[Pkg-ia32-libs-maintainers] Bug#716860: Bug#716860: I have the same issue

[Thijs Kinkhorst]

Hi Rafal,

On Wed, July 24, 2013 11:33, Rafał Pietrak wrote:
> I need to install firebird version 1.5 from thrd-party, and the package
> requires 32-bit environment, thus it needs "ia32-libs". Stil,
> "ia32-libs" has unmet dependency on " ia32-libs-i386", which is not
> available.
>
> 1. why "ia32-libs-i386" is not available if it's necesary (through
> dependency)?
> 2. or: why "ia32-libs" depends on "ia32-libs-i386"; it it's not?
>
> Who should I ask to fix it one way or another?

This is because Debian has switched to better technology for supporting 32
bit on 64 bit platforms: multi-arch. You can read more about it and how to
use it in the Debian 7 (wheezy) release notes.

The solution is that the 3rd party packages are updated to not depend on
ia32-libs anymore but make use of Multiarch. You should contact the one
that provides those packages to make them aware of it.

As a workaround, you can probably do this:
# dpkg --add-architecture i386
# apt-get update
and then the ia32-libs package will install as usual. Note that this is
just a workaround and that it may stop to work at some point in the
future, the only real solution is that the 3rd party fixes their packages.


Cheers,
Thijs