i'm also experiencing the same problem. i'm running slackware with a linux 2.6 kernel, my video card is an onboard intel 855 gm. i installed the linux version of google earth, but when i try to run it, it hangs at the "initializing screen" my cpu, ram, and swap usage shoot up to 100% and i have to kill it. i haven't gotten any errors or anything either.

the last few lines of strace before ge hangs are:
Code:

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futex(0x8158624, FUTEX_WAKE, 1)         = 0
futex(0x8158624, FUTEX_WAKE, 1)         = 0
futex(0x8158624, FUTEX_WAKE, 1)         = 0
futex(0x8158624, FUTEX_WAKE, 1)         = 0
futex(0x8158624, FUTEX_WAKE, 1)         = 0
futex(0x8158624, FUTEX_WAKE, 1)         = 0
write(3, "+\1\1\0", 4)                  = 4
read(3, "\1\1`\23\0\0\0\0\3\0`\1\0\0\0\0\1\0\0\0\22\0\0\0\310&\233"..., 32) = 32

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to me it looks like ge is having a problem reading something, since it hangs right after that read.