64 bit debian, 32 bit app and libaio.so.1 dependency

[Bob McGowan <bob_mcgowan@symantec.com>]

Hi, all,

I have a Perl based application tool set that uses DBD::Oracle libraries
from the Oracle 11 instant client package.  The DBD was compiled in a 32
bit environment.

Now there's a user who wants to run it on a 64 bit system, which at
least requires the installation of the 'ia32-libs' package.

However, 'ia32-libs' does not include a 32 bit version of libaio.so.1,
which is required by the Oracle 11 libraries.

I could supply a 32 bit copy of it with the Oracle 11 libraries, but it
seems to me there should be a better solution, based on standard package
management tools.

There was some discussion for improving 32 bit library support in 64 bit
architectures in June 2010 and thereabout (David Kalnischkies is perhaps
lead developer?), but based on what I found, this may still be a future
feature.  Mention was made of an 'ia32-apt-get', but that is not
available on the 64 bit Debian system (fyi, it's 6.0.1, in case that's
relevant).

So, is there a way currently to get a 32 bit library installed in a 64
bit environment using apt-get or aptitude, outside of the basic 32 bit
support package?

Thanks,

-- 
Bob McGowan