On Sun, 2025-10-26 at 15:42 -0400, Greg Wooledge wrote: > On Sun, Oct 26, 2025 at 12:25:43 -0700, Van Snyder wrote: > > I would have expected "dpkg --add-architecture i386" followed by > > "apt > > update" and "apt install libgtk2\*" to install the i386 version > > (and > > dependencies). But it didn't. > > > > I had to run "apt install libgtk2\*:i386". > > > > What's the point of "dpkg --add-architecture i386" if it doesn't > > really > > add that architecture? > > On a system with multiple architectures available, the vast majority > of your packages are still going to be the ones for your primary > architecture. You wouldn't install multiple versions of coreutils > or bash or whatever. That wouldn't even be possible. > > When you install a new package, it'll be for your primary > architecture > unless you explicitly request a secondary architecture. > > "dpkg --add-architecture" gives you the ability to install packages > for a secondary architecture. It doesn't mean EVERY package you > install > from that point onward will be for the secondary arch.
Thanks for that clarification — which I didn't see in any of the usual places online. If I had not done "dpkg --add-architecture i386" and then did "apt install libgtk2\*:i386", would it have installed?
