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Whenever I try to install any software from ubuntu software centre, I receive a message saying "cannot do that"enter image description here

click on the above link to see the image that I get

When I choose to download it from terminal it says:

E: Unable to parse package file /var/lib/apt/lists/ppa.launchpad.net_snwh_pulp_ubuntu_dists_xenial_InRelease (1)
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.

What do I suppose to do and first of all please tell me why this error is occurring?

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2 Answers 2

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Run this command in terminal

sudo rm -r /var/lib/apt/lists/*

And Then

sudo apt update 

I think your /var/lib/apt/lists/ files are corrupted So You Can delete them to regenerate them.

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  • when i entered your first command it says: unable to resolve, and further rm: cannot remove '/var/lib/apt/lists/*': No such file or directory. what to do? Sep 19, 2017 at 13:05
  • ok.Then Manually delete all files in /var/lib/apt/lists and then do sudo apt update
    – user690429
    Sep 19, 2017 at 17:35
  • That actually worked for me on Ubuntu 17.04!
    – opu 웃
    Nov 27, 2017 at 14:32
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This error is usually caused by trying to install software that is packaged as a "classic snap" rather than a normal snap or a deb package. Classic snaps cannot be installed using the Ubuntu Software application due to the way they are packaged (why they even show up in Ubuntu Software is a mystery to me). You can install them using the snap command-line tool. First, search for the app (i.e. for slack):

snap search slack

The notes column will say classic for classic snaps. These are the kind that must be installed using the command line:

sudo snap install slack

this will warn you about the security risks of a classic snap and advise you to append --classic if you understand them:

sudo snap install slack --classic

Sources:

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