Error reinstalling python3 in ubuntu 16.04

Question

I am using ubuntu 16.04 and I removed the preinstalled python3 and want to install it again. However, I'm getting an error when using sudo apt-get -f install python3 :

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
python3.5 is already the newest version (3.5.2-2~16.01).
python3.5 set to manually installed.
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
 dictionaries-common emacsen-common gir1.2-appindicator3-0.1 gir1.2-atk-1.0
 gir1.2-atspi-2.0 gir1.2-freedesktop gir1.2-gdkpixbuf-2.0 gir1.2-glib-2.0
 gir1.2-gtk-3.0 gir1.2-pango-1.0 hunspell-en-us libcanberra0
 libgirepository-1.0-1 libhunspell-1.3-0 libpangoxft-1.0-0 libvorbisfile3
sound-theme-freedesktop
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
2 not fully installed or removed.
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
Setting up python3 (3.5.1-3) ...
running python rtupdate hooks for python3.5...
dpkg-query: package 'hplip-data' is not installed
Use dpkg --info (= dpkg-deb --info) to examine archive files,
and dpkg --contents (= dpkg-deb --contents) to list their contents.
Traceback (most recent call last):
 File "/usr/bin/py3clean", line 210, in <module>
main()
 File "/usr/bin/py3clean", line 196, in main
pfiles = set(dpf.from_package(options.package))
 File "/usr/share/python3/debpython/files.py", line 53, in from_package
raise Exception("cannot get content of %s" % package_name)
Exception: cannot get content of hplip-data
error running python rtupdate hook hplip-data
dpkg-query: package 'python3-uno' is not installed
Use dpkg --info (= dpkg-deb --info) to examine archive files,
and dpkg --contents (= dpkg-deb --contents) to list their contents.
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/bin/py3clean", line 210, in <module>
main()
File "/usr/bin/py3clean", line 196, in main
pfiles = set(dpf.from_package(options.package))
File "/usr/share/python3/debpython/files.py", line 53, in from_package
raise Exception("cannot get content of %s" % package_name)
Exception: cannot get content of python3-uno
error running python rtupdate hook python3-uno
dpkg-query: package 'rhythmbox-plugins' is not installed
Use dpkg --info (= dpkg-deb --info) to examine archive files,
and dpkg --contents (= dpkg-deb --contents) to list their contents.
 Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/bin/py3clean", line 210, in <module>
main()
File "/usr/bin/py3clean", line 196, in main
pfiles = set(dpf.from_package(options.package))
File "/usr/share/python3/debpython/files.py", line 53, in from_package
raise Exception("cannot get content of %s" % package_name)
Exception: cannot get content of rhythmbox-plugins
error running python rtupdate hook rhythmbox-plugins
dpkg-query: package 'rhythmbox' is not installed
Use dpkg --info (= dpkg-deb --info) to examine archive files,
and dpkg --contents (= dpkg-deb --contents) to list their contents.
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/bin/py3clean", line 210, in <module>
main()
File "/usr/bin/py3clean", line 196, in main
pfiles = set(dpf.from_package(options.package))
File "/usr/share/python3/debpython/files.py", line 53, in from_package
raise Exception("cannot get content of %s" % package_name)
Exception: cannot get content of rhythmbox
error running python rtupdate hook rhythmbox
dpkg-query: package 'totem-plugins' is not installed
Use dpkg --info (= dpkg-deb --info) to examine archive files,
and dpkg --contents (= dpkg-deb --contents) to list their contents.
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/bin/py3clean", line 210, in <module>
main()
File "/usr/bin/py3clean", line 196, in main
pfiles = set(dpf.from_package(options.package))
 File "/usr/share/python3/debpython/files.py", line 53,from_package
raise Exception("cannot get content of %s" % package_name)
Exception: cannot get content of totem-plugins
error running python rtupdate hook totem-plugins
dpkg-query: package 'ubuntu-drivers-common' is not installed
Use dpkg --info (= dpkg-deb --info) to examine archive files,
 and dpkg --contents (= dpkg-deb --contents) to list their contents.
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/bin/py3clean", line 210, in <module>
main()
File "/usr/bin/py3clean", line 196, in main
pfiles = set(dpf.from_package(options.package))
File "/usr/share/python3/debpython/files.py", line 53, in from_package
raise Exception("cannot get content of %s" % package_name)
 Exception: cannot get content of ubuntu-drivers-common
error running python rtupdate hook ubuntu-drivers-common
dpkg: error processing package python3 (--configure):
  subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit  status 4
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of dh-python:
dh-python depends on python3:any (>= 3.3.2-2~); however:
Package python3 is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package dh-python (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
python3
dh-python
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

I have anaconda2 also installed which has python 2.7 and the PYTHON_PATH is set to that. I already tried changing that with the same results. I was originally trying to install gedbi-core using sudo apt-get install gdebi-core and I was getting the same error. After looking online, I tried

sudo apt-get clean

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get remove python3.*

Now I am trying to reinstall python3.5.

Answer 1

Anaconda supports multiple environments for your Python installations. You should use:

conda create -n py35 python=3.5 anaconda

Then, to use the Python 3.5 environment, use:

activate py35

from the command line. You can refer to:

http://conda.pydata.org/docs/py2or3.html

You can also add the new environment to your Python IDE (if desired). The new environment would be created in:

 Linux: /YOUR_ANACONDA_PATH>/envs/py35
 Windows: C:\<YOUR_ANACONDA_PATH\envs\py35

Answer 2

Clearly looks like a packaging error in the Ubuntu python3 package. Report it to Launchpad if it's not already there.