cant download skype

sudo fuser -vki /var/lib/dpkg/lock;sudo dpkg --configure -a

Will fix it, make sure you are not running any updates or have software centre open.

Thanks. Updates have been downloaded. However, i could not download skype. Please help

Thanks. Updates have been downloaded. However, i could not download skype. Please help

When I gave the command - sudo apt-get install skype

This is the message

Package skype is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source
E: Package skype has no installation candidate

This may help: http://linux.dipin.info/2010/01/how-to-install-skype-on-ubuntu-1004.html

This as well : https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Skype

I did as suggested by you BUT this is what happened

sudo dpkg -i skype-ubuntu-intrepid_2.1.0.81-1_amd64.deb
dpkg: error processing skype-ubuntu-intrepid_2.1.0.81-1_amd64.deb (--install):
 cannot access archive: No such file or directory
Errors were encountered while processing:
 skype-ubuntu-intrepid_2.1.0.81-1_amd64.deb
rashmi@alok-desktop:~$ sudo apt-get -f install
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

Same result with your commands as well

rashmi@alok-desktop:~$ wget http://www.skype.com/go/getskype-linux-beta-ubuntu-64
--2010-08-19 23:08:52-- http://www.skype.com/go/getskype-linux-beta-ubuntu-64
Resolving www.skype.com... 78.141.177.7
Connecting to www.skype.com|78.141.177.7|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 302 Found
Location: http://download.skype.com/linux/skype-ubuntu-intrepid_2.1.0.81-1_amd64.deb [following]
--2010-08-19 23:08:52-- http://download.skype.com/linux/skype-ubuntu-intrepid_2.1.0.81-1_amd64.deb
Resolving download.skype.com... 204.9.165.82, 78.141.179.2, 78.141.179.3
Connecting to download.skype.com|204.9.165.82|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 20165018 (19M) [application/octet-stream]
Saving to: `skype-ubuntu-intrepid_2.1.0.81-1_amd64.deb.1'

100%[======================================>] 2,01,65,018 29.1K/s in 11m 36s

2010-08-19 23:20:30 (28.3 KB/s) - `skype-ubuntu-intrepid_2.1.0.81-1_amd64.deb.1' saved [20165018/20165018]

rashmi@alok-desktop:~$ sudo dpkg -i ./*.deb
(Reading database ... 158133 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to replace skype 2.1.0.81-1 (using .../skype-ubuntu-intrepid_2.1.0.81-1_amd64.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement skype ...
dpkg: error processing ./skype-ubuntu-intrepid_2.1.0.81-1_i386.deb (--install):
 package architecture (i386) does not match system (amd64)
Setting up skype (2.1.0.81-1) ...
Processing triggers for python-gmenu ...
Rebuilding /usr/share/applications/desktop.en_IN.cache...
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils ...
Processing triggers for python-support ...
Errors were encountered while processing:
 ./skype-ubuntu-intrepid_2.1.0.81-1_i386.deb
rashmi@alok-desktop:~$ sudo apt-get -f install
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

Thanks actionparsnip, that solved my question.