Maybe APT should not consider crossgrading a package as a removal and APT should be fixed instead of autopkgtest:
root@gg-libyaml:~# apt install gzip:i386 Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done The following additional packages will be installed: gcc-10-base gcc-10-base:i386 libatomic1 libc6:i386 libcc1-0 libcrypt-dev libcrypt1 libcrypt1:i386 libgcc-s1 libgcc-s1:i386 libgomp1 libidn2-0:i386 libitm1 liblsan0 libquadmath0 libstdc++6 libtsan0 libubsan1 libunistring2 libunistring2:i386 Suggested packages: glibc-doc:i386 locales:i386 The following packages will be REMOVED: gzip The following NEW packages will be installed: gcc-10-base:i386 gzip:i386 libc6:i386 libcrypt1:i386 libgcc-s1:i386 libidn2-0:i386 libunistring2:i386 The following packages will be upgraded: gcc-10-base libatomic1 libcc1-0 libcrypt-dev libcrypt1 libgcc-s1 libgomp1 libitm1 liblsan0 libquadmath0 libstdc++6 libtsan0 libubsan1 libunistring2 WARNING: The following essential packages will be removed. This should NOT be done unless you know exactly what you are doing! gzip 14 upgraded, 7 newly installed, 1 to remove and 121 not upgraded. Need to get 5303 kB of archives. After this operation, 15.2 MB of additional disk space will be used. You are about to do something potentially harmful. To continue type in the phrase 'Yes, do as I say!' ?] Abort. ** Also affects: apt (Ubuntu) Importance: Undecided Status: New -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Touch seeded packages, which is subscribed to gzip in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1881504 Title: cross-testing essential packages fails Status in apt package in Ubuntu: New Status in autopkgtest package in Ubuntu: New Status in gzip package in Ubuntu: New Bug description: Testing gzip on i386 fails at replacing gzip(:amd64) with gzip:i386. https://objectstorage.prodstack4-5.canonical.com/v1/AUTH_77e2ada1e7a84929a74ba3b87153c0ac /autopkgtest-groovy/groovy/i386/g/gzip/20200528_195150_89f08@/log.gz ... autopkgtest [19:51:38]: testing package gzip version 1.10-2ubuntu1 autopkgtest [19:51:38]: build not needed autopkgtest [19:51:38]: test simple-gzip: preparing testbed Note, using file '/tmp/autopkgtest.1PbIQv/1-autopkgtest-satdep.dsc' to get the build dependencies Reading package lists... Building dependency tree... Reading state information... Starting pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 0 Starting 2 pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 0 Done The following packages will be REMOVED: gzip The following NEW packages will be installed: build-essential cpp cpp-9 g++ g++-9 gcc gcc-10-base:i386 gcc-9 gcc-9-base gzip:i386 libasan5 libatomic1 libc-dev-bin libc6:i386 libc6-dev libcc1-0 libcrypt-dev libcrypt1:i386 libgcc-9-dev libgcc-s1:i386 libgomp1 libisl22 libitm1 liblsan0 libmpc3 libquadmath0 libstdc++-9-dev libtsan0 libubsan1 linux-libc-dev WARNING: The following essential packages will be removed. This should NOT be done unless you know exactly what you are doing! gzip 0 upgraded, 30 newly installed, 1 to remove and 0 not upgraded. E: Essential packages were removed and -y was used without --allow-remove-essential. E: Failed to process build dependencies ... To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt/+bug/1881504/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~touch-packages Post to : touch-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~touch-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp