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.

       --severity=(wishlist|minor|normal|important|serious|grave|critical)
           Specify the severity with which bugs should be filed. Default is normal.

       --display
           Fill out the templates for each package and display them all for verification. This is
           the default behavior.

       --send
           Actually send the bug reports.

       --subject="bug subject"
           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.

       --tags
           Set the BTS pseudo-header for tags.

       --user
           Set the BTS pseudo-header for a usertags' user.

       --usertags
           Set the BTS pseudo-header for usertags.

       --control=COMMAND
           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' ...

       --source
           Specify that package names refer to source packages rather than binary packages.

       --sendmail=SENDMAILCMD
           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.

       --no-wrap
           Do not wrap the template to lines of 70 characters.

       --no-conf, --noconf
           Do not read any configuration files.  This can only be used as the first option given
           on the command-line.

       --help
           Provide a usage message.

       --version
           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:

       BTS_SENDMAIL_COMMAND
           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>