Synaptic has an error how would i fix it
 

E: Malformed line 39 in source list /etc/apt/sources.list (dist)
E: The list of sources could not be read.
Go to the repository dialog to correct the problem.
E: Malformed line 39 in source list /etc/apt/sources.list (dist)
E: Unable to lock the list directory


Thats what synaptic gives me when i try to reload. i cant get any more programs.......please help me. thanks

"... how would i fix it"

I assume from the rest of your post you mean "get around" rather than "repair", is in rewrite the source code.

I don't use synaptic because I can't read its output -- gray on black & ~5 pt type. I would consider using KPackage if you can adjust to the interface differences.

Other options include aptitude, w/ "TUI" or "GCLI"; & apt-get itself. apt-get in an X-term is quite easy to use.

Or someone may know what is going wrong w/ synaptic for you, sorry I don't.

Thanks, but i think Kpackage is only for KDE desktops, and the distro i use is Ubuntu, which only has Gnome. So i probably will need to fix it. I know very very little terminal. or syntax (i thinK) as the language is called. Thanks for you time. Please any help.

What does line 39 of sources.list read? The error message tells you where the problem is.

.....now it doesnt even let me log in.......and oem was deleted.

What doesn't let you log in? You ran the oem-configure script didn't you? I believe that wipes out your user.

The problem was in flat text file, likely the apt source on line39 of /etc/apt/sources.list was in the wrong format so it couldn't be read by synaptic