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I run Trusty Desktop on a 64 bit machine, so if I query installed packages, e.g.:

$ dpkg-query -l gcc* | grep 'ii '
ii  gcc                      4:4.8.2-1ubuntu6        amd64        GNU C compiler
ii  gcc-4.8                  4.8.4-2ubuntu1~14.04    amd64        GNU C compiler
ii  gcc-4.8-base:amd64       4.8.4-2ubuntu1~14.04    amd64        GCC, the GNU Compiler Collection (base package)
ii  gcc-4.8-base:i386        4.8.4-2ubuntu1~14.04    i386         GCC, the GNU Compiler Collection (base package)
ii  gcc-4.8-doc              4.8.4-2ubuntu1~14.04    all          Documentation for the GNU compilers (gcc, gobjc, g++)
ii  gcc-4.8-multilib         4.8.4-2ubuntu1~14.04    amd64        GNU C compiler (multilib files)
ii  gcc-4.9-base:amd64       4.9.1-0ubuntu1          amd64        GCC, the GNU Compiler Collection (base package)
ii  gcc-4.9-base:i386        4.9.1-0ubuntu1          i386         GCC, the GNU Compiler Collection (base package)

why do I see those i386 installed packages ? I have 118 of them on that particular install... Is it that some dependencies for amd64 packages are satisfied by some i386 packages ? Is it something else ? Does the OS need them ?

Note: I am really asking "why are they here?" not "how do I get rid of them?". The latter question is well covered.

Cbhihe
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1 Answers1

4

A simple command gives you the necessary information. But first you have to install a nifty tool:

sudo apt-get install aptitude

Now check with e.g.:

aptitude why gcc-4.8-base:i386
A.B.
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