Bug#695352: apt: incorrect behavior/documentation concerning foreign architectures for sources.list / apt-get update

To: Debian Bug Tracking System <submit@bugs.debian.org>
Subject: Bug#695352: apt: incorrect behavior/documentation concerning foreign architectures for sources.list / apt-get update
From: Vincent Lefevre <vincent@vinc17.net>
Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2012 14:50:35 +0100
Message-id: <[🔎] 20121207135035.GA1952@ypig.lip.ens-lyon.fr>
Reply-to: Vincent Lefevre <vincent@vinc17.net>, 695352@bugs.debian.org
Package: apt
Version: 0.9.7.6
Severity: normal

In order to get i386 packages from unstable on my amd64 machine,
I added the following line to /etc/apt/sources.list according to
what the sourceslist(5) man page says:

deb [ arch=i386 ] http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ unstable main contrib non-free

But after that and "apt-get update", I still got:

# apt-get install libc6-dbg:i386
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package libc6-dbg

I've been suggested to run "dpkg --add-architecture i386". Then after
an "apt-get update", "apt-get install libc6-dbg:i386" works, but there
are several drawbacks:

1. All i386 Packages files are downloaded by "apt-get update", not
just those in unstable ("dpkg --add-architecture i386" adds i386
to APT::Architectures, hence the problem).

2. I get warnings at the end of "apt-get update":

W: Duplicate sources.list entry http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ unstable/main i386 Packages (/var/lib/apt/lists/ftp.debian.org_debian_dists_unstable_main_binary-i386_Packages)
W: Duplicate sources.list entry http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ unstable/contrib i386 Packages (/var/lib/apt/lists/ftp.debian.org_debian_dists_unstable_contrib_binary-i386_Packages)
W: Duplicate sources.list entry http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ unstable/non-free i386 Packages (/var/lib/apt/lists/ftp.debian.org_debian_dists_unstable_non-free_binary-i386_Packages)
W: You may want to run apt-get update to correct these problems

This may be due to the above line I added, but this isn't really
a duplicate as one may want to specify i386 explicitly in the
/etc/apt/sources.list file. The last line "You may want to run
apt-get update to correct these problems" is incorrect (running
"apt-get update" should never output such a message, since it
suggests to do what one has just done).

Anyway since i386 was specified explicitly in the deb line above,
adding i386 to APT::Architectures via "dpkg --add-architecture i386"
should not have been necessary. If there is anything else to do
without using "dpkg --add-architecture i386" (to avoid its drawbacks),
then it should be documented.

-- Package-specific info:

-- apt-config dump --

APT "";
APT::Architecture "amd64";
APT::Build-Essential "";
APT::Build-Essential:: "build-essential";
APT::Install-Recommends "1";
APT::Install-Suggests "0";
APT::Authentication "";
APT::Authentication::TrustCDROM "true";
APT::NeverAutoRemove "";
APT::NeverAutoRemove:: "^firmware-linux.*";
APT::NeverAutoRemove:: "^linux-firmware$";
APT::NeverAutoRemove:: "^linux-image.*";
APT::NeverAutoRemove:: "^kfreebsd-image.*";
APT::NeverAutoRemove:: "^linux-restricted-modules.*";
APT::NeverAutoRemove:: "^linux-ubuntu-modules-.*";
APT::NeverAutoRemove:: "^gnumach$";
APT::NeverAutoRemove:: "^gnumach-image.*";
APT::Never-MarkAuto-Sections "";
APT::Never-MarkAuto-Sections:: "metapackages";
APT::Never-MarkAuto-Sections:: "restricted/metapackages";
APT::Never-MarkAuto-Sections:: "universe/metapackages";
APT::Never-MarkAuto-Sections:: "multiverse/metapackages";
APT::Never-MarkAuto-Sections:: "oldlibs";
APT::Never-MarkAuto-Sections:: "restricted/oldlibs";
APT::Never-MarkAuto-Sections:: "universe/oldlibs";
APT::Never-MarkAuto-Sections:: "multiverse/oldlibs";
APT::Cache-Limit "67108864";
APT::Update "";
APT::Update::Post-Invoke-Success "";
APT::Update::Post-Invoke-Success:: "test -x /usr/bin/apt-show-versions || exit 0 ; apt-show-versions -i";
APT::Update::Post-Invoke-Success:: "[ ! -f /var/run/dbus/system_bus_socket ] || /usr/bin/dbus-send --system --dest=org.debian.apt --type=signal /org/debian/apt org.debian.apt.CacheChanged || true";
APT::Update::Post-Invoke-Success:: "/usr/bin/test -e /usr/share/dbus-1/system-services/org.freedesktop.PackageKit.service && /usr/bin/test -S /var/run/dbus/system_bus_socket && /usr/bin/gdbus call --system --dest org.freedesktop.PackageKit --object-path /org/freedesktop/PackageKit --timeout 1 --method org.freedesktop.PackageKit.StateHasChanged cache-update > /dev/null; /bin/echo > /dev/null";
APT::Architectures "";
APT::Architectures:: "amd64";
APT::Architectures:: "i386";
APT::Compressor "";
APT::Compressor::. "";
APT::Compressor::.::Name ".";
APT::Compressor::.::Extension "";
APT::Compressor::.::Binary "";
APT::Compressor::.::Cost "1";
APT::Compressor::gzip "";
APT::Compressor::gzip::Name "gzip";
APT::Compressor::gzip::Extension ".gz";
APT::Compressor::gzip::Binary "gzip";
APT::Compressor::gzip::Cost "2";
APT::Compressor::gzip::CompressArg "";
APT::Compressor::gzip::CompressArg:: "-9n";
APT::Compressor::gzip::UncompressArg "";
APT::Compressor::gzip::UncompressArg:: "-d";
APT::Compressor::bzip2 "";
APT::Compressor::bzip2::Name "bzip2";
APT::Compressor::bzip2::Extension ".bz2";
APT::Compressor::bzip2::Binary "bzip2";
APT::Compressor::bzip2::Cost "3";
APT::Compressor::bzip2::CompressArg "";
APT::Compressor::bzip2::CompressArg:: "-9";
APT::Compressor::bzip2::UncompressArg "";
APT::Compressor::bzip2::UncompressArg:: "-d";
APT::Compressor::xz "";
APT::Compressor::xz::Name "xz";
APT::Compressor::xz::Extension ".xz";
APT::Compressor::xz::Binary "xz";
APT::Compressor::xz::Cost "4";
APT::Compressor::xz::CompressArg "";
APT::Compressor::xz::CompressArg:: "-6";
APT::Compressor::xz::UncompressArg "";
APT::Compressor::xz::UncompressArg:: "-d";
APT::Compressor::lzma "";
APT::Compressor::lzma::Name "lzma";
APT::Compressor::lzma::Extension ".lzma";
APT::Compressor::lzma::Binary "xz";
APT::Compressor::lzma::Cost "5";
APT::Compressor::lzma::CompressArg "";
APT::Compressor::lzma::CompressArg:: "--format=lzma";
APT::Compressor::lzma::CompressArg:: "-9";
APT::Compressor::lzma::UncompressArg "";
APT::Compressor::lzma::UncompressArg:: "--format=lzma";
APT::Compressor::lzma::UncompressArg:: "-d";
APT::Compressor::::Name "";
APT::Compressor::::Extension ".";
APT::Compressor::::Binary "";
APT::Compressor::::Cost "100";
APT::Compressor::::CompressArg "";
APT::Compressor::::CompressArg:: "-9";
APT::Compressor::::UncompressArg "";
APT::Compressor::::UncompressArg:: "-d";
Dir "/";
Dir::State "var/lib/apt/";
Dir::State::lists "lists/";
Dir::State::cdroms "cdroms.list";
Dir::State::mirrors "mirrors/";
Dir::State::extended_states "extended_states";
Dir::State::status "/var/lib/dpkg/status";
Dir::Cache "var/cache/apt/";
Dir::Cache::archives "archives/";
Dir::Cache::srcpkgcache "srcpkgcache.bin";
Dir::Cache::pkgcache "pkgcache.bin";
Dir::Etc "etc/apt/";
Dir::Etc::sourcelist "sources.list";
Dir::Etc::sourceparts "sources.list.d";
Dir::Etc::vendorlist "vendors.list";
Dir::Etc::vendorparts "vendors.list.d";
Dir::Etc::main "apt.conf";
Dir::Etc::netrc "auth.conf";
Dir::Etc::parts "apt.conf.d";
Dir::Etc::preferences "preferences";
Dir::Etc::preferencesparts "preferences.d";
Dir::Etc::trusted "trusted.gpg";
Dir::Etc::trustedparts "trusted.gpg.d";
Dir::Bin "";
Dir::Bin::methods "/usr/lib/apt/methods";
Dir::Bin::solvers "";
Dir::Bin::solvers:: "/usr/lib/apt/solvers";
Dir::Bin::dpkg "/usr/bin/dpkg";
Dir::Bin::bzip2 "/bin/bzip2";
Dir::Bin::xz "/usr/bin/xz";
Dir::Media "";
Dir::Media::MountPath "/media/apt";
Dir::Log "var/log/apt";
Dir::Log::Terminal "term.log";
Dir::Log::History "history.log";
Dir::Ignore-Files-Silently "";
Dir::Ignore-Files-Silently:: "~$";
Dir::Ignore-Files-Silently:: "\.disabled$";
Dir::Ignore-Files-Silently:: "\.bak$";
Dir::Ignore-Files-Silently:: "\.dpkg-[a-z]+$";
Dir::Ignore-Files-Silently:: "\.save$";
Dir::Ignore-Files-Silently:: "\.orig$";
Acquire "";
Acquire::cdrom "";
Acquire::cdrom::mount "/media/cdrom/";
Acquire::Languages "";
Acquire::Languages:: "en";
Acquire::Languages:: "none";
DPkg "";
DPkg::Pre-Install-Pkgs "";
DPkg::Pre-Install-Pkgs:: "/usr/sbin/apt-listbugs apt || exit 10";
DPkg::Pre-Install-Pkgs:: "/usr/bin/apt-listchanges --apt";
DPkg::Pre-Install-Pkgs:: "/usr/sbin/dpkg-preconfigure --apt || true";
DPkg::Tools "";
DPkg::Tools::Options "";
DPkg::Tools::Options::/usr/sbin/apt-listbugs "";
DPkg::Tools::Options::/usr/sbin/apt-listbugs::Version "2";
DPkg::Tools::Options::/usr/bin/apt-listchanges "";
DPkg::Tools::Options::/usr/bin/apt-listchanges::Version "2";
DPkg::Post-Invoke "";
DPkg::Post-Invoke:: "/usr/bin/test -e /usr/share/dbus-1/system-services/org.freedesktop.PackageKit.service && /usr/bin/test -S /var/run/dbus/system_bus_socket && /usr/bin/gdbus call --system --dest org.freedesktop.PackageKit --object-path /org/freedesktop/PackageKit --timeout 1 --method org.freedesktop.PackageKit.StateHasChanged cache-update > /dev/null; /bin/echo > /dev/null";
AptListbugs "";
AptListbugs::IgnoreRegexp "FTBFS";
Aptitude "";
Aptitude::UI "";
Aptitude::UI::Package-Display-Format "%c%a%M %p %Z %24v %24V";
Unattended-Upgrade "";
Unattended-Upgrade::Origins-Pattern "";
Unattended-Upgrade::Origins-Pattern:: "origin=Debian,archive=stable,label=Debian-Security";
CommandLine "";
CommandLine::AsString "apt-config dump";

-- (no /etc/apt/preferences present) --


-- /etc/apt/sources.list --

# 
# deb cdrom:[Debian GNU/Linux testing _Squeeze_ - Official Snapshot amd64 NETINST Binary-1 20100103-21:31]/ squeeze main

#deb cdrom:[Debian GNU/Linux testing _Squeeze_ - Official Snapshot amd64 NETINST Binary-1 20100103-21:31]/ squeeze main

deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ squeeze main contrib non-free
deb-src http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ squeeze main contrib non-free

deb http://security.debian.org/ squeeze/updates main contrib non-free
deb-src http://security.debian.org/ squeeze/updates main contrib non-free

deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing main contrib non-free
deb-src http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing main contrib non-free

deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ unstable main contrib non-free
deb-src http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ unstable main contrib non-free

deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ experimental main
deb-src http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ experimental main

deb [ arch=i386 ] http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ unstable main contrib non-free

#deb http://mozilla.debian.net/ experimental iceweasel-aurora

-- System Information:
Debian Release: wheezy/sid
  APT prefers unstable
  APT policy: (500, 'unstable'), (500, 'testing'), (500, 'stable'), (1, 'experimental')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)
Foreign Architectures: i386

Kernel: Linux 3.2.0-4-amd64 (SMP w/8 CPU cores)
Locale: LANG=POSIX, LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/dash

Versions of packages apt depends on:
ii  debian-archive-keyring  2012.4
ii  gnupg                   1.4.12-6
ii  libapt-pkg4.12          0.9.7.6
ii  libc6                   2.13-37
ii  libgcc1                 1:4.7.2-4
ii  libstdc++6              4.7.2-4

apt recommends no packages.

Versions of packages apt suggests:
ii  apt-doc     0.9.7.6
ii  aptitude    0.6.8.2-1
ii  dpkg-dev    1.16.9
ii  python-apt  0.8.8.1
ii  synaptic    0.75.13
ii  xz-utils    5.1.1alpha+20120614-2

-- no debconf information
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- Bug#695352: apt: incorrect behavior/documentation concerning foreign architectures for sources.list / apt-get update
  - From: Samuel Bronson <naesten@gmail.com>
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