Ok, here's what you can do. We'll try and install both the programs through the command line because that way, we'll be able to see more information on what exactly is happening. Before we start, make sure that you are connected to the internet. Then, follow the bellow steps:
Step 1
Hit Ctrl+Alt+T. This will open up a window, called a terminal. In this window, first, type the following:
sudo apt-get update
Enter your password when asked for it. This will then start showing lots of lines. This simply updates your "sources", so that when you install a program, you can do it seemlessly.
Step 2
Next, type the following:
sudo apt-get install audacity
You should get something like the following:
alaa@aa-UBUNTU:~$ sudo apt-get install audacity
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following extra packages will be installed:
audacity-data libflac++6 libid3tag0 libportsmf0 libsbsms10 libsoundtouch0 libsoxr0 libvamp-hostsdk3
Suggested packages:
ladspa-plugin
The following NEW packages will be installed:
audacity audacity-data libflac++6 libid3tag0 libportsmf0 libsbsms10 libsoundtouch0 libsoxr0 libvamp-hostsdk3
0 upgraded, 9 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 5,936 kB of archives.
After this operation, 16.8 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]?
If you do get this, simply type y and hit enter. This will start downloading and installing Audacity. When it's done, simply search for Audacity in your programs and you'll find it there. If you did not get something similar to the above, or if something happened when you ran the sudo apt-get update command I gave you earlier, edit your message to include the error.
If everything went smoothly with you and Audacity installed correctly, you can do the same thing for VLC; you'd install it by typying:
sudo apt-get install vlc
EDIT
From the comments, it seems that your sources.list file is corrupted. Follow the following instructions:
In a terminal, type the following command:
gksu gedit /etc/apt/sources.list
Enter your password when prompted (the new one). This will open up a text editor like notepad, with some text inside it. Delete all the text inside, and copy all of the following to it:
# See http://help.ubuntu.com/community/UpgradeNotes for how to upgrade to
# newer versions of the distribution.
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ raring main restricted
deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ raring main restricted
## Major bug fix updates produced after the final release of the
## distribution.
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ raring-updates main restricted
deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ raring-updates main restricted
## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team. Also, please note that software in universe WILL NOT receive any
## review or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ raring universe
deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ raring universe
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ raring-updates universe
deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ raring-updates universe
## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to
## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in
## multiverse WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu
## security team.
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ raring multiverse
deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ raring multiverse
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ raring-updates multiverse
deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ raring-updates multiverse
## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from the 'backports'
## repository.
## N.B. software from this repository may not have been tested as
## extensively as that contained in the main release, although it includes
## newer versions of some applications which may provide useful features.
## Also, please note that software in backports WILL NOT receive any review
## or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ raring-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ raring-backports main restricted universe multiverse
## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical's
## 'partner' repository. This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is
## offered by Canonical and the respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu
## users.
deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu raring partner
deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu raring partner
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu raring-security main restricted
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu raring-security main restricted
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu raring-security universe
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu raring-security universe
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu raring-security multiverse
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu raring-security multiverse
Hit Ctrl+S to save the file, and then close this window. This will take you back to the terminal. Now, follow the steps in my original answer (Step 1 and Step 2).
[sudo] password for faiyaz:, type your password. You won't see anything when you type it, you won't see **** for example, just type the password and hit enter. If it's not working, try changing your password. To do that, enter in the commandpasswdin the terminal. It will ask for the current password, then ask you for the new password. Once you set a new password, go through the steps in my answer again with this new password. – Alaa Ali May 13 '13 at 06:15404 Not Found faiyaz@faiyaz-OptiPlex-GX620:~$ sudo apt-get install audacity Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done E: Unable to locate package audacity – Faiyaz May 14 '13 at 02:36