dpkg: error: parsing file '/var/lib/dpkg/available' near line 0

Question

Been trying to install git-core package for almost more than half a day now. Everytime i do, I get this error:

dpkg: error: parsing file '/var/lib/dpkg/available' near line 0:
newline in field name `../../../../../share/pyshared/UpdateManager/Core/__init__.py'

I've also tried running sudo apt-get update and sudo apt-get install --fix-missing. Even tried rebooting and cleaning the apt-get cache, still doesnt work.

Answer 1

The problem is that your /var/lib/dpkg/available file is damaged.

This is not necessarily related to the git or git-core packages. Try to install any other package and they will fail too.

To fix this you have to delete/clear the file using the command:

sudo dpkg --clear-avail

then rebuild the file using the command:

sudo apt-get update

Now you should be able to install git and git-core.