文件/etc/apt/sources.list是一个普通可编辑的文本文件，保存了ubuntu软件更新的源服务器的地址。和sources.list功能一样的是/etc/apt/sources.list.d/*.list(*代表一个文件名，只能由字母、数字、下划线、英文句号组成)。sources.list.d目录下的*.list文件为在单独文件中写入源的地址提供了一种方式，通常用来安装第三方的软件。
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-security main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-proposed main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-security main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-proposed main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-backports main restricted universe multiverse
如上是ubuntu官方sources.list文件内容，具体地含义如下：
每一行的开头是deb或者deb-src，分别表示直接通过.deb文件进行安装和通过源文件的方式进行安装。
deb或者deb-src字段之后，是一段URL，之后是五个用空格隔开的字符串，分别对应相应的目录结构。在浏览器中输入http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/，并进入dists目录，可以发现有5个目录和前述sources.list文件中的第三列字段相对应。任选其中一个目录进入，可以看到和sources.list后四列相对应的目录结构。
遇到 sudo apt-get update出现 错误，说明源不可用了，那么就换一下源就可以了。
更换方法:
sudo cp /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.backup //备份源
sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list //打开删除其中的内容，加入下面的内容
#163源
deb http://mirrors.163.com/ubuntu/ trusty main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://mirrors.163.com/ubuntu/ trusty-security main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://mirrors.163.com/ubuntu/ trusty-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://mirrors.163.com/ubuntu/ trusty-proposed main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://mirrors.163.com/ubuntu/ trusty-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://mirrors.163.com/ubuntu/ trusty main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://mirrors.163.com/ubuntu/ trusty-security main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://mirrors.163.com/ubuntu/ trusty-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://mirrors.163.com/ubuntu/ trusty-proposed main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://mirrors.163.com/ubuntu/ trusty-backports main restricted universe multiverse
#sohu源
deb http://mirrors.sohu.com/ubuntu/ trusty main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://mirrors.sohu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-security main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://mirrors.sohu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://mirrors.sohu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-proposed main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://mirrors.sohu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://mirrors.sohu.com/ubuntu/ trusty main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://mirrors.sohu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-security main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://mirrors.sohu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://mirrors.sohu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-proposed main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://mirrors.sohu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-backports main restricted universe multiverse
#os-china源
deb http://mirrors.oschina.net/ubuntu/ trusty main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://mirrors.oschina.net/ubuntu/ trusty-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://mirrors.oschina.net/ubuntu/ trusty-proposed main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://mirrors.oschina.net/ubuntu/ trusty-security main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://mirrors.oschina.net/ubuntu/ trusty-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://mirrors.oschina.net/ubuntu/ trusty main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://mirrors.oschina.net/ubuntu/ trusty-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://mirrors.oschina.net/ubuntu/ trusty-proposed main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://mirrors.oschina.net/ubuntu/ trusty-security main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://mirrors.oschina.net/ubuntu/ trusty-updates main restricted universe multiverse
保存之后，用下面的命令使源生效:
sudo apt-get update