1. try: the graphical way
I triple checked that a universe repository is activated but
the Synaptic Package Manager shows me only vlc-1.1.4.
2. try: the command line way
again I triple checked my etc/apt/sources.list and yes a universe mirror is listed there.
The "apt-get install vlc" gave me a maverick-updates/universe vlc amd64 1.1.4-1ubuntu1.4
3. try: from source
/usr/bin/ld: /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/../../../../lib/libmatroska.a(KaxAttached.o): relocation R_X86_64_32 against `libmatroska::KaxAttached_Context' can not be used when making a shared object; recompile with -fPIC
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/../../../../lib/libmatroska.a: could not read symbols: Bad value
collect2: ld returned 1 exit status
make[6]: *** [libmkv_plugin.la] Error 1
Why is it such a nightmare to install vlc ?