In what doesn't seem like a wise decision for all users, Canonical decided to remove the (slow) Ubuntu Software Center to make way for GNOMEsoftware as the default package manager for Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus). Later, Canonical changed the name to Ubuntu Software to make things easier for new users. The problem is that there was a bug preventing .deb packages from being installed third-party from GNOME Software (or Ubuntu Software).
An LTS version like Ubuntu 16.04 would not have to come up with this type of problem for two reasons: because Ubuntu is one of the most used GNU / Linux operating systems in the world and because it is a version Long Term Support which is more important than the versions that are released every six months. The problem is that the first thing many users do as soon as they install a system is to look for the .deb packages of the applications they used the most and install them, something they could not do in Ubuntu 16.04 for the mentioned error.
A patch arrives for GNOME Software that fixes the problem
In these two weeks of life that Ubuntu 16.04 LTS has, if you wanted to install a third-party .deb package you could install it from the terminal (with the command sudo dpkg -i packagename.deb) or using other types of package managers, such as Gdebi which comes installed on Ubuntu MATE (and which is why I hadn't experienced this problem).
Admittedly, it is surprising that Canonical has released a new LTS version of Ubuntu with a bug like this and it took a week to correct the problem. But the good thing is that the wait is over and the new version is already in the official Ubuntu repositories. To install it, just run the "Software Update" application or open a terminal and use the command sudo apt update (yes, you can without "-get").
Have you been experiencing the GNOME Software issue preventing third-party .deb packages from being installed?
I did not know that this bug was official, at the time it made me lose my mind and it is what has decided me to use kubuntu in version 16.04.
I returned to version 14.04 since I could not resist that failure that even using sudo dpkg -i some packages could not install them, now that I know that they have fixed the error, you can go to Chingada the Ubuntu ones, I will install on 16.04 when 16.04.1 comes out
In addition, the new software center is missing many packages, which even being in the repositories do not appear.
Very true, maybe that's what bothers me the most, since third-party packages are rarer to install
Is there no option to show all packages? In the style of «See technical elements» from the old Software Center.
Greetings.
Of terror Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, failure after failure ran me and I returned to Ubuntu 14.04.3 because 14.04.4 also has problems with some libraries that are not presented in the .3.
And as a commentator of this thread writes… the Canónical people wash their feet with 16.04, I'll wait for .1 and see how it goes….
HORROR!! Each new version they release is worse than the previous one, what happens to the canonical ones? Not only do they not improve, but they get worse ……… ..the very serious "bug" of not being able to install third-party packages when that is what we do all makes you install and discourage it faster to put a previous version that supports your applications. deny a little more with this 16.04 and later, if I cannot solve the problems that affect me, I will unfortunately migrate to another distribution that is still serious ………
Again….
I regret to inform you that the "bug fix" announced here does not work on any of the 6 (six) machines on which I have tested it …… ..
sudo apt-get install software center
… And then they install all the applications from the old software center,
it also works by installing the lubuntu software center
the lubuntu installer is in the new software installer
Confirmed FAIL as a fairground shotgun. Third-party packages still cannot be installed by default.
I'm barely surviving with dpkg -i.
I found the temporary solution, install the ubuntu software center from that manager and then install it with the old ubuntu software center, I think it can also be done with the lubuntu software center. I am installing the intel drivers following this tutorial.
https://allanbogh.com/2016/01/05/ubuntu-16-04-installing-the-intel-graphics-drivers-using-the-intel-graphics-installer-for-linux/