32 bit applications no longer run in 64 bit Feisty environment

[Danson Joseph]

Binary package hint: ubuntu-desktop

Hi,

In previous versions of ubuntu, a simple dpkg -i --force-architecture XXXX_i386.deb would make a package work fine on an amd64 platform. An example of such a program is wine for which there is no amd64 version. In Feisty, the package will install but not run. Wine eventually runs when ia32-libs and libc6-i386 libraries for amd64 are installed. However, other programs don't run. Why the change?

The real question: is there no way to make the architecture transparent to the user for amd64 versus i386? If I buy a 64bit PC and want to run ubuntu for all its benefits, but a commercial package like VariCAD only releases 32 bit deb files, I should be able to install the package. I definitely should not have to worry about creating a separate installation in a chroot environment. I am capable of doing it, but should not be expected to by developers. I am an END USER - Imagine your grandmother trying to get a knitting program to run but she can't because you installed a 64 bit system and she can only get a 32 bit deb file - try tell her (The real type of end users) to install a chroot environment!

Regards,
Danson Joseph

[Daniel T Chen (crimsun)]

(We really need to revisit the biarch issue. Pushing stuff into ia32-libs isn't maintainable.)

[Adam Bagnall (bagnaj97)]

No updates on this for a long time and Feisty is no longer supported, as such I'm marking this as invalid. If you continue to have this issue on a supported Ubuntu version please create a new bug report.