This is just for my reference since it happened a couple of times when I open Add/Remove Programs and find the listing to be blank. If you encounter this then here is the solution to fix it.
Do the following:
sudo apt-get remove gnome-app-install
sudo apt-get install gnome-app-install apturl ubufox ubuntu-desktop
You should now have a fully operational Add/Remove
Technorati Tags: ubuntu, add/remove, synaptic, programs
Full reinstallation is not required (in 8.10 this is triggering removal/install of ubuntu-desktop since it depends on gnome-app-install).
All you need to do is this:
sudo dpkg-reconfigure gnome-app-install
Thanks Mark .. will try it next time