To install
Go to http://www.ccdc.cam.ac.uk/SupportandResources/Downloads/pages/ProtectedDownloadProductList.aspx and click on Mercury. It'll take you to a license agreement page, Click accept to continue. Note that it won't work if you are blocking cookies.
Download Mecury 3.1 for Linux, and the 3.1.1 patch for linux. I'll presume that you downloaded the files to ~/Downloads.
cd ~/Downloads chmod +x mercurystandalone-3.1-linux-installer.run ./mercurystandalone-3.1-linux-installer.run
Finally, create a file called
~/.local/share/applications/mercury.desktop
Update to 3.1.1[Desktop Entry] Name=Mercury GenericName=CCDC Mercury Comment=Visualization of crystal structures Exec=/home/verahill/.Mercury_3.1/bin/mercury Icon=/home/verahill/.Mercury_3.1/icons/mercury_48x48.png Terminal=false Type=Application Categories=Science Version=3.1
cd ~/Downloads chmod +x csdsystempatch-5.34.2-linux-installer.run ./csdsystempatch-5.34.2-linux-installer.run
And you are done! Note that you will want to have working OpenGL for this to look ok.