The obvious answer to you question as stated would be "apt-get install svn". But in actuality, it's pretty plain that what your
really want isn't
a Subversion client, you want a
Desktop GUI Subversion client. There may actually be a TortoiseSVN version for Linux, though. I'm not sure.
I use Eclipse with a plugin from tigris.org, so I get my graphical SVN interface as part of the
IDE. You might check the tigris website and see if they have something suitable for general desktop use.
However, getting checksum errors on your repository isn't a problem that a better client is likely to fix. Either you've mangled the repository or your disk drive is about to blow out. I recommend running a disk-test utility such as badblks. And force an fsck for good measure.
The secret of how to be miserable is to constantly expect things are going to happen the way that they are "supposed" to happen.
You can have faith, which carries the understanding that you may be disappointed. Then there's being a willfully-blind idiot, which virtually guarantees it.