Re: Will installing libc6-i686 on my i586 crunch my installation?

[Ron Johnson <ron.l.johnson@cox.net>]

On 02/17/2009 08:57 AM, Clemens Eisserer wrote:
> Hi,
>
> > This should guide you:
> > $ apt-cache show libc6-i686
>
> Well, so far it says:
> > This set of libraries is optimized for i686 machines, and will only be
> > used if you are running a 2.6 kernel on an i686 class CPU
>
> However uname -m says I am running a 2.4 kernel on an i586:
> > Linux mesrv 2.4.27-2-386 #1 Wed Aug 17 09:33:35 UTC 2005 i586 GNU/Linux

Wow.  Even your 2.4 kernel is old!!

(2.4.37 was released 2008-12-02 08:13 UTC.)

> So why does apt want to install it at all?
>
> > Die folgenden zus�tzlichen Pakete werden installiert:       // The following additional packages will be installed:
> > libc6 libedit2 libkeyutils1 libkrb53 libncurses5 libssl0.9.8 locales openssh-client
> > Vorgeschlagene Pakete:                                                            //Recommended packages:
> >  glibc-doc libc6-i686 krb5-doc krb5-user ssh-askpass libpam-ssh keychai
>
> Or does recommended mean they won't be installed and libc6 will be
> chosen instead?

Apt isn't so sophisticated as to be able to know what hardware that 
you're running.

So, figuring that *most* people run 686-or-greater h/w, it 
*recommends* libc6-i686.  But, knowing that *some* people still have 
lesser h/w, it's *only* a Recommends, not a Depends.

--
Ron Johnson, Jr.
Jefferson LA  USA

Supporting World Peace Through Nuclear Pacification