Can’t install third-party applications in Ubuntu 16.04? You are not alone…

Issues with third party .debs installers in Ubuntu 16.04?

Very many complaints that I cannot install new applications on Xenial Xerus. Among these applications are: Steam, Google Chrome, and Nylas N1.

Double-click on .the deb installer app opens as expected, but the “install” button is not working.

Sure, I had opened a bug report (link below) and it explains : “… applies only to third-party packages; install any deb. pack of packages.ubuntu.com/xenial works.”.

“It is unfortunate that this happened in a LTS release, thousands of users complain and resent.”

And it is not without reason.

Fixes for third-party .Deb files are already there

The good news is that this infuriating bug that’s fixed. In the next few days should arrive the update that poreshat all the problems.

It will correct work with a third party .deb packages and some other bugs:

• Support apt://urls
• Displays the version and size for uninstalled apps

Workaround

If you want/need third-party applications using .deb packages right now, then there are ways not to wait for the updates. You can use the GUI application, such as Gdebi or a good old update Ubuntu (if you have).

You can also dig deeper into the command prompt and install the application a proven way, using dpkg.

Say you download .a deb package. To install, open a terminal and go to the location of the race:

cd /Downloads

sudo dpkg-i awesome_new_app.deb

sudo apt-get-f install

You can follow the progress of bug fixing (but please refrain from commenting “and me too”).

See bug #1573206
Source: omgubuntu.ru

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