[Bradford] Linux Help Please!

[David Bolton]

Hi Folks,

Hoping that you will be able to point me in the right direction ;-)

I appear to have borked my Software Manager utility in Mint (mintinstall.py)

I was trying to uninstall GnuPG - and during the process the program 
hung.  After cancelling, and restarting, it now always hangs when I 
select a package in order to see details/reviews.

I have tried reinstalling mintinstall by using "sudo apt-get install 
mintinstall" - but I got the message:

 > sudo: apt-get: command not found

Then I just typed: "apt-get" and got the bizarre message:

 > The program 'apt-get' is currently not installed. You can install it 
by typing:
 > sudo apt-get install apt

So I type: "sudo apt-get install apt" - and get the message:

 > sudo: apt-get: command not found

Searching my hard disc, I see that the apt-get script is still there...

Before I keep going in ever decreasing circles, and disappear up my own 
backside, I'd like to know if there is a way out of this without 
reinstalling the complete OS from scratch.

(ps. please don't just say "Mint? You don't want to use that! You should 
use <insert fave distro> instead! ;-)

Cheers,

David