I'm running Ubuntu 18.04.
I first downloaded (and installed) a Debian image of Skype from skype.com. But because that installation wasn't working, I downloaded an alternative version through the "Ubuntu Software" app, which ended up working just fine.
Now I want to remove the first, non-working version, but it seems to be caught in a weird state. The removal command seems to run to successful completion:
> sudo dpkg --remove skype:i386
(Reading database ... 170025 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing skype:i386 (4.3.0.37-1) ...
Processing triggers for gnome-menus (3.13.3-11ubuntu1.1) ...
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils (0.23-1ubuntu3.18.04.1) ...
Processing triggers for mime-support (3.60ubuntu1) ...
Processing triggers for hicolor-icon-theme (0.17-2) ...
...but:
- the app still shows up in the list of installed applications when I click "Show Applications"
- the listing in "Show Applications" appears without an icon
- selecting the listing from "Show Applications" doesn't launch anything (nor present any sort of error prompt)
How can I remove this zombie entry? Where is the registry that drives "Show Applications"?
UPDATE 1
Per @GabrielaGarcia's suggestion, the results of running sudo dpkg -P <filename> are below. For some reason the I couldn't use auto-complete to fill in the filename. When I type "s" and then tab for the autocomplete, it actually just writes out "skype" (as opposed to the filename), but there is no Skype installed on my system at the moment.
homerman@~/Downloads> ls -l
total 1050536
drwxr-xr-x 2 homerman homerman 4096 Nov 11 19:56 ./
drwxr-xr-x 23 homerman homerman 4096 Nov 11 21:04 ../
-rw-rw-r-- 1 homerman homerman 20112698 Nov 11 16:11 skype-ubuntu-precise_4.3.0.37-1_i386.deb
homerman@~/Downloads> sudo dpkg -P skype-ubuntu-precise_4.3.0.37-1_i386.deb
dpkg: error: you must specify packages by their own names, not by quoting the names of the files they come in
Type dpkg --help for help about installing and deinstalling packages [*];
Use 'apt' or 'aptitude' for user-friendly package management;
Type dpkg -Dhelp for a list of dpkg debug flag values;
Type dpkg --force-help for a list of forcing options;
Type dpkg-deb --help for help about manipulating *.deb files;
Options marked [*] produce a lot of output - pipe it through 'less' or 'more' !
UPDATE 2
I've determined the package name for this archive is skype:i386. Below are the results of trying to run the dpkg commands to remove and purge - the system doesn't recognize this as an installed application.
homerman@~/Downloads$ sudo dpkg -r skype:i386
dpkg: warning: ignoring request to remove skype:i386 which isn't installed
homerman@~/Downloads$ sudo dpkg --purge skype:i386
dpkg: warning: ignoring request to remove skype:i386 which isn't installed
