Automating the passwd command

[Hoehn, Jacob]

Is there a way to automate the passwd command in a similar fashion as allowed by Red Hat's version of passwd?   The Red Hat version has a --stdin flag which lets me pipe a password to the passwd command so that I can automate it.   On Red Hat I have a custom made script for creating large numbers of accounts by using adduser and passwd. I want to be able to do the same thing on Debian.   If anybody has a suggestion for a good account automation program or can tell me how to automate passwd, I would greatly appreciate it.   --Jacob