apt-listchanges is a tool to show what
has been changed in a new version of a Debian package, as
compared to the version currently installed on the
system.
It does this by extracting the relevant entries from the
Debian changelog file, usually found in
/usr/doc/package/changelog.Debian.gz,
from Debian package archives.
Given a set of filenames as arguments (or read from apt when
using --apt),
apt-listchanges will scan the files (assumed
to be Debian package archives) for the relevant changelog
entries, and display them all in a summary, sorted by urgency.
OPTIONS
--apt
Read filenames from a specially-formatted pipeline (as
provided by apt), rather than from command line arguments,
and honor certain apt-specific options in the config
file. This pipeline must be in "version 2" format,
specified in the apt configuration.
-v, --verbose
Display additional (usually unwanted) information.
For instance, print a message when a package of the same
or older version is to be installed, or when a package is
to be newly installed.
-f, --frontend
Select which frontend to use to display information to the
user. Current frontends include:
pager
Uses your favorite pager to display output.
browser
Displays an HTML-formatted changelog using a web
browser, with hyperlinks for bugs and email
addresses. If the environment variable
APT_LISTCHANGES_BROWSER_PIPE is set, it will be
executed and fed input via stdin. Otherwise, if
APT_LISTCHANGES_BROWSER or BROWSER is set, it is
executed and fed a file: URL to a temporary file.
If none of these environment variables are set, some
common browsers will be searched for.
xterm-pager
Uses your favorite pager to display output, but does
so in an xterm in the background. This allows you
to go on with the upgrade if you like, and continue
to browse the changelogs.
xterm-browser
The logical combination of xterm-pager and browser.
Only appropriate for text-mode browsers.
text
Dumps output to stdout, with no pauses.
none
Does nothing. Primarily for use with the
--email-address option.
--email-address=address
In addition to displaying it, mail a copy of the changelog
data to the specified address. To only mail changelog
entries, use this option with the special frontend 'none'.
-c, --confirm
Once changelogs have been displayed, ask the user whether
or not to proceed. If the user chooses not to proceed, a
nonzero exit status will be returned, and apt will abort.
-a, --all
Rather than trying to display changelog entries that are
newer than the currently installed version of the package,
simply display all changelog entries for all packages.
This is useful for viewing the entire changelog of a .deb
before extracting it.
--save_seen=file
This option will cause apt-listchanges to keep track of
the last version of a package for which changelogs have
been displayed, to avoid redisplaying the same changelogs
in a future invocation. The database is stored in the
named file. Specify 'none' to disable this feature.
--help
Displays syntax information.
--version
Displays the version number.
-h, --headers
These options will cause apt-listchanges to insert a
header before each package's changelog showing the name of
the package, and the names of the binary packages which
are being upgraded (if there is more than one, or it
differs from the source package name).
--debug
Display some debugging information
ENVIRONMENT
APT_LISTCHANGES_FRONTEND
Frontend to use
APT_LISTCHANGES_BROWSER_PIPE
Used by the browser frontend, should be set to
a command expecting HTML input on stdin
APT_LISTCHANGES_BROWSER, BROWSER
Used by
the browser frontend, should be set to a command expecting a
file: URL for an HTML file to display.
FILES
/etc/apt/listchanges.conf
Configuration file. Most options have the same names
as command-line options, with hyphens translated to
underscores.
The above configuration file specifies that in
command-line mode, the default frontend should be "pager".
In apt mode, the xterm-pager frontend is default, a copy
of the changelogs (if any) should be emailed to root, and
apt-listchanges should ask for confirmation.
/var/lib/apt/listchanges.db
Database used for save-seen
AUTHOR
apt-listchanges was written by Matt Zimmerman
<mdz@debian.org>