Is it possible to use a 32 bit deb package on a 64 bit installation of Ubuntu?

Question

I have Kubuntu 10.04 64 bit, and I want to install a 32 bit package (a printer driver from Canon).

Is this possible?

Answer 1

In theory this is possible with dpkg. You would try something like this:

dpkg -i --force-architecture cannon-driver.i686.deb

However, this is unlikely to work. It really depends on the package and what it installs and what it interacts with. If this cannon driver is used by CUPS invokes it as a separate process, that could work. But, you'll need 32-bit versions of whatever libraries the 32-bit cannon driver binaries depend on.

So, it's possible, but unlikely to be as simple as just doing the command-line above.

Answer 2

Yes but I've had nothing but problems doing so. RPM surpasses DEB in package management. Your best bet is to just get the compiled tar.gz and use that.

Answer 3

You might have trouble since the program you want to install is a driver, but for standalone applications I've had success using getlibs to make sure I have all the necessary 32 bit libraries. You can read more about getlibs here.