How to install Maven 3 on Ubuntu 18.04/17.04/16.10/16.04 LTS/15.10/15.04/14.10/14.04 LTS/13.10/13.04 by using apt-get?

Here's an easier way:

sudo apt-get install maven

More details are here.

It's best to use miske's answer.

Properly installing natecarlson's repository

If you really want to use natecarlson's repository, the instructions just below can do any of the following:

1. set it up from scratch
2. repair it if apt-get update gives a 404 error after add-apt-repository
3. repair it if apt-get update gives a NO_PUBKEY error after manually adding it to /etc/apt/sources.list

Open a terminal and run the following:

sudo -i

Enter your password if necessary, then paste the following into the terminal:

export GOOD_RELEASE='precise'
export BAD_RELEASE="`lsb_release -cs`"
cd /etc/apt
sed -i '/natecarlson\/maven3/d' sources.list
cd sources.list.d
rm -f natecarlson-maven3-*.list*
apt-add-repository -y ppa:natecarlson/maven3
mv natecarlson-maven3-${BAD_RELEASE}.list natecarlson-maven3-${GOOD_RELEASE}.list
sed -i "s/${BAD_RELEASE}/${GOOD_RELEASE}/" natecarlson-maven3-${GOOD_RELEASE}.list
apt-get update
exit
echo Done!

Removing natecarlson's repository

If you installed natecarlson's repository (either using add-apt-repository or manually added to /etc/apt/sources.list) and you don't want it anymore, open a terminal and run the following:

sudo -i

Enter your password if necessary, then paste the following into the terminal:

cd /etc/apt
sed -i '/natecarlson\/maven3/d' sources.list
cd sources.list.d
rm -f natecarlson-maven3-*.list*
apt-get update
exit
echo Done!