BUILDD-MAIL(1)

📦
version 0.85.10ubuntu0.2 · 5 versions
, in ubuntu noble

✨ BUILD-MAIL — wait no, bestie, it's BUILDD-MAIL(1) ✨

okay so this is buildd-mail, the mail answer processor for buildd, and honestly? it's giving "quietly essential infrastructure" and we're obsessed 💖

🌸 NAME 🌸

buildd-mail — the mail answer processor for buildd. that's it, that's the vibe. it reads the mail, it answers the mail. a whole little inbox goblin 💌

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

buildd-mail
buildd-mail-wrapper

yep. no flags, no arguments, no drama. just vibes and mail processing. periodt 💅

🦋 VERSION 🦋

so this man page is documenting the packaged version of buildd-mail, which is maintained by the buildd-tools project developers over on Alioth (<https://alioth.debian.org/projects/buildd-tools/>) 🫶

and there's ALSO a version maintained by Ryan Murray that's adapted to build daemon needs, with similar functionality. that one should be equally capable of working in a buildd setup, no cap — but it has a bunch of enhancements aimed at making it suitable for use by end-users ✨ so like, both valid, slightly different energy.

💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

buildd-mail processes incoming mail for the buildd user. that's the whole job description. it's the main character of the buildd inbox 👑

and then there's buildd-mail-wrapper — which was a setuid wrapper for buildd-mail. key word: was. it has been removed and is no longer required. it's been kept around as a symbolic link to buildd-mail for compatibility purposes only, but it's obsolete and will be removed in a future release. so like... don't get attached, bestie 😭 it's a legacy link, not a lifestyle.

🌈 SETUP 🌈

the buildd user should have a file at ~/.forward with the following contents:

|/usr/bin/buildd-mail-wrapper

this will ensure all incoming mail gets processed using buildd-mail. so basically you drop that line in and suddenly every email is getting the full treatment. slay 🎀

💖 FILES 💖

  • /etc/buildd/buildd.conf — configuration, maintained by the system administrator. this one may be used to override the defaults, so it's the "adult in the room" config file 🧚
  • ~/.builddrc — user-specific configuration. your personal little settings corner 💅
  • ~/.forward — mail forwarding configuration. the one from the SETUP section, the one that makes the magic happen ✨

👑 AUTHORS 👑

  • Roman Hodek <Roman.Hodek@informatik.uni-erlangen.de>

also, sbuild is based on debbuild, written by James Troup <james@nocrew.org>, and has been modified by:

  • Ben Collins <bcollins@debian.org>
  • Ryan Murray <rmurray@debian.org>
  • Francesco Paolo Lovergine <frankie@debian.org>
  • Michael Banck <mbanck@debian.org>
  • Roger Leigh <rleigh@debian.org>

a whole group chat of contributors fr fr 🫶

  • Copyright © 1998-2000 Roman Hodek <roman@hodek.net>
  • Copyright © 1998-1999 James Troup <troup@debian.org>
  • Copyright © 2003-2006 Ryan Murray <rmurray@debian.org>
  • Copyright © 2001-2003 Rick Younie <younie@debian.org>
  • Copyright © 2003-2004 Francesco Paolo Lovergine <frankie@debian.org>
  • Copyright © 2005 Michael Banck <mbanck@debian.org>
  • Copyright © 2005-2008 Roger Leigh <rleigh@debian.org>

⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

buildd(1) — go read that one next, iykyk 💫

ngl the way this page is literally just "it reads mail and it's fine" is so iconic of it. lowkey the most unbothered man page in the whole buildd lineup 😭

and that's a wrap, bestie 💖 this was Version 0.85.10ubuntu0.2 of the page, dated 02 May 2025, straight out of Debian sbuild — catch you in the next man page, mwah 🎀✨

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