What does "/etc/apt/sources.list" mean, and how do I edit it in Ubuntu 9.04?

Question

I have Ubuntu 9.04 on my PS3 and I'm trying to upgrade VLC player so it actually works. I have to install v. 1.0.0 apparently and in the directions on how to upgrade on

(http://www.ubuntugeek.com/howto-install-vlc-media-player-1-0-0-in-ubuntu.html)

it says I have to edit this "/etc/apt/sources.list" with "gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list", then add "deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/c-korn/vlc/ubuntu jaunty main". Then there's a bunch of other stuff I have to do. No idea what any of this means. Can anyone help?

Answer 1

Open a Terminal and submit the following command



sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list



This will take you in to the list of repositories. Scroll down to the bottom and add



deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/c-korn/vlc/ubuntu jaunty main



After you have done this click Save in the top left hand corner and close



Back in the Terminal



sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com 7613768D



sudo apt-get update



sudo apt-get install vlc mozilla-plugin-vlc



Close the Terminal



Thats it



Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) User Guide

http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu:Jaunty





LUg.

Answer 2

The / means that it is a directory.



/ is the "root" of the Linux filesystem. It is the root folder in which all other folders are contained.



So, /etc is a folder or directory in the root of your drive. Further, /etc/apt/ is a folder within /etc.



In that folder is a file called sources.lst. This is the file you must edit.



In the main menu go to Applications --> Accessories and click Terminal.

Type "gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list" (without the quotes).



This will ask for your password. The gksudo means that Ubuntu will open a window to ask for a password that will allow you administrative privileges to edit the file.



When the editor is open, choose Save As.. and save the file as sources.lst_bak so that you have a backup just in case.



Then go to the end of the file and paste the deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/c-korn/vlc/ubun… jaunty main line.



Save the file as sources.lst and close the editor (gedit).



Now in the terminal type "sudo apt-get update" (no quotes in terminal).



This will update the list of repositories you can access and add the repository you just added to the sources.lst.



Now follow the rest of the instructions.



Also, you can go to System--> Administration--> Synaptics and use that graphical application to add sources and install applications.

Answer 3

Well, the instructions are all there. The sources.list file is a text file that contains a list of all the possible repositories that you want to download apps from. It's located in the /etc/apt/ directory.

gedit is a simple text editing application that could be used to edit the sources.list file.

Since you need administrative privileges to edit the file, using the gksudo command elevates you to root permissions.



So, executing the command gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list will open sources.list in gedit with root privileges.



Once viewing the file, you'll see there's a certain format to it, and the line of code that you have (deb http://... jaunty main) will go in the file. It should be obvious where to put it, since there will be many similar lines of text with exactly the same format. Just put it at the end of the list.