Yes, this is a known, long-standing issue, tracked in Debian at https://bugs.debian.org/509100 (and some more duplicates of that bug report).
** Changed in: aptitude (Ubuntu) Status: New => Confirmed ** Bug watch added: Debian Bug tracker #509100 https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=509100 ** Also affects: aptitude (Debian) via https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=509100 Importance: Unknown Status: Unknown -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1793903 Title: aptitude build-dep fails on virtual packages To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/aptitude/+bug/1793903/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs