I followed this process installing Laravel 5 on my Linux Mint(Ubuntu-based distro): (I have written full steps to help anyone who needed simple steps.)
// download composer
curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | php
// moved it to user folder
sudo mv composer.phar /usr/local/bin/composer
// download the Laravel installer using Composer
composer global require "laravel/installer=~1.1"
// add laravel installer to PATH
export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.composer/vendor/bin"
// create folder for laravel
mkdir /home/badar/websites/laravel
// create a new project
laravel new blog
