--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,11 @@
+2009-11-06  Jim Meyering  <meyering@redhat.com>
+
+	do-release-commit-and-tag: New module.
+	Automate the release-commit and tag process.
+	* build-aux/do-release-commit-and-tag: New script, from coreutils.
+	* modules/do-release-commit-and-tag: New file.
+	* MODULES.html.sh (Support for maintaining and releasing): Add it.
+
 2009-11-06  Simon Josefsson  <simon@josefsson.org>
 
 	* modules/select-tests (test_select_LDADD): Add $(INET_PTON_LIB)

--- a/MODULES.html.sh
+++ b/MODULES.html.sh
@@ -3212,6 +3212,7 @@
   func_begin_table
   func_module announce-gen
   func_module autobuild
+  func_module do-release-commit-and-tag
   func_module git-version-gen
   func_module gitlog-to-changelog
   func_module gnu-web-doc-update

new file mode 100755
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build-aux/do-release-commit-and-tag
@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# In a git/autoconf/automake-enabled project with a NEWS file and a version-
+# controlled .prev-version file, automate the procedure by which we record
+# the date, release-type and version string in the NEWS file.  That commit
+# will serve to identify the release, so apply a signed tag to it as well.
+VERSION=2009-11-06.10 # UTC
+
+# Note: this is a bash script (could be zsh or dash)
+
+# Copyright (C) 2009 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+# Written by Jim Meyering
+
+ME=`basename "$0"`
+warn() { printf '%s: %s\n' "$ME" "$*" >&2; }
+die() { warn "$*"; exit 1; }
+
+help_version()
+{
+  case $1 in
+    --help) cat <<EOF
+Usage: $ME VERSION RELEASE_TYPE
+
+Run this script to perform the final pre-release NEWS update
+in which the date, release-type and version string are recorded.
+Commit that result with a log entry marking the release, and apply
+a signed tag.  Run it from your project's the top-level directory.
+
+Requirements:
+- you use git for version-control
+- a NEWS file, with line 3 identical to this:
+* Noteworthy changes in release ?.? (????-??-??) [?]
+- a version-controlled .prev-version file
+
+Options:
+  --help     print this help, then exit
+  --version  print version number, then exit
+
+EXAMPLE:
+To update NEWS and tag the beta 8.1 release of coreutils, I would run this:
+
+  $ME 8.1 beta
+
+Report bugs and patches to <bug-gnulib@gnu.org>.
+EOF
+      exit ;;
+
+    --version)
+      year=`echo "$VERSION" | sed 's/[^0-9].*//'`
+      cat <<EOF
+$ME $VERSION
+Copyright (C) $year Free Software Foundation, Inc,
+License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
+This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
+There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
+EOF
+      exit ;;
+
+  *) die "unrecognized option: $1";;
+  esac
+}
+
+case $# in
+  1) help_version $1; exit 0;;
+  2) ;;
+  *) warn "Usage: $ME VERSION TYPE"; exit 1;;
+esac
+
+ver=$1
+type=$2
+
+# Verify that $ver looks like a version number, and...
+echo "$ver"|grep -E '^[0-9][0-9.]*[0-9]$' > /dev/null \
+  || die "invalid version: $ver"
+prev_ver=$(cat .prev-version) \
+  || die 'failed to determine previous version number from .prev-version'
+
+# Verify that $ver is sensible (> .prev-version).
+case $(printf "$prev_ver\n$ver\n"|sort -V -u|tr '\n' ':') in
+  "$prev_ver:$ver:") ;;
+  *) die "invalid version: $ver";;
+esac
+
+case $type in
+  alpha|beta|stable) ;;
+  *) die "invalid release type: $type";;
+esac
+
+# Extract package name from Makefile.
+pkg=$(sed -n 's/^PACKAGE = \(.*\)/\1/p' Makefile) \
+  || die 'failed to determine package name from Makefile'
+
+# simple check: no question marks on line 3 of NEWS
+noteworthy='* Noteworthy changes in release'
+test "$(sed -n 3p NEWS)" = "$noteworthy ?.? (????-??-??) [?]" \
+  || die 'line 3 of NEWS looks fishy!'
+
+# No dirt allowed.
+case $(git diff-index --name-only HEAD) in
+  '') ;;
+  *) die 'this tree is dirty; commit your changes first';;
+esac
+
+# update NEWS to have today's date, plus desired version number and $type
+perl -MPOSIX -ni -e 'my $today = strftime "%F", localtime time;' \
+ -e 'my ($type, $ver) = qw('"$type $ver"');' \
+ -e 'my $pfx = "'"$noteworthy"'";' \
+ -e 'print $.==3 ? "$pfx $ver ($today) [$type]\n" : $_' \
+     NEWS || die 'failed to update NEWS'
+
+# Ensure the current branch name is "master":
+curr_br=$(git rev-parse --symbolic-full-name HEAD)
+test "$curr_br" = refs/heads/master || die not on master
+
+printf "version $ver\n\n* NEWS: Record release date.\n" \
+    | git commit -F -  -a || die 'git commit failed'
+git tag -s -m "$pkg $ver" v$ver HEAD || die 'git tag failed'
+
+# Local variables:
+# indent-tabs-mode: nil
+# eval: (add-hook 'write-file-hooks 'time-stamp)
+# time-stamp-start: "VERSION="
+# time-stamp-format: "%:y-%02m-%02d.%02H"
+# time-stamp-time-zone: "UTC"
+# time-stamp-end: " # UTC"
+# End:

new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/do-release-commit-and-tag
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+Description:
+Automate the release-commit and tag process.
+
+Files:
+build-aux/do-release-commit-and-tag
+
+Depends-on:
+
+configure.ac:
+
+Makefile.am:
+
+Include:
+
+License:
+GPLed build tool
+
+Maintainer:
+coreutils