I have a Debian testing amd64 laptop. Only testing, no unstable or
experimental. I need to install ia32-libs to run eclipse in 32 bit mode for
android development.

However, I get a slew of conflicts, and it seems that aptitude wants to
replace a lot of my 64 bit aps with 32 bit apps. Apps like gnome,
gnome-core, empathy, etc. Is this normal or necessary?

I thought the ia32-libs was just supposed to help make it possible to run
32 bit apps on a 64 bit machine, not replace all the 64 bit apps with 32
bit apps. Is that correct?

Here is the output from trying to install ia32-libs in my machine....

root@orca:/home/mark# aptitude install ia32-libs
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  esound-common{a} freeglut3:i386 gcc-4.8-base:i386{a} ia32-libs
ia32-libs-i386:i386 krb5-locales{a} lesstif2:i386 libacl1:i386 libaio1:i386
  libasound2:i386{a} libasyncns0:i386 libattr1:i386{a} libaudio2:i386
libaudiofile1:i386 libavahi-client3:i386 libavahi-common-data:i386{a}
  libavahi-common3:i386{a} libbsd0:i386 libc6:i386{a} libc6-i686:i386{a}
libcaca0:i386{a} libcap2:i386 libcomerr2:i386 libcups2:i386 libcurl3:i386
  libdb5.1:i386{a} libdbus-1-3:i386{a} libdirectfb-1.2-9:i386
libdrm-intel1:i386{a} libdrm-nouveau2:i386{a} libdrm-radeon1:i386{a}
libdrm2:i386{a}
  libedit2:i386 libesd0:i386 libexif12:i386 libexpat1:i386{a}
libffi6:i386{a} libflac8:i386{a} libfltk1.1:i386 libfontconfig1:i386{a}
  libfreetype6:i386{a} libgcc1:i386{a} libgcrypt11:i386{a} libgd3:i386{a}
libgdbm3:i386 libgl1-mesa-dri:i386{a} libgl1-mesa-glx:i386{a}
  libglapi-mesa:i386{a} libglu1-mesa:i386 libgnutls26:i386{a}
libgpg-error0:i386{a} libgphoto2-2:i386 libgphoto2-port0:i386{a}
libgpm2:i386{a}
  libgssapi-krb5-2:i386{a} libice6:i386{a} libidn11:i386{a}
libieee1284-3:i386 libjack-jackd2-0:i386 libjbig0:i386 libjpeg62:i386
libjpeg8:i386{a}
  libjson-c2:i386{a} libk5crypto3:i386{a} libkeyutils1:i386{a}
libkrb5-3:i386{a} libkrb5support0:i386{a} liblcms1:i386
libldap-2.4-2:i386{a}
  libllvm3.2:i386{a} libltdl7:i386{a} liblzma5:i386{a} liblzo2-2:i386
libmpg123-0:i386 libncursesw5:i386{a} libnspr4:i386 libnspr4-0d:i386
libnss3:i386
  libnss3-1d:i386 libodbc1:i386 libogg0:i386{a} libopenal1:i386
libopus0:i386{ab} libp11-kit0:i386{a} libpam0g:i386 libpciaccess0:i386{a}
  libpcre3:i386{a} libpng12-0:i386{a} libpopt0:i386 libpulse0:i386{a}
librtmp0:i386{a} libsamplerate0:i386{a} libsane:i386 libsane-extras:i386{a}
  libsasl2-2:i386{a} libsasl2-modules:i386{a} libsdl1.2debian:i386
libselinux1:i386 libsigc++-2.0-0c2a:i386 libslang2:i386{a} libsm6:i386{a}
  libsndfile1:i386{a} libsqlite3-0:i386{a} libssh2-1:i386{a}
libssl1.0.0:i386{a} libstdc++5:i386 libstdc++6:i386{a} libsysfs2:i386
libtasn1-3:i386{a}
  libtdb1:i386 libtiff4:i386{a} libtinfo5:i386{a} libts-0.0-0:i386{a}
libtxc-dxtn-s2tc0:i386{a} libudev0:i386{a} libusb-0.1-4:i386
libusb-1.0-0:i386{a}
  libuuid1:i386{a} libv4l-0:i386{a} libv4lconvert0:i386{a}
libvorbis0a:i386{a} libvorbisenc2:i386{a} libvorbisfile3:i386
libvpx1:i386{a}
  libwrap0:i386{a} libx11-6:i386{a} libx11-xcb1:i386{a} libx86-1:i386
libxau6:i386{a} libxaw7:i386 libxcb-dri2-0:i386{a} libxcb-glx0:i386{a}
  libxcb-render-util0:i386 libxcb-render0:i386{a} libxcb1:i386{a}
libxcomposite1:i386 libxcursor1:i386 libxdamage1:i386{a} libxdmcp6:i386{a}
  libxext6:i386{a} libxfixes3:i386{a} libxft2:i386{a} libxi6:i386{a}
libxinerama1:i386{a} libxml2:i386 libxmu6:i386{a} libxmuu1:i386
libxp6:i386{a}
  libxpm4:i386{a} libxrandr2:i386 libxrender1:i386{a} libxslt1.1:i386
libxss1:i386 libxt6:i386{a} libxtst6:i386{a} libxv1:i386
libxxf86vm1:i386{a}
  odbcinst{a} odbcinst1debian2{a} odbcinst1debian2:i386 uuid-runtime{a}
xaw3dg:i386 zlib1g:i386{a}
0 packages upgraded, 163 newly installed, 0 to remove and 61 not upgraded.
Need to get 52.6 MB of archives. After unpacking 173 MB will be used.
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 libopus0 : Conflicts: libopus0:i386 but 1.1~beta-3 is to be installed.
 libopus0:i386 : Conflicts: libopus0 but 1.1~beta-3 is installed.
Internal error: found 2 (choice -> promotion) mappings for a single choice.
The following actions will resolve these dependencies:

      Remove the following
packages:
1)
anki
2)
cheese
3)
dvdrip
4)
dvgrab
5)
empathy
6)
ffmpeg
7)
gnome
8)
gnome-control-center
9)
gnome-core
10)
gnome-media
11)
gnome-orca
12)
gnome-video-effects
13)
gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad
14)
gstreamer0.10-plugins-good
15)
gstreamer1.0-plugins-good
16)
libasound2-plugins
17)
libavcodec54
18)
libavdevice54
19)
libavfilter3
20)
libavformat54
21)
libcanberra-pulse
22)
libcheese-gtk21
23)
libcheese3
24)
libespeak1
25)
libfarstream-0.1-0
26)
libjack-jackd2-0
27)
liblavfile-2.0-0
28)
liblavplay-2.0-0
29)
libmlt++3
30)
libmlt6
31)
libopus0
32)
libportaudio2
33)
libpurple-bin
34)
libpurple0
35)
libquicktime2
36)
libtelepathy-farstream2
37)
libxine2
38)
libxine2-ffmpeg
39)
libxine2-misc-plugins
40)
libxine2-plugins
41)
libxine2-x
42)
melt
43)
mjpegtools
44)
mplayer2
45)
nautilus-sendto-empathy
46)
openshot
47)
opera
48)
pulseaudio
49)
pulseaudio-module-x11
50)
python-mlt
51)
python-pyaudio
52)
rhythmbox
53)
rhythmbox-plugin-cdrecorder
54)
rhythmbox-plugins
55)
rygel-playbin
56)
sound-juicer
57)
speech-dispatcher
58)
subtitleripper
59)
telepathy-haze
60)
thoggen
61)
totem
62)
totem-plugins
63)
transcode
64)
xine-ui

      Leave the following dependencies
unresolved:
65)     libxine2 recommends
libxine2-ffmpeg
66)     transcode recommends
mjpegtools
67)     libbrasero-media3-1 recommends
gstreamer1.0-plugins-good
68)     gnash-common recommends
gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad
69)     gnome-applets recommends
gnome-media
70)     gnome-bluetooth recommends
gnome-control-center
71)     gnome-control-center-data recommends gnome-control-center (>=
1:3.4.3.1-5)
72)     gnome-online-accounts recommends gnome-control-center (>=
3.6.1)
73)     gnome-panel recommends
gnome-control-center
74)     gnome-settings-daemon recommends
pulseaudio
75)     mousetweaks recommends
gnome-control-center
76)     rhythmbox-data recommends
rhythmbox
77)     rygel recommends
gstreamer1.0-plugins-good
78)     speech-dispatcher recommends
pulseaudio
79)     libwebkitgtk-1.0-0 recommends
gstreamer1.0-plugins-good
80)     libwebkitgtk-3.0-0 recommends
gstreamer1.0-plugins-good
81)     empathy recommends
telepathy-haze
82)     totem recommends
gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad
83)     gnome-shell recommends gnome-control-center


Any suggestions of how to make 64 bit and 32 bit apps play nicely in Debian?

Is this something that could be addressed at the InstallFest tomorrow? Or
is it too OT for an InstallFest?

Thanks,

Mark