fix the dependency:

   sed -i "s/lib32v4l-0/libv4l-0/" tmp/DEBIAN/control
   

6. Repackage the .deb:

   dpkg -b tmp google-talkplugin_current_amd64-fixed.deb
   

7. Install the fixed version:

   sudo dpkg -i google-talkplugin_current_amd64-fixed.deb
   

8. Go to Google to fix their .deb file for 64-bit Oneiric: http://www.google.com/intl/en/+/learnmore/forum/

For ubuntu 14 - there seems to be a bug in the software center, so you'll need to download the file from google servers:

https://www.google.com/tools/dlpage/hangoutplugin

and then use the command line to install the .deb file. Browse to downloads folder:

cd ~/Downloads/

Install .deb file via command line:

sudo dpkg -i <google-talk-file.deb>