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MASS-BUG(1) MASS-BUG(1)

NAME

mass-bug - mass-file a bug report against a list of packages

SYNOPSIS

mass-bug [options] --subject="bug subject" template package-list

DESCRIPTION

mass-bug assists in filing a mass bug report in the Debian BTS on a set of packages. For each package in the package-list file (which should list one package per line together with an optional version number separated from the package name by an underscore), it fills out the template, adds BTS pseudo-headers, and either displays or sends the bug report.

Warning: Some care has been taken to avoid unpleasant and common mistakes, but this is still a power tool that can generate massive amounts of bug report mails. Use it with care, and read the documentation in the Developer's Reference about mass filing of bug reports first.

TEMPLATE

The template file is the body of the message that will be sent for each bug report, excluding the BTS pseudo-headers. In the template, #PACKAGE# is replaced with the name of the package. If a version was specified for the package, #VERSION# will be replaced by that version.

The components of the version number may be specified using #EPOCH#, #UPSTREAM_VERSION# and #REVISION#. #EPOCH# includes the trailing colon and #REVISION# the leading dash so that #EPOCH#UPSTREAM_VERSION##REVISION# is always the same as #VERSION#.

Note that text in the template will be automatically word-wrapped to 70 columns, up to the start of a signature (indicated by '-- ' at the start of a line on its own). This is another reason to avoid including BTS pseudo-headers in your template.

OPTIONS

mass-bug examines the devscripts configuration files as described below. Command line options override the configuration file settings, though.

Specify the severity with which bugs should be filed. Default is normal.
Fill out the templates for each package and display them all for verification. This is the default behavior.
Actually send the bug reports.
Specify the subject of the bug report. The subject will be automatically prefixed with the name of the package that the bug is filed against.
Set the BTS pseudo-header for tags.
Set the BTS pseudo-header for a usertags' user.
Set the BTS pseudo-header for usertags.
Add a BTS control command. This option may be repeated to add multiple control commands. For example, if you are mass-bug-filing "please stop depending on this deprecated package", and bug 123456 represents removal of the deprecated package, you could use: 

    mass-bug --control='block 123456 by -1' ...
Specify that package names refer to source packages rather than binary packages.
Specify the sendmail command. The command will be split on white space and will not be passed to a shell. Default is /usr/sbin/sendmail.
Do not wrap the template to lines of 70 characters.
Do not read any configuration files. This can only be used as the first option given on the command-line.
Provide a usage message.
Display version information.

ENVIRONMENT

DEBEMAIL and EMAIL can be set in the environment to control the email address that the bugs are sent from.

CONFIGURATION VARIABLES

The two configuration files /etc/devscripts.conf and ~/.devscripts are sourced by a shell in that order to set configuration variables. Command line options can be used to override configuration file settings. Environment variable settings are ignored for this purpose. The currently recognised variables are:

If this is set, specifies a sendmail command to use instead of /usr/sbin/sendmail. Same as the --sendmail command line option.

COPYRIGHT

This program is Copyright (C) 2006 by Joey Hess <joeyh@debian.org>.

It is licensed under the terms of the GPL, either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

AUTHOR

Joey Hess <joeyh@debian.org>

2023-10-20 Debian Utilities