[Samba] Smbpasswd -a USERNAME PASSWORD -- no longer works in samba 3.0.9!!!

[sysrm]

All our scripts etc no longer work since installing 3.0.9 when adding new
users.

We use a perl script to make sure there are no duplicate names/uid's etc and
generate a random 8 char password.

It then adds the user to /etc/passwd with that password and then invokes
smbpasswd -a $username $password which no longer works with the 3.0.9
version of smbpasswd!

Why has this mind bogglingly useful function been taken out?? Is there a way
I can put it back in or use a 3.0.5 version with out issues??

Cheers

Ross McInnes

(A now bald) system admin