[Bug 829205] [NEW] multiarch environment makes testing of new package version for developers very awkward

[Till Kamppeter]

Public bug reported:

In the new multiarch environment there is both the amd64 and the i386
version of each multiarch library installed. The two versions of the
libreary have to be from exactly the same package build from buildds
which is checked by whether the files in /usr/share/doc/<package>/ are
identical.

If I do development work for Ubuntu, modifying a source package bumping
the version number, and then building and installing this package on my
system so that I can test it before uploading, the install fails in the
configure part with

dpkg: error processing libcups2 (--install):
 libcups2:amd64 1.5.0-4 cannot be configured because libcups2:i386 is in a different version (1.5.0-3)
dpkg: error processing libcups2:i386 (--install):
 libcups2:i386 1.5.0-3 cannot be configured because libcups2:amd64 is in a different version (1.5.0-4)

The only way to get my new package installed is to remove the i386
library with --force-depends:

sudo dpkg -P --force-depends libcups2:i386

Then I can install and test my new package version but my system is
inconsistent, preventing me from being able to use apt-get to update the
system or to install other packages.

** Affects: dpkg (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Critical
         Status: New

** Changed in: ubuntu
   Importance: Undecided => Critical

** Changed in: ubuntu
    Milestone: None => ubuntu-11.10-beta-1

** Package changed: ubuntu => dpkg (Ubuntu)

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/829205

Title:
  multiarch environment makes testing of new package version for
  developers very awkward

Status in “dpkg” package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  In the new multiarch environment there is both the amd64 and the i386
  version of each multiarch library installed. The two versions of the
  libreary have to be from exactly the same package build from buildds
  which is checked by whether the files in /usr/share/doc/<package>/ are
  identical.

  If I do development work for Ubuntu, modifying a source package
  bumping the version number, and then building and installing this
  package on my system so that I can test it before uploading, the
  install fails in the configure part with

  dpkg: error processing libcups2 (--install):
   libcups2:amd64 1.5.0-4 cannot be configured because libcups2:i386 is in a different version (1.5.0-3)
  dpkg: error processing libcups2:i386 (--install):
   libcups2:i386 1.5.0-3 cannot be configured because libcups2:amd64 is in a different version (1.5.0-4)

  The only way to get my new package installed is to remove the i386
  library with --force-depends:

  sudo dpkg -P --force-depends libcups2:i386

  Then I can install and test my new package version but my system is
  inconsistent, preventing me from being able to use apt-get to update
  the system or to install other packages.

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